Soap Makers Help!

[MissPrissy]

What I did was choose a box mold that I wanted. My husband took those measurements and went from there. When we eyeballed the rough wood and held together a makeshift box I felt my bars would be skimpy so we expanded it a bit.

My bars measure - 3.25 x 2.5 and I cut them 1 inch thick. My shortest box is 24 inches long.

So for that box the interior measures 3.25 x 2.5 x 24.

We used 1 x 4's to build the boxes. All untreated lumber. You will get oils on the wood. Don't worry about it! Do not wash the boxes. Water is a big no-no. The oil actually begins to soak into the wood and protects the boxes. My boxes get better the more I use them.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Thanks MP. That is a big bar! Is that about 6 oz?

So, I'm assuming that you're getting 24 bars out of the 24 inch box, right? So, how many pounds of wet soap is needed to fill that container? Is the wet soap equal to the dry soap in weight?

Did you do any hinges on your boxes?

 

[MissPrissy]

No hinges. Sliding lids.

Once you melt the oils and add the lye liquids and additives the mix gets fluffy like mashed potatoes at trace. I have never weighed out the mix at trace. There isn't time.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Ah, sliding lids. That sounds good. What did you use as a guide for your design?

I'm just guessing here, but it would seem to me that the weight at trace would equal the weight of the individual items you added in the recipe. Where I'm not certain is whether there is much weight loss in the drying process.

So, if your 24 bars were equal to 6 ounces each, that's 9 pounds of dry soap. But, what was it going in?

I have this fear of preparing a mold for the first time, then finding that it's too small for my recipe and then having to scramble for additional molds while I'm watching all that good soap starting to gel. Yeah, I'm one of those people who reads a recipe all the way through before proceeding.

 

[Morgaine]

I am copying and pasting this from a soap making forum( I didn't know if I could just link to the page or not.) It is a formula to find out how much oils to use for your mold.

Lets use a log mold that is 12 inches long, 3-1/2 inches wide, and you want to pour to a depth of 2-1/2 inches.

You take length X width X height of pour, that number X .40. So;

12 X
3.5=
42

42X
2.5=
105

105X
.40=
42 ounces of oils needed for this mold.

Apply these same numbers for your mold size, weather a log, slab, or block.

I hope that helps.

I also wanted to share some pictures of the soaps I've made for Christmas gifts this year.

This one I used a lemon verbena fragrance oil and poppy seeds for some color. This batch wasn't quite ready to come out of the mold yet, so the design was messed up a bit. But I'll keep these for our use and just let the next batch sit for a few more hours.

This one is oatmeal, milk and honey. I love the one. I put in ground oats, honey and powdered milk.

I used the Brocade milky way molds from Brambleberry.com​

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Are you doing oven hot processing? Or rebatching? My cold-processed soaps never have a "mashed potato" phase, but some that I've rebatched has had.

One other thing--you can buy just the silicone liner from Upland, and then make a box to fit it, to save some money. My Upland mold WAS an enormous splurge, but it was bought with soap profits, and I love it like crazy. It produces a perfect bar, no trimming required, which means less waste.

If I'm pouring into a mold that's line with wax paper or plastic wrap, I plan on pouring it extra thick so that I can shave off all the sides (which is a pain in the butt). I don't like the look of the surface that comes off the paper or plastic. But I'm kind of picky about the finished bars.

Mine have always been 5.5 to 6 ounces, and I've recently thought about making them a little smaller, just so they'll be easier to handle in the shower.

 

[MissPrissy]

No, I have never had a batch that didn't instantly trace to a thin mashed potato phase within 2 - 3` minutes of stick blending.

Mine are always smooth and nicely finished.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
I've never had that with CP. I pour them as soon as they trace, though. I think maybe I don't blend them as long as you do. I like to be able to work slowly and take my time (plus I do large batches, which are heavy), so I don't take it to really thick trace. It's usually very liquid when I pour it, unless I've used a floral scent or something like that that hastens trace.

 

[MissPrissy]

I like to work slow too but I know near the trace I have to step it up. LOL

It can be real hard when you pouring 200 ounces of oils at once. But you would know this. LOL

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Yes, and I am NOT graceful under the best of conditions.

So with something like this, I tend to move a little more carefully than usual, even! Unless I'm doing a pure (100% olive oil) Castile, I pour at the first sign of trace. Like pancake batter.