15 Bar Mold

[JoeyG]

This is our sixth prototype. It is a mold my sister had us make for her. She had been using traditional plastic molds to create two halves of a bar, and then using soap to glue the two halves together.

With this mold she can do multiple colors and fragrances at the same time. This is the shape she wanted, but many others are possible.

VIDEO: http://mightymolds.com/2017/09/12/prototype-test-6-15-bars-5-scentsblends-1-mold/

 

[Kittish]

Nice. About how many ounces is each bar?

 

[toxikon]

That's a nice one!

 

[JoeyG]

Nice. About how many ounces is each bar?

They're either 4.4 or 4.6 oz each. Somewhere in that range.

 

[Kittish]

Lovely size. I like that mold.

 

[earlene]

This looks a lot like the one you provided as prizes to a couple of very lucky winners at SoapCon. They were red, white and blue, I think; or maybe it was just red and blue. It was great to get an up close and personal look at them. They looked like pretty nice sized bars.

 

[JoeyG]

Now I'm trying to remember what colors we did Earlene... LOL. I believe we made a 3 bar mold and a 6 bar mold as door prizes. Black & Yellow I know was one of them, and yeah, I think you're correct about the other being red, white & blue.

You got to speak with my son, yes? And I hope he gave you one of those little test-sized loaf molds.

 

[jewels621]

I was the lucky winner of the 3 bar mold at SoapCon, and it is, indeed, black and yellow. Today is the day I get to use it for the first time as I am finally home from my travels. I will post pics upon completion. Thank you, Mighty Molds, for your participation at SoapCon, your generous door prize donations, and your sincere interest in ideas and feedback from the soaping community!

 

[dibbles]

I was the lucky winner of the 3 bar mold at SoapCon, and it is, indeed, black and yellow. Today is the day I get to use it for the first time as I am finally home from my travels. I will post pics upon completion. Thank you, Mighty Molds, for your participation at SoapCon, your generous door prize donations, and your sincere interest in ideas and feedback from the soaping community!

Congratulations jewels! Can't wait to see your pictures.

 

[Obsidian]

excited to see the results. I've been anxiously awaiting someone to use CP with these.

 

[JoeyG]

I was the lucky winner of the 3 bar mold at SoapCon, and it is, indeed, black and yellow. Today is the day I get to use it for the first time as I am finally home from my travels. I will post pics upon completion. Thank you, Mighty Molds, for your participation at SoapCon, your generous door prize donations, and your sincere interest in ideas and feedback from the soaping community!

Heya!

So you were the winner... congrats!

I just wanted to let you know that if you encounter any problems with the mold, please let us know.

If you would be so kind as to share your results after using it, we would appreciate it greatly. The truth stings sometimes, but it's imperative that we know what is not functioning correctly if we are to provide the community with molds that they want, and are useful. Or for that matter, what would make it better.

Again, congrats on winning!
-Joey

 

[jewels621]

Usage update

So....I just finished filling the mold and I will update again when I unmold tomorrow.

Here's the chain of events.......

Recipe #1 (purposely using a known "finicky" recipe)

118g aloe vera juice
58g NaOH

100g coconut oil
80g mango butter
60g shea butter
60g rice bran oil
60g olive oil pomace
20g kokum butter
20g castor oil

Additives -
Custom mixed green mica
Micro tapioca beads
Green Clover & Aloe FO from NG

I mixed this to emulsion and hand mixed in the color and FO....and finally the tapioca beads. By this time I was at thin trace. Started pouring into the first cavity of the mold and was met with the hole plugging up. Learned that a very thin stream was imperative to getting the soap in the mold. The micro beads may have played a part. Even though they were plenty small enough to go through the opening, the soap hanging on to them wanted to cut off the air hole I needed to get a steady stream. The fight to get the first mold filled prevented me from getting the batter into the next 2 cavities, so I poured the remaining batter into cube molds. Not to be deterred, I made a second recipe to fill the remaining 2 cavities.

Recipe #2 (notorious for trace control and plenty of time to play)

120g ro water
58g NaOH

200g lard
100g olive oil pomace
80g coconut oil
20g castor oil

Additives-
Custom mixed red mica
Snowcake FO from Nurture

This time I mixed my color and fragrance into the warm oils before blending in the lye. I stick blended to light trace and the batter streamed into the mold like a dream. No clogging, no fighting....just lovely.

So far, I can see myself using this mold often. There were no leaks, and I'm anxious to unmold tomorrow. The only thing that freaks me out is that I can't SEE the soap in there! Are there air bubbles? Is it pretty? Is it gelling? Is the color turning out like I envisioned? Argh! It might kill me to wait! If I live through the night without seeing the soap, I'll post pictures tomorrow. Holler if you have any questions!

 

[JoeyG]

So....I just finished filling the mold and I will update again when I unmold tomorrow.

Here's the chain of events.......

Recipe #1 (purposely using a known "finicky" recipe)

118g aloe vera juice
58g NaOH

100g coconut oil
80g mango butter
60g shea butter
60g rice bran oil
60g olive oil pomace
20g kokum butter
20g castor oil

Additives -
Custom mixed green mica
Micro tapioca beads
Green Clover & Aloe FO from NG

I mixed this to emulsion and hand mixed in the color and FO....and finally the tapioca beads. By this time I was at thin trace. Started pouring into the first cavity of the mold and was met with the hole plugging up. Learned that a very thin stream was imperative to getting the soap in the mold. The micro beads may have played a part. Even though they were plenty small enough to go through the opening, the soap hanging on to them wanted to cut off the air hole I needed to get a steady stream. The fight to get the first mold filled prevented me from getting the batter into the next 2 cavities, so I poured the remaining batter into cube molds. Not to be deterred, I made a second recipe to fill the remaining 2 cavities.

