Too Cold to Soap?

ariella42 · Jan 11, 2015

I want to try another batch of CP soap today. However, we have a bit of an issue heating our house, so it's about 50 degrees inside right now next to the heaters (and colder in the kitchen where I'd be working). Would that cause me problems with CP soap?

The Efficacious Gentleman · Jan 11, 2015

If you want to get gel, you might have to insulate a bit more than usual if the room is especially cold. But other than that, just be aware that the oils and lye solution will cool down a bit quicker.

snappyllama · Jan 11, 2015

I regularly soap in a cool room. I'll second what TEG said, you're not going to get a gel without a lot of effort and have to watch that your oils don't cool down too much. Other than that, just expect less time waiting for your lye water to cool down. Oh, I always use silk in my lye water... If soaping in a cool room with full milks, I've found that I need to let my milks be less frozen so that my lye water will heat up enough to dissolve my silk. I like to strain it just to make sure I don't end up with any strands in my soap.

ariella42 · Jan 11, 2015

Thanks for the advice! I guess I'll get started.

navigator9 · Jan 11, 2015

Boy, and I thought I was rugged, keeping the temp at 60 or so in my house! lol I always soap at room temp, and the only problem I've had is if I leave the melted oils sitting out too long, and they start to re-solidify. Then I just have to rewarm them a little. I usually make my lye solution the night before, so that's already cooled. As for gel, I CPOP my soaps, so I don't have to worry about that, but if you don't, then yes, as EG said getting soap to gel may be difficult at 50 degrees. The smaller your mold, the more difficult it will be at that temp. Good luck, and watch out for frostbite!

ariella42 · Jan 11, 2015

If I could GET the temp up to 60 in here, I'd be a happy camper! We're renting an old, poorly insulated house with the world's most inefficient heat. I'm hoping the house we're moving to in the spring is a little better off, at least.

Would a heating pad under the mold help with gel? If not, maybe I'll just see how non-gelled GM soap comes out.

Earthen_Step · Jan 11, 2015

Our house gets down to 35 degrees on rare occasions -- the norm is 40-45 degrees when I wake up *mid winter. Heating with wood a stove and having terrible windows/insulation causes drastic fluctuations. I have a large cooler that I have packed with foam insulation for my soap. I use a heating pad to get it warmed up, then store all the soap in there for it's insulation period.

I have also heard of people using their oven, putting it at the lowest setting then turning it off when you put the soap in. Maybe someone who does something like this can chime in. Leaving the oven light on (or pilot light if it's gas) can help keep the temp up a bit inside the oven.

ariella42 · Jan 11, 2015

That sounds like our house! We use space heaters as our primary heat source now, but they aren't that great for heating an entire house. I'll look into getting a cooler to keep it insulated. That would also let me keep it by the heaters without worrying about the cats getting into it.

navigator9 · Jan 11, 2015

ariella42 said:
If I could GET the temp up to 60 in here, I'd be a happy camper! We're renting an old, poorly insulated house with the world's most inefficient heat. I'm hoping the house we're moving to in the spring is a little better off, at least.

Would a heating pad under the mold help with gel? If not, maybe I'll just see how non-gelled GM soap comes out.

Yes, a heating pad under the mold works great. Cover the whole thing with a towel, and you should have no problem gelling.

And good luck with the new house in the spring. This spring, I'll be retiring and when I get my 401K money, the first thing I'm going to do is replace my furnace.....which is as old as me.....pretty darn old for a furnace! lol

osso · Jan 11, 2015

Earthen_Step said:
I have also heard of people using their oven, putting it at the lowest setting then turning it off when you put the soap in. Maybe someone who does something like this can chime in. Leaving the oven light on (or pilot light if it's gas) can help keep the temp up a bit inside the oven.

I pretty much do this. Also I pre-heat the mold in there.

bhelen · Jan 11, 2015

Do you have a particular reason for wanting gel? I always stick my soap straight in the freezer and I love the lighter color it gives.

Susie · Jan 11, 2015

With GM soap, I would not try for gel under the circumstances. Just get it to trace and pour. Let it sit at room temp, or even put it into the fridge to prevent gel altogether.

Nevada · Jan 11, 2015

A Remote thermometer is handy to put by the soap while wrapped up. It'll even record the daily high/low. Link here

Cactuslily · Jan 11, 2015

As I was reading these posts, something occurred to me. When is it considered too cool to soap? I usually soap at low temps. As a new soaper, am I soaping too low?

Too Cold to Soap?

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