# has anyone made a soap box?



## CaliChan (Mar 3, 2013)

What materials did you use and how did you get them / cut thrm
? We got taxes and I'm getting tired of my silicone mold. Its nice and everything but I really only like it for when I'm not gelling my soaps. Plus it bows a little in the middle and it bugs me lol. So I was thinking instead of going out and spending nearly 200 bucks on the molds I want. Why not make them?
I want a slab mold, loaf mold and a vertical mold (I've been oogling over brambleberries but its like 80 bucks o.o)
I'm thinking about making a soap cutter with the guitar stings to. I'm pretty crafty so I think I could do it I just don't know were to start or roughly how much it will cost. Is there a cheat sheet somewhere that I don't know about?


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## three_little_fishes (Mar 3, 2013)

Lowe's hardware has a tutorial for a loaf mold. My husband made that one for me, but made one of the sides where it can open with a hinge. The only thing I don't like is that my bars seem shorter than what other people make. I think I would use a wider board and make it a little shorter to even things out if I ever used that tutorial again.


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## houseofwool (Mar 3, 2013)

I just built one recently.  It was pretty easy.  Just make sure that the width of the top of the mold is equal too or a smidge larger than the bottom so you can pull the soap out.


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## marghewitt (Mar 3, 2013)

I'm lucky my husband builds all of mine. He said to see if Home Depot will cut your pieces to size if you buy the wood there. Then you could just glue and nail them together. You don't need a fancy mold with moving sides. The only one I ever bought like that broke within 5 months.


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## houseofwool (Mar 3, 2013)

I had my BIL cut the wood for me and glued and nailed it together.  Then I realized that one of the sides was slightly warped and the top of one end was slightly narrower than the bottom of that end so I had to take it apart and fix it.  I used it yesterday for the first time and it worked wonderfully (even if the soap was a failure!).


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## Mommysoaper (Mar 4, 2013)

My husband made my soap molds for me.  we used the dimensions from the BB molds, and he put hinges on the sides.  They don't look perfect, but the soap comes out just fine!  We just used scrap wood.

I saw some basic plans online too.  Don't remember the links though, but I'm sure if you google wooden soap mold plans or something like that, something will pop up!


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## 123seesix (Mar 4, 2013)

Made this one 2 days ago it only took about an hour. I used plexiglass and made my cuts with a table saw. clamped & glued my pcs. with 3m spray glue. the glue leaves it a little foggy where i doubled it up but i am very happy with it as it works well and the material was free from a dumpster find! this hold a 5 lb. loaf with room to spare.It needs a little sanding on the edges & the blue is the protective film i did not remove for pics. I think this is a good alternative to silicone and wood as it does not need a liner and you can see you work as you design.good luck!


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## Badger (Mar 4, 2013)

I am thinking about asking a friend of mine if she can make me a soap mandoline and maybe a loaf pan.  I am not at all talented in that way.


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## ruby61 (Mar 4, 2013)

I do have the 9  bar bramble berry mold.  So I wanted another and the 36 bar and a neighbor friend made me them for 20.00 each  and other than no dividers they are identical in construction.


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## Cherry Bomb (Mar 4, 2013)

http://www.chestnutfarms.com/Soap_and_supplies/info/mold_plan.html

This is all I could find.  if you're crafty you can build it for sure!!!!


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## Dinzing (Mar 4, 2013)

I built a wood loaf mold last night in about an hour bought every thing for it at lowes
I used poplar wood and piano hinges on the sides so it all unfolds to release the  loaf 
very much like the one from Lifeworks except for the no stick part ill be trying to figure that out on my next mold i think 
if I have some free time latter to night ill try to post a few pics
take a look on Lowes site at there Hardwood Boards section


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## CaliChan (Mar 6, 2013)

So much feed back! Thank you every one! But about how much did they cost to make?


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## hoegarden (Mar 6, 2013)

We have a art and craft shop here that sell all the craft materials to all the art school students for their projects. I do go and see the place once in a while and I think if I ever build my own slab mould, It probably won't cost me more than $20 for 1 mould. Just that i don't have a proper saw to cut the excess edges of the planks.

So you can consider going around those art craft shops or even DIY shops, I'm not sure, but I assume there are more of these in the states.


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## CaliChan (Mar 7, 2013)

I went to Lowes and I took my friend who used to work at home depot with me and she was talking about how most stores lokebthay will have a scrap bin. And well Lowes didn't  so we went home depot and they were soooo much nicer and the wood only cost .51 cents and the associate cut the wood for me and even nailed it all together!
So I didn't have to do anything but just a little bit of sanding  so my 2 lb soap box only coat me .51 cents plus tax!!!


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## hoegarden (Mar 8, 2013)

That was nice of the associate. and you really got a good deal.


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## LovelyMalia (Mar 8, 2013)

I just made a wooden box last weekend.

We used pine. Its an adjustable mold, so I can make up to 5lbs at a time.

The way we figured it was 4x4x4 per pound. So, my 1lb section was a perfect 4x4x4. My 2lb was 4x4x8 and so on.

It took me an entire morning to figure out the sizes I needed to make-haha!


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## CaliChan (Mar 8, 2013)

I know it totally made my day! Maybe there is hope for big businesess!


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## Marilyna (Mar 8, 2013)

CaliChan said:


> I went to Lowes and I took my friend who used to work at home depot with me and she was talking about how most stores lokebthay will have a scrap bin. And well Lowes didn't  so we went home depot and they were soooo much nicer and the wood only cost .51 cents and the associate cut the wood for me and even nailed it all together!
> So I didn't have to do anything but just a little bit of sanding  so my 2 lb soap box only coat me .51 cents plus tax!!!


 

Good heavens!  That's amazing!


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## Jolandi (Jun 4, 2013)

I got a few ideas of the internet and drew up plans whit what I thought was the best for me. I too it to a friend of mine and he made one for me. Have not used it yet So I cannot say how good it works.


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## Kay (Jun 4, 2013)

Yep, made one myself last week out of scrap black walnut. It's so easy, even I could do it! lol! Do you have any friends who might have some scrap wood laying around? It doesn't take very much. Even if you have to go buy some wood, I think it would be cheaper than buying one online.


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## DeeAnna (Jun 4, 2013)

Jolandi -- I would probably not use the center top bolt, if the mold were mine. As you pour the soap batter into the mold, the bolt will get covered in batter and be hard to clean. If you want to do any decorative work in or on the soap, the bolt will get in the way of your work. Also, the pressure of the soap batter is not very high for a mold that short and sturdy, so a center fastener is really not adding a lot. You have a bolt in the center of the bottom, and that should be more than enough. Just something to think about...

To all -- When designing a mold, keep in mind that your soap bars will shrink in height, width, and length as they cure. If you want to shoot for a specific bar size, be sure to add a little extra to your mold dimensions to allow for shrinkage of the cut bars. My rough rule of thumb is about 1/8 inch (3 mm) of shrinkage in the two longer dimensions of a soap bar and "a smidge" (maybe 1 mm) in the shortest dimension.


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## Moonshea Botanicals (Jun 4, 2013)

I downloaded the plans for the wooden soap mold. I plan on make on similar to the one that the Soap Queen uses in her vids. The one with hinges & hook & eye closures. :think: hmm I wonder if I can line the mold with plastic. Gluing the plastic to the wood.


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## CaliChan (Jun 5, 2013)

I've been considering painting the inside of one of my hand made molds with silicone. That way I don't have to sacrifice perfect shaped bars just cause I don't want to line my mold. (I have a silicone mold as well)


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