# cp soap stuck in wooden mold



## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

I am posting this for future reference to newbie soapers like me, and to share my experience as well.

So, this is my cp soap at 34% lye concentration (water only), with castor, coconut 76 degrees, cocoa butter, olive oil, rice bran and sunflower oils, scented with essential oil blend, colored with titanium dioxide and activated charcoal. The soap batter itself stayed liquid when i poured it in the mold.

I attempted to unmold this 34 hours from molding. As you can see, i used a wooden mold with collapsible sides, and the 2 narrow sides are already removed, but some of the soap stuck to the sides so the exposed sides had some cracks from pulling. I was able to use this soap mold at least two times before this batch (cp and rebatcbed), but there were no sticking incidents.

So, i put this stuck soap in the fridge for 2 hours. It has been 6 hours since i removed the mold from the fridge. The soap is still stuck to the sides.

Attached is a photo of the soap, taken 2 hours from the time the mold is removed from the fridge. Right now, the soap is sweaty.

I want to turn the mold upside down in the hopes that the soap will slide down from the mold. But i dont want to risk the top from being squished. No, the soap is not soft to the touch. It is actually firm enough to be cut cleanly.

Thoughts and advice are very much appreciated.


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## Balloons (May 18, 2015)

Your soap look great even though it's stuck. Hopefully someone will come along and help you. I'm new to co soaping and don't have any of the wooden molds. All of mine are silicone. Maybe take a knife very easily in between the mold and sides of the soap. Sorry I'm no help.


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## shunt2011 (May 18, 2015)

I can't tell from your pictured but did you line your mold?   Freezer paper makes unmolding from wood molds so easy.   Very pretty soap though.  You could run a thin knife around the edges or just let it sit a bit longer.


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## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> I can't tell from your pictured but did you line your mold?   Freezer paper makes unmolding from wood molds so easy.   Very pretty soap though.  You could run a thin knife around the edges or just let it sit a bit longer.



I did not line my mold because the supplier said this is a no-line mold. Which is true because the first two batches (cp and rebatched) did not stick to the mold...


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## shunt2011 (May 18, 2015)

Then I would probably just give it some more time and hopefully it will release.


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## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

And i will start using petroleum jelly on my molds.. I cannot afford having stuck soap.


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## Seawolfe (May 18, 2015)

What material is that against the soap? Is that HDPE / Plastic? Or more like a laminate?

I only ask because when you say "wooden mold" to most soapers, they immediately assume you are lining the mold with parchment paper or freezer paper.

If you are not in a rush, just leave the soap. It will shrink and come out eventually. I have had some soaps that really needed up to 4-5 full days in the mold.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (May 18, 2015)

You can afford some time, I'm sure - looks like this soap would be worth the wait!

The mould looks to be a pre-lined wooden mould. Was it very clean when you used it this time? Maybe there is some kind of build up that is causing the sticking? Was there a recipe change between the two? I saw a video where beeswax was causing a sticking issue whereas a recipe with no wax had no sticking issue


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## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

This just happened now. So, the soap just maybe a bit wet, thus it was stuck. I will give this until friday to try the other side which is still stuck in the mold.

Gosh, i have dispersed the black color into the white  thus the gray parts.


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## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

Seawolfe said:


> What material is that against the soap? Is that HDPE / Plastic? Or more like a laminate?
> 
> I only ask because when you say "wooden mold" to most soapers, they immediately assume you are lining the mold with parchment paper or freezer paper.
> 
> If you are not in a rush, just leave the soap. It will shrink and come out eventually. I have had some soaps that really needed up to 4-5 full days in the mold.



Apparently i did not wait.  it looks like a laminate... I will wait until friday or saturday... Since i could not wait and forced the other side, i will trim that side


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## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

Yes it was very clean. I wiped it off with damp cloth. And i think i also wiped the lining with vinegar.

Regarding the build up, do you mean oily film kind of build-up or soap batter residue?


