Teach Soap

I have only used my silicone mold a couple times and both times I have had problems.

Let me first say I am trying non-gell by putting it in the freezer overnight. Also, this last batch I poured at very thin trace, almost just emulsion. Made the soap Saturday afternoon. Removed from the freezer Sunday morning. Tried to remove it from the mold Monday evening. It was still pretty soft but I was anxious. The soap stuck in the corners and some on the bottom of the mold.

Next time I will try gelling.

I used my mold once so far (blue silicone)... and also gelled. The soap still got stuck in the corners, and I think next time I'll put the mold in the freezer before I pop the bars out...hope it works otherwise I won't use it for CP, just MP.

Try adding some sodium lactate to your batch for a harder bar.

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

I have used my silicone mold several times. Here is how it looked after setting 3 days for a test batch. I did a batch of soap without color and used 12 different fragrance samples. One for each square. Isn't it interesting how some cured up so nice came out clean and others stuck to the mold and were still soft and crumbly.

Happened to me also. I was wondering if it was caused by FO cuz I only us it for testing new FO. Majority of the time they are hard to pop out without damaging the corners. Sometimes I do stick it into the fridge for few hours and still no help. I hope someone can figure out the mystery!

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Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

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

I have also experienced this in that mold. This last batch, I allowed 2 bars to sit in the mold for close to a week. Shhh, It's not because I was testing, but I forgot about them. But anyway, they still were quite soft. It is not the recipe that is soft either, this is a recipe I use often and it is a nice hard bar for the wood molds. In fact, I had cut the soap from the wood mold from this same batch, days earlier and it fairly hard. So I am thinking that it has something more to do with the mold itself. Maybe it is how the eo's/fo's interact with silicone, I don't know. But there is a difference for sure.
Still, to get them out, I roll the edges back and push from the bottom and they pop out. Most often I get a good result, but occasionally I still chip an edge.

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Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

I used 2 T sodium lactate to the batch 3 pounds of oils.[/quote]

I don't go by tablespoons. I would have use 0.5 oz of liquid SL for that size batch.[/quote]


Our Sodium Lactate is of different strengths I believe.

You mix your own don't you?


LL I sure hope it isn't the mold, I just love this mold.

I use other silicone molds and they usually pop out without much damages to the straight edges. Maybe they use different silicone?! Anyway, I'll try again but I'm getting more and more disappointed. If it still doesn't work well I might not use it again.

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Shieh Design Studio
https://www.facebook.com/ShiehDesignStudio
http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com

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

I've been using that mold a ton lately and my soap is coming out easily.

Some photos of the fun batches

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fb ... 03&theater

http://twitpic.com/4d9p02

http://twitpic.com/4chfyy

You'll notice on that last photo that two of the soap didn't tel all the way to the ends - and where did they break? Only the non-gelled portions.

I put that mold on a heat blanket to ensure it goes through gel phase so maybe that's why I haven't had the same issues? I also let my soap sit in the molds for at least 3 days. Years of soaping with individual molds have just made me gun shy about trying to pop my soap out of molds before at least 3 days if not longer.

I've also taken to using Palm Kernel Flakes in my recipes lately (I go through phases) and that might be helping too.

I do love the suggestion about sodium lactate. A water discount would also help. And definitely gel phasing will help as well.

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

Oooh, I should also add that I pour at a medium to thick trace into those molds. The thinner the trace is, the longer the soap takes to set up, in my experience (with all molds and recipes) so I generally soap at a medium to thicker trace for all my batches because I am an impatient girl =)

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Happy Soaping!

Anne-Marie
blog: www.soap-queen.blogspot.com
supplies: www.brambleberry.com

I use silicone loaf molds and have never had a problem with them. I also have the 12 bar mold from BB and have used it 3 times so far with no problem. I do gel my soap, tho...and usually unmold within 8 hour (I'm impatient, too!)

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