Teach Soap

I just finished making my own wooden mold. I lined it with wax paper and decided to do a leak test using water to see if the mold was sealed well enough. It held for about 30 seconds and then once the wax paper got fully wet, water started running out of the bottom of the mold. I double checked and there were no holes in the paper, it just leached through the wax paper once it was damp enough. I'm afraid my newly made soap will do the same thing. Is there another material that would seal the mold better? Or would wax paper hold up better with the soap because it's not quite as thin as water?

My other option is to find some type of caulking material to leak proof the bottom edges of the wood, but I designed the mold with fold down sides, so I'd really like to avoid doing this. Any suggestions on what to try next are appreciated.

I only use wax paper for the top, otherwise it will leak. I use a trash bag as a liner for my wooden molds.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

My hubby made a wonderful wood mold and I line it with freezer paper with the paper side up and the waxy side down. Doesn't leak much, only the fragrances/eo's can get onto the wood, but this just makes the wood seasoned and doesn't seem to transfer to other scents. The soap doesn't seem to be any different either way, wax side up or down, some places it may stick but only like a dime size for the whole 36 bars and always peels away nicely. My bars are good except of course i cut by hand. I wouldn't use anything else, I get a great deal on the butcher paper at the supermarket bakery. Takes some time to get the measurements just right so you don't use too much paper. I've tried plastic wrap and garbage bags but I get too many wrinkles in the finished soap that way. I would say it's just preference more than anything.

Edited because you may care if your eo/fo are leaking into the wood and paper and not saying in your soap..so could be a problem for some but I do only lightly scented soaps...Good luck and let us know what you find works best for you.

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"Maintaining Balance Between People and Nature"

Try putting some gorilla glue where the wood pieces meet. It worked for me... If you do just make sure to only use small amounts of the glue. It will expand. let it dry for 2 hours and your mold should be ready for use.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I swapped to parchment paper, and then to freezer paper and retested with water. The same leakage happened with both materials.

Then I added some vinyl gasket material around the bottom, the kind that is used to seal the edges of windows and doors. I had the same problem, probably even worse because the boards didn't fit as well from the width of the sealer. For some reason I can not get this thing to NOT leak.

I don't know if it's just because water is thinner than soap that I'm having the leakage issue, or if it's the mold itself. Has anyone else made their own mold that would have any tips? I'm only out about $12 at this point so it's not a HUGE deal to scrap the thing, but I've put so much work into making it that I want to salvage it if I can.

I would think it's only because the water isn't as thick as the soap. Line it with the paper or a garbage bag and go for it

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"Maintaining Balance Between People and Nature"

None of my wooden molds would come close to holding water, but they do fine with soap. I use freezer paper for liners.

I like freezer paper as well and pour into the shiny side.

Bruce

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www.homebrewsoaps.etsy.com

Freezer paper works for me...there is no leakage with soap....it's too thick...I do cpop and place it on a cookie sheet...

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Deb.....


If you blow in a dogs face he gets mad....take him for a car ride ..and he sticks his head out the window....