Soap Makers Help!

[Morgaine]

I do love my tank cutter

I have told Dh that the tank and silicone mold he made me are what I would save in a fire. Seriously, they were packed in my car when we had wild fires in the area a couple months ago. I love the silicone molds and won't use anything else now. I have acrylic ones and will use them if I have to, but don't really like them because you have to babysit them and unmold at just the right time to get them not to stick.

When I first started, I would line my wood molds with craft foam from walmart. They worked great. Just beaware they hold in more heat than freezer paper and you have to pour at a thicker trace or else they leak, but were reusable and easy to unmold.

 

[WomanInTheWoods]

Too awesome that your hubby made your silicone mold for you. It would definitely be on my short list of what-to-save, too!

I'll have to go look at the craft foam next time I'm out~ I wonder if I couldn't just glue it together with something like shoe goo to prevent leaks... Is this the really floppy stuff? If it's what I'm thinking of, it would act almost like a silicone mold during unmolding... right?

As for your cutter, how far apart are the wires? I'm hoping my dad will help me build something similar once I find an exact size I like. I've got small hands, so the 1" thick bars feel really big & uncomfortable to me. 3/4" feels better... once I'm 100% sure that's the thickness I want I'll head down to Dad's with a big smile and a few bars of soap to beg another favor from him.

Between his & my woodworking projects and the guitarists around here I'm sure we've got enough scrap wood and discarded guitar strings (gotta be getting time to change them again soon...) to whip something up!

 

[Morgaine]

Im not sure how well glueing the sides together would work because it's so thin and does rip. I don't know that you could just pop it out like silicone. I always peeled mine off.

 

[ChicksterJo]

My SO told a co-worker that I was making soap, and she said, "Oh she's not using lard is she?" I think she said "eww" or something like it.

I just had to do that when he told me that. I don't think she's a vegetarian or anything.

I have been using a wooden mold that I made with wax paper but I'm tired of making the liners and basically just cutting. It's fun to see the soap when it's all cut but some bars look fatter or narrower. Today I am making a blue mica swirled soap with Burberry scent. I love that fragrance...

Morgaine, I think it's so cool that your husband made a silicone mold for you. I wish I knew someone who could do that for me.

 

[Morgaine]

My husband's family is like that too Jo. Hubby says he doesn't like the idea of rubbing pig fat on his skin, I just don't tell him that the shaving bars have it lol.

My cutter is spaced 1" apart. That's pretty standard I think. My cuts where all over the place when I was cutting by hand. It would take me 30 minutes to cut 17 bars when I first started. Now it's done in about 30 seconds lol. I love the "plink" sound I hear everytime I cut

witw, have you tried round soaps? Some women with smaller hands prefer those.

 

[ChicksterJo]

Not WitW but I did try making round soap with my "Blue Moon" soap (it smells and looks like my SO's favorite ice cream flavor lol). Anyway, I used those cylindrical creamer tubs and a powdered gravy mix tub. They turned out all right but I forgot that the FO would discolor the soap.

 

[WomanInTheWoods]

No, I've not tried the round soaps yet, I have such a fondness for the rectangles! I love twisting it around in my hand to make lather~ don't know why that makes me happy... probably because it took me a while to master the art of soap twirling when I was a kid & my narcissistic butt is still proud of myself. LOL

I've been looking for the perfect size tube to make shave soaps in~ more than 2" but less than 3"~ 2.75" would be pretty darn perfect. No luck in the pvc aisle at Lowe's, they had 2" or 3" but nothing in between. I think I might use an empty vitamin jar~ it was either the vit. C or echinacea jars are that are just the right size... (I was measuring a couple nights ago

) I might bring my tape measure with me to the store next time I'm out and start measuring Pringles cans and other like tubes! Wouldn't I be a sight?!

 

[Morgaine]

See what size the pringles cans are. I like rectangle shape too though

 

[WomanInTheWoods]

So. About beer boiling. Anyone done it?
I removed the carbonation from the beer for my shampoo bars, but did not boil out the alcohol. That sucker seized up on my but quick!!!

I have some Yuengling Black & Tan on the stove right now; I started it at a simmer to remove the carbonation first, now I'm slowly raising the heat up to boiling to attempt to remove the alcohol. In an online search I found a chemist's post on a cooking forum who stated that you know the alcohol is gone if the temp of the beer gets up around 212*F, so that's what I'm aiming for. What do you all do? Anyone else here use beer in any of their soaps?

Morgaine~ I'm heading out later this evening, I'll check out the Pringles while I'm out. I just got 2 phone calls (yes two) from my MIL, who is in the grocery store as I type this, worrying that I won't get a turkey before they sell out.

I always get the darn turkey about a week before TG, as that's when I can find the 25 pounders. She's convinced I'm wrong. Good thing she can't see me rolling my eyes through the phone.

 

[ChicksterJo]

Never used beer before but now I know what I should do before I try it lol. Boil out the alcohol...I better write that down.

My fiance is getting a turkey from work. It's probably not going to be very big but that's good. My dad's getting a turkey too (they work at the same place

). I'm just going to do one, defrost it, brine it and rub rosemary/garlic/thyme butter all over it. I can't wait hehe.