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## cmzaha (May 18, 2015)

Sometimes it is just better to line the mold with freezer paper, shiny side out. I sit down and line my 12 molds so I always have some ready to go. Usually I precut my roll of freezer paper to the size I need so when I un-mold I get the paper and line my mold.  I hate mineral oil or vaseline because it is gooey and you cannot wash it off if you have a mold with exposed wood. I can wash my hdpe molds and do after each use but it is even hard to get vaseline off them.  It really does not take a lot of time to line a mold, even faster if you only make a slip liner and not  line the ends.


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## cece_em (May 18, 2015)

I haven't seen freezer papers here in the Philippines. And wax paper isnt good enough because sometimes the batter leaks  maybe next batch will be line with wax paper just to prevent soap sticking..


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## LBussy (May 18, 2015)

I can't imagine any surface that would be "no liner needed" that was not flexible in some way.  The soap may not "stick" but it will be "sticky" so that unmolding would result in the issues you have.  I'd imagine the vendor (where did they come from by the way?) probably used some mold release on the surfaces, or that it came that way from the maker of the material.  

When I started not long ago my desire was to not mess with lining a mold because it seemed like a PIA.  I have gone from buying silicone mold liners to starting to build some plain wood molds which I will line.  You may get there too.  I think you will find that learning to use a liner is far easier than messing with stuck linerless molds.  Take that from a guy still learning a good/quick way to line molds.


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## dixiedragon (May 18, 2015)

If you repeatedly freeze and thaw it, you will get some condensation and that might create enough slipperiness so it will slip out.


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## cece_em (May 20, 2015)

dixiedragon said:


> If you repeatedly freeze and thaw it, you will get some condensation and that might create enough slipperiness so it will slip out.




I tried to slice a part of the soap. It is still sticky! I wonder when this soap will be unmolded. Getting frustrated


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## kchaystack (May 20, 2015)

Not sure what your ratios were, but if you used mostly soft oils, it could be sticky for a while. My soap is usually a bit tacky when I cut. But it all hardens up in a few weeks.


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## cece_em (May 20, 2015)

kchaystack said:


> Not sure what your ratios were, but if you used mostly soft oils, it could be sticky for a while. My soap is usually a bit tacky when I cut. But it all hardens up in a few weeks.



Yes majority were soft oils. I should have used a liner despite the fact that i didnt have trouble unmolding previous batches with the same mold. The soap is stuck on the side really good.


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## newbie (May 20, 2015)

Did you try to remove the sides immediately after removing it from the refrigerator? The soap should be more firm when it's cold and that's the time to try to remove a side. Waiting for 6 hours after refrigeration just lets the soap soften again and probably defeats the purpose of chilling it. You said your soap was still sticky so that's the problem, I would say. The other part of the problem is that without some air on it, it will stay sticky for longer.

If you have a long sharp thin-bladed knife, I would take it and run it along the sides, making certain to keep the edge of the blade on the mold surface. Once you run it around the sides and bottom, you can get it out of there and be done. You loaf/individual bars may need trimming but at least you will have the danged thing out and be able to move on! It would be driving me crazy!!!


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## galaxyMLP (May 20, 2015)

I find that for my HP, I place it in the freezer for a few hours to overnight if I forgot to line it. Sometimes this will cause enough shrinking to push it out of the mold. It also sweats some when it comes back to room temp. So even if I don't get it out right after pulling it out of the freezer, I usually get it out withing the hour. My "no line" mold is a hdpe mold and has to be lined at least on the long sides. The short sides don't need to be lined. That means only one piece of freezer/wax paper is necessary. Its very easy!


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## Cactuslily (May 21, 2015)

I didn't read all posts, but without knowing your percentages, it seems just based on the list that there's a lot of soft oils. I'd just leave it in the mold longer and recheck. Can you post your percentages? Beautiful soap however!


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## Jstar (May 21, 2015)

I'd also like to see the percentages..34 hrs sounds like a really long time to leave in a mold imo. I'd go with the advice of running a sharp knife down the side and getting it loose..it wont dry on the sides very fast with no air to it.

ETA: Im also curious..why did you wipe it down with vinegar? Do you always do that, or is this the first time?


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## cece_em (May 26, 2015)

Jstar said:


> I'd also like to see the percentages..34 hrs sounds like a really long time to leave in a mold imo. I'd go with the advice of running a sharp knife down the side and getting it loose..it wont dry on the sides very fast with no air to it.
> 
> ETA: Im also curious..why did you wipe it down with vinegar? Do you always do that, or is this the first time?



