Teach Soap

Hello all! So I went out and bought a heat gun because I read that I should
shrink wrap before putting my soaps in bags. My hair dryer didn't work. Now my plastic wrap
is just melting! Any suggestions?

You need to keep the heat gun a little away and keep it moving! That's the key. If you leave the heat gun in one place too long the shrink wrap will melt.

Are you using true shrink wrap or regular plastic wrap? There is a difference.

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

Well I thought I would try just plain old
Plastic wrap from the store because I saw alot
of posts on other sites that said that worked fine.
So I thought I would give that a go.

The heat gun gets a lot hotter then a hair dryer. I would get some shrink wrap. Much easier.

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

I use plain old cling wrap... though I'm planning on switching to actual shrink wrap because I can't get the cling wrap to shrink tightly without it ripping Otherwise, if you don't mind a bit of crinkliness (won't affect the soap at all), make sure that your heat gun is on its lowest setting and start it far away from the wrapped soap and bring it in closer until you see it start to shrink. Don't move closer than that with the heat gun. Start on the side that has your open ends and give it a quick shrink (just enough to set the open ends so they don't move). Constantly keep your heat gun moving, and quickly do the sides of the soap, flip the soap over and do the top. It won't be completely done at this point, but just put it aside and work on the next one. When you're done with your first pass on all your soaps, do the same sequence (back, sides, top) again to the covered soaps. I find that if I do this several times over in quick spurts allowing the plastic to cool down in-between, I get less ripping... I also found that it helps if you can wrap the soaps tightly with no wrinkles in the cling wrap to begin with ^_^

Good luck!

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Tamra
New to soaping, long time crafter and artisan, avid learner of new things!

I use my hair dryer on store bought shrink wrap, sorry it did not work for you!

Here is video that may help, you can see the technique she has for using a heat gun; http://www.youtube.com/user/soapqueentv ... D4bJgtaHMg

Hi, Ashley. I use cling wrap myself - I tried shrink wrap and found it too difficult to work with. I have a heat gun and use it on its lowest setting. You do have to keep it moving, you can't linger over the soap or else everything does start to melt. I wrap mine up as smoothly as possible, trim the excess off the back and then hit the back for a second to seal it. You should see the plastic shrinking and sealing. Then I hit the sides and finally finish off the top. Keep it moving, and when you come in closer to the soap, do a very quick sweep. The video that Bramble Momma posted is excellent for showing the technique, so definitely watch that.

Good luck, Ashley! With a little practice, you'll get it. It's all in the wrist!

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- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
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Thanks everyone! I will try these tricks on my
next batch!

Does Shrink Wrap lock in the smell better than saran wrap? Or is the same? I've been saran wrapping my soaps without heat but I'm just wondering if I should make the switch to ensure my soaps' scents don't fade quickly. Some last forever, but some do fade away.

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Nikki @

There is a huge difference between making a life and making a living; which one are you making right now?

Marula, I don't know if shrink wrap preserves the scent better, but I have heard that it is tougher to smell the fragrance through shrink wrap versus cling wrap, unless you use some of that smell-thru shrink wrap.

I've always used cling/saran wrap, partly because I found shrink wrap too cumbersome to work with and partly because customers could smell through cling wrap at craft shows without my having to put out sniffy samples of everything.

I store my wrapped soaps in an airtight plastic box and that seems to help retain the scent. Store only one fragrance per box so the scents don't mingle. You can buy one of those lidded plastic shoe box containers for a buck or two at the Dollar store. HTH

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- Jenny -
My soapy blog:
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There is such a thing as smell through shrink wrap, but I don't have a link at the moment.

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