Teach Soap

What do you prefer? What differences have you noticed between skipping gel stage and gelling? Myself, I have only gelled. I think I overheat sometimes that way, though.

I prefer not to gel. I can use less fragrance and there is less chance of the soap overheating. I put it either in the fridge or the freezer up to overnight. The saponification process does take longer. It might zap up to 3 days later. Depending on your recipe, the soap might start out softer too.

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

I prefer not to gel, find that it is hard to do if I use single molds. And the one time it did gel, I only got a partial gel - that I would prefer not to have! Of course soapbuddy is right my soaps zap for at least 48 hours - after that I have not had any problems. I'm not sure one method is better than the other. More what a person is used to doing.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I prefer to use ungelled soap. It is creamier in appearance and feel. When I do gel, I do an oven process and what's nice about that is that it gels quickly and can be cut more quickly.

Nice! These are some aspects of soaping I have not thought of much, because the only book I've read doesn't cover anything but going through the gel phase. Thanks for the responses.

I tried both. I'm still new to it all. But I'm falling toward not gelling. I find that the soap bars also look better. And since I', newer to soap, I find it difficult to gel thoroughly anyways. (maybe I soap too cold or something, I generally do around 110) It's possible I'm a slow mover too though when ti comes to pouring into the moulds. Live and learn. it's all trial and error.

One thing I didn't like was when in my molds, half the soap gelled, and the other half didn't.. there was one giant darker area, and a small lighter area, that faded into the darker one.

When you don't gel, do you still wrap the mold in a towel or something, or do you simply cover with saran wrap and stick it in the fridge? Also, if you don't gel, are you more likely to get soda ash? I was taught that the best way to prevent soda ash is to cover in saran wrap and insulate very well... but insulating seems kind of pointless if you are keeping it cool. I'm new to this too and the book I have does not mention gelling either, is there a good book that does discuss gelling? Ooo, and one more question (sorry )... after you take it out of the fridge, how long do you let it sit before cutting?

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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....

I have tried both methods and I prefer not to gel. I found that when I did gel, I ALWAYS got Ash! I just couldn't take it any more so I turned to non-gelling and have never looked back. Like Soapbuddy said, yes it will be zappy for a couple of days and when you take it out of the fridge, I have found that you need to give it time to "thaw" a bit (so to speak) before you cut it (or it'll crumble when you cut, believe me I know from experience). When it does thaw a bit it may seem a bit moist and soft on the outside but the soap is fine. I don't know what the other folks do but I leave it out for a couple of days before I cut. I get a smoother cut that way. That's just my personal preference. I've also found that when you don't gel, the colors are more vibrant and the fragrance is stronger.

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

I also find that my recipe can determine how soft it is and how long I need to wait to cut it. I did have one batch that I cut as soon as I unmolded (just too eager to see the inside of the loaf!) and did have a few crumbles at the bottom of the cut. The next batch I let come to room temp and it cut like butter.
Best if you keep good notes on each batch you do... then reproducing or avoid a certain 'thing' will be easier.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Thanks for all the feedback. "Not gelling" was a mystery to me, and I am glad to see I was not alone

My preference is not to gel for most of the reasons already stated.

But occasionally I want to use an FO that I KNOW will behave badly or I may want a darker color. In those instances I may insulate and gel. However, lately for these batches I've been going with HP to insure a full gel. I just don't like to risk partial gel. I just did a really pretty HP batch that looks like amethyst. I used a hyacinth FO which I knew would heat up and trace almost instantly so I didn't even try CP.

When preventing gel I pre-chill my molds, soap cool... just warm enough to melt my oils, and then refrigerate uncovered for 48 hours. I then remove them from the fridge and allow them to get to room temp (usually overnight) before cutting. This almost always seems to produce the results I want.

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- Mickey!

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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spotted-H ... l&filter=2
http://spottedhipposoap.blogspot.com/

Be aware that ungelled soaps can zap up to 3 days and might be softer to cut.

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