I did wipe it with vinegar because the mold had some oily residue from the previous soap batch, and if i used a damp or wet cloth to wipe it, it bubbles and lathers like wet soap. 

i wiped the laminated sides thoroughly after the vinegar with clean damp cloth. It's just my way of cleaning my molds i guess.

Here's the percentages:
5% castor oil
35% coconut oil 76 degrees
10% cocoa butter
25% olive oil
15% rice bran oil
10% sunflower oil
5% superfat
34% lye concentration, water only (no milk)
Essential oil blend

So i guess here is the reason why my soap got stuck:
It was the first time i used activated charcoal and titanium dioxide. I premixed these into water, not oil. It was equal parts titanium dioxide/activated charcoal and water. I believe that had i used oils to premix the activated charcoal and titanium dioxide, the soap would not have become stuck in my molds. Because indeed, the molds i used do not need liners.

I used water based on what i searched from online resources. No, i did not try to premix the t.d and a.c in oil. My bad...

Lessons learned:
1. Better line the no-liner-needed molds preferably with freezer paper, except maybe for silicon molds. Wax paper for me works fine. I cant find freezer paper here in the Philippines and ordering online from Amazon or other foreign sites is too costly for me.

2. Lessen the water content for this recipe, or premix the activated charcoal and titanium dioxide in oil.

3. PATIENCE! And do not panic.

And i have finally removed the soap loaf from the mold  i should have just left it there, probably for 2 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks at most.


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## LBussy (May 26, 2015)

Do you have access to food-grade silicone spray?  Waxed paper is not a good idea - I tried a small mold with it over the weekend as a matter of fact and ended up planing the sides to get it off.  Thankfully the "mold" was a small cardboard box.


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## Susie (May 26, 2015)

I do not think the AC and TD mixed in water had anything to do with the sticking.  I think you have 2 main issues.  

1.  You need to line that mold(no matter what it says).  Not with waxed paper, though.  See if you can find some sort of plastic  to cut a reusable liner out of.  I would look for a plastic place-mat or something.  It might be wise to make a paper template before cutting the plastic so you know exactly where you need to cut.  Then score one side on the bends.  You can then tape that to the top of the mold to hold it in place.

2.  Too many liquid oils are going to prolong hardening time.  Period.  And you have lots.


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## Jstar (May 27, 2015)

I agree with others here..alot of soft oils and no liner. You can also use a plastic grocery bag to line that mold..may get some wrinkling on the outside edges but those can be planed off...way better than sticking -lol-

Now..where's those cut pics...we wanna see!


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## cece_em (May 28, 2015)

Jstar said:


> I agree with others here..alot of soft oils and no liner. You can also use a plastic grocery bag to line that mold..may get some wrinkling on the outside edges but those can be planed off...way better than sticking -lol-
> 
> Now..where's those cut pics...we wanna see!



Here is a photo of a few slices  i was able to have 12 slices of 1" thickness.

I do find the swirls really nice. It would have been better if the titanium dioxide and activated charcoal were more properly dispersed. practice makes perfect so i'll definitely do this batch again.


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## cece_em (May 28, 2015)

LBussy said:


> Do you have access to food-grade silicone spray?  Waxed paper is not a good idea - I tried a small mold with it over the weekend as a matter of fact and ended up planing the sides to get it off.  Thankfully the "mold" was a small cardboard box.



It may be available in some baking supplies store i will check 

I have used the wax paper without any untoward incidents over the past year. I just decided to switch to a no-liner-needed mold because it took me forever the line the mold.


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## LBussy (May 28, 2015)

cece_em said:


> It would have been better if the titanium dioxide and activated charcoal were more properly dispersed.


Some colorants are intended to be mixed with water, some with oil.  If your package is not marked try both and the one that _doesn't_ work will be very obvious.


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## Jstar (May 29, 2015)

Those are awesome!

And I agree with Lee..try your TD and AC in both water and oil..you will know which works in a split second 

Mine both say they work in both, but they obviously dont..they both work in water


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