Teach Soap

Since I am new to soaping I would like to know what type of mold are most popular. Wood? ELF? Loaf? If you make bars do you slice them or use one of those slab type molds?

I use a white plastic mold from Ebay. It's 18 inches long, 3 5/8" wide and 2 1/4 deep

My favorites used to be my custom wooden molds...bit I loathe lining....so I am now loving my silicone logs...and slabs...reinforced ...so no bowing...

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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 nice wooden moulds but the lining is such a mess and I dislike so much doing it that I think I will go towards plexiglass or plastic. I have a Nizzy mould and the use is sooo easy(no need darn lining needed).

I use my SoapHutch mold the most since it doesn't have to be lined.

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

I have birch slab mold and birch log mold. The lining is an effort but can be looked at as a meditative exercise, slow and calming. The slab mold can be lined with bathroom wastebasket liners if you don't mind a few lines.

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

WOW. Those SoapHutch molds!

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

After reading all your posts and looking at molds online I decided the best bet was to make my own. I made a wood mold. The sides are fixed and the ends remove. It is made out of 1X4. The inside dimension is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches and it is 13 inches long. The basic mold will hold 3 pounds or I can put in a dam and make 2 or 1 pounds. I will always line the molds so I made a template and cut out a bunch of liners in advance. The first one I made came out okay but I learned a lot and will make some corrections on the second one. For one thing I will extend the bottom 1 inch longer than the sides to use as a guide for cutting 1 inch slices. Maybe when I get a perfect one made I will post a picture.

I started using 3" PVC pipe for my first batch and liked it so much I never changed.
I do play around with other molds occasionally but I really like my round soaps.
I line them with flexible plastic chopping mats which are reusable and very easy to use. The soap comes right out.

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- Mickey!

What are flexible plastic chopping mats? We made 3" rounds in a class I took but we sprayed the inside with PAM. Your mats sound better.

They are pretty much what they sound like.
You buy them in the kitchen section of any department store and use them to cut veggies or whatnot.
I actually get mine at Dollar Tree... 2 in a pack for a dollar.
You have to measure and cut them to the right size but then you can use them over and over.

I was always skeptical about using PAM as a lubricant... isn't it just oil and won't that just saponify?

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- Mickey!

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www.hyenacart.com/Ronevelis

I don't line my HDPE or Plexiglass molds. My recipe is fairly hard and comes out pretty easy.

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

I think I have finally mastered ELF molds. I just leave my soap in them about 5 days then put them in the freezer. I am perflexed about slab molds and soda ash. What am I supposed to do......plane every bar. I don't like that. After purchasing too many molds I am going to stick with my loaf mold that I made myself out of about $3 worth of lumger and hardware.