Soap Makers Help!

[chiknwhisperer]

I could probably win him over on the soap before I can the goats lol. Since soap doesn't breath or make noises at you lol. I love goats hehe

 

[Athena]

I am still waititng on my soap books to come in....but I read this thread ..as its so interesting....

Someone sked, what was tracing...

my question is, what is insulating????

 

[smom1976]

ok so I just unmolded my cucumber soap and sliced it and now it is curing.. but when I pulled it out of the mold.. there was types of air pockets in the pringles cans (not in the smaller apple juice concentrate cans) and it came out lumpy.. not smooth what would have caused this? any suggestions?

how long does it have to cure out of the molds?

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Slice it while it's still relatively soft (but not too soft), then cure for three to six weeks, depending on water content.

How were the cans insulated? Could it possibly have gotten a little overheated?

Athena, after you pour your soap, sometimes it needs to be insulated in order to reach the gel stage. If you're using milk, it's highly unlikely that you'd need to insulated to get to gel, but if you'd made, say, an all-olive oil soap, you'd probably have to insulate to get it warm enough to gel. Some people wrap their molds in towels and things--I usually just toss a thick throw blanket over mine. Once I have gel all the way into all corners of the mold, I remove insulation, if any, or take the lid off the mold. With milk soaps, I've also placed the molds in front of fans or outside if it's cold, to better cool them down and prevent overheating.

 

[Morgaine]

NinjaPoodles, have you ever used yogurt instead of milk any of your soaps? I was reading on a soap forum about that and think I might give it a try on my next batch. I plan on freezing the premeasured yogurt in icecube trays and freezing them.

 

[smom1976]

Quote:
Slice it while it's still relatively soft (but not too soft), then cure for three to six weeks, depending on water content.

How were the cans insulated? Could it possibly have gotten a little overheated?

Athena, after you pour your soap, sometimes it needs to be insulated in order to reach the gel stage. If you're using milk, it's highly unlikely that you'd need to insulated to get to gel, but if you'd made, say, an all-olive oil soap, you'd probably have to insulate to get it warm enough to gel. Some people wrap their molds in towels and things--I usually just toss a thick throw blanket over mine. Once I have gel all the way into all corners of the mold, I remove insulation, if any, or take the lid off the mold. With milk soaps, I've also placed the molds in front of fans or outside if it's cold, to better cool them down and prevent overheating.

I put them in an upright cooler I didnt put anything around them just in a cooler... am I keeping it warm or coolingit off? and I used coconut milk does that have the properties of milk?

the smaller ones came out great.. but the taller ones in the pringles cans came out lumpy just the outer perimeter when I sliced into it the inside is great..

 

[Backyard Buddies]

OK, all you soapers. Where exactly are you finding your Roebic Drain Opener Crystals? I've been to their website and I've checked out every store in my area that is said to carry that brand, but they don't seem to have the Crystals (100% Sodium Hydroxide). Not even Lowes. Are you finding it on a shelf, or do I need to ask for a secret stash somewhere in a back room?

 

[cheeptrick]

I had a tough time locating it also...I was told they stopped selling 100% sodium hydroxide and made a law against the sell of it due to methamphetamine addicts.

I bought mine from http://www.brambleberry.com/supplies.html#lye BUT found another cheaper site....I'll search it out for you.

 

[cheeptrick]

Found them....Camden GREY... cheaper too 2lbs $5.90 for purchase with NO special forms!

http://www.camdengrey.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH&Search=sodium hydroxide

Good luck!!

 

[ninjapoodles]

I got it at Lowe's, and it's SUPPOSED to be in stock at every Lowe's store across the country. You might have to ask them to get it for you. It's way cheaper than ordering it by mail, if you can get them to stock it. Plus it won't get you on a "watch list."

Oh, I just found this pic of my favorite mold, a wonderful gift several years ago from my husband, from Upland. It has a silicone liner that is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It was pricey, but paid for itself by preventing waste. When you unmold the soap from it, the surfaces that were in contact with the silicone have a glossy mirror-finish.

In this pic, I didn't have the lid on, because this was a batch of goat's milk soap. I find that the wooden lid is usually insulation enough.

I can fill up the block mold, as pictured, to make "loaves" to slice into bars, or I can fill it 1.25" thick and use it as a slab mold.

Here were some of the bars from the above batch, before trimming: