Teach Soap

I am trying to figure out if there is any advantage to having soap gel. From my reading I know that after the soap is poured in the mold it should then be insulated with towels and it should gel. In this forum I have been reading about how people sometimes put the mold in the oven after pouring to also promote gelling. However, I have also read about how people will combine the oils and lye at room to prevent gelling. I am so confused!! Is it better for the end product for it to gell or not to gell? I was thinking that maybe the advantage of putting the poured soap into the oven is that the gelling would would occur more evenly therefore not causing the color to look darker in the center? Or that by making soap at room temperature to prevent gelling would be to spare the coloring as well? Am I on the right track?
Beth

It is confusing, isn't it? Gelling is an entirely personal preference. I've tried it both ways and prefer to gel. Soapbuddy hardly ever gels her soaps. I would try it both ways to see which you like better.

I put my soaps in the oven after pouring because I don't like the look of partially gelled soap which sometimes happens when insulating with towels/blankets.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Thank you for your answer! Confusing -yes!! If you don't mind me asking, why do you prefer yours to be gelled as oppossd to ungelled? Is it a texture thing or more about the color? Do you know how to prevent gelling from occuring altogether - like soap buddy does? I would like to try out both ways to find my preference.
Beth

I prefer not to gel. My goat's milk soap comes out lighter. So do my colors and fragrances tend to morph less. I put my soaps either in the fridge or the freezer; up to overnight.

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

I think it can depend on the recipe a little too. I recently started experimenting with oven gelling because a particular recipe I had trouble getting even color with the insulation method. However, this is the only recipe I've had this issue with. Most of the time I just insulate and everything turns out nice and even. Try a bunch of techniques. If you use colors in your soap gelling can change the tone a little. If it works, then you've got another technique to be creative with. It's totally not necessary though.

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

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

It seems that it depends on the climate whether you need an oven to gel soap evenly. Last night, it was 80+ outside here and probably around 78 in my house. I insulated, with one towel on the counter, a 40 oz loaf batch with coffee in it--nothing with sugar, I just used strong coffee for the water and added some grounds--and it was in full gel 30 minutes after pouring. I put it in the fridge overnight to prevent overheating. Another batch with no sugar-containing ingredients, 50 oz in a half-gallon milk carton, started overheating under the towel after 30 minutes--the top started to erupt--so I shoved that in the fridge too. I left the next batch not under insulation because of that, a shallow mold of 5 oz bars, and within 30 minutes it too was in full gel.

This could also be because I tend to soap hot--too impatient to wait for heated oils to cool. The lye is around 100 and the oils around 130 when I mix them.

Note that I did not have this experience when soaping in February, when the outside temps here were a lot more like winter and my house was 68 degrees. Soap left uninsulated did not gel then.

Learning more all the time about how soap behaves here in Texas . . . boy I have a feeling that in summer I'll have to put it all straight in the fridge.