Recipe #2 (notorious for trace control and plenty of time to play)

120g ro water
58g NaOH

200g lard
100g olive oil pomace
80g coconut oil
20g castor oil

Additives-
Custom mixed red mica
Snowcake FO from Nurture

This time I mixed my color and fragrance into the warm oils before blending in the lye. I stick blended to light trace and the batter streamed into the mold like a dream. No clogging, no fighting....just lovely.

So far, I can see myself using this mold often. There were no leaks, and I'm anxious to unmold tomorrow. The only thing that freaks me out is that I can't SEE the soap in there! Are there air bubbles? Is it pretty? Is it gelling? Is the color turning out like I envisioned? Argh! It might kill me to wait! If I live through the night without seeing the soap, I'll post pictures tomorrow. Holler if you have any questions!

Thank you kindly for posting your results. This is something that was bothering us as well. Like you, we found that we needed a thin stream to prevent the pour spout from overflowing. We are already working on redesigning this. When we actually start production, all bar molds will have a larger opening.

We know it's not a perfect solution, but a larger pour spout may help with being able to see too. We would be grateful for any other insights or suggestions you might have.

Looking forward to seeing the pics

 

[jewels621]

The soap has been unmolded.

While the thinner batter went into the mold easier, I did find some leakage at the bottom of the mold.

You can also see on the top of thedifficult green bar, that I thought the mold was full, but that in reality, the hole was plugged again.

Here are the unmolded bars.....oddly enough, I had better surface texture with the more difficult batter.

My conclusion is that a larger opening would be helpful for pouring, or maybe even a removable "cap" that lets you get the majority of the batter in the mold before adding the "cap" for the final grams of soap to be poured in to keep the three dimensional bar fully three dimensional....however, I can see that being an issue as having more pieces means more things to keep track of.

As an aside, I found myself at odds wanting to bump out air bubbles but knowing I couldn't without the mold coming apart. I didn't realize I was such a bumper! I think next time I use this mold, I will try some sort of way to bind the two halves together for a little bump now and then while I'm filling it. Just to make me feel better, I think, because I found no evidence of air bubbles without the bump!

All in all, this is a promising mold. Thank you for the opportunity to test it.

BTW....each bar weighed in at exactly 4.4 ounces.

 

[Obsidian]

They turned out really nice, I love the shape. I was worried about the small opening plugging, that was one of the big reasons I want to see these tested with CP.
I wonder if the small amount of leakage could be prevented by binding the mold? Maybe a bungee cord or a mini tie down strap would work? I'm a bumper too and would be very tempted to jiggle out bubbles.

 

[JoeyG]

The soap has been unmolded.

While the thinner batter went into the mold easier, I did find some leakage at the bottom of the mold.

You can also see on the top of thedifficult green bar, that I thought the mold was full, but that in reality, the hole was plugged again.

Here are the unmolded bars.....oddly enough, I had better surface texture with the more difficult batter.

My conclusion is that a larger opening would be helpful for pouring, or maybe even a removable "cap" that lets you get the majority of the batter in the mold before adding the "cap" for the final grams of soap to be poured in to keep the three dimensional bar fully three dimensional....however, I can see that being an issue as having more pieces means more things to keep track of.

As an aside, I found myself at odds wanting to bump out air bubbles but knowing I couldn't without the mold coming apart. I didn't realize I was such a bumper! I think next time I use this mold, I will try some sort of way to bind the two halves together for a little bump now and then while I'm filling it. Just to make me feel better, I think, because I found no evidence of air bubbles without the bump!

All in all, this is a promising mold. Thank you for the opportunity to test it.

BTW....each bar weighed in at exactly 4.4 ounces.

Heya,

Thanks for sharing the results. As I mentioned before, we are redesigning the opening. Hopefully that will eliminate the issue with filling the cavities. We have also discussed including on the mold the number of ounces needed to fill each cavity. And once we actually begin to manufacture our molds, they will come with at least one Velcro strap (perhaps two depending on mold size). This should allow 'tapping' without having to worry about the mold coming apart.

How did the mold perform as far as releasing the bars? Did you have to work to get them out?

Also, we've been playing around with the idea of making a little tool to use for swirling with the bar molds. Do you think that's something that would be useful, or is that mainly just a loaf/slab thing?

 

[jewels621]

How did the mold perform as far as releasing the bars? Did you have to work to get them out?

Also, we've been playing around with the idea of making a little tool to use for swirling with the bar molds. Do you think that's something that would be useful, or is that mainly just a loaf/slab thing?

Such an effortless release! I simply laid the mold on its side and lifted off the "top". The flexibility of the mold is a definite plus. I never even had to touch the soap until it was fully released.

I am hard pressed to envision a swirly tool for this particular mold. That may be just because of the opening size. It's an interesting concept. We do blind swirls in loaf molds (i.e. hanger swirls) so I think a tool for this mold might be fun to play with. And I'm sure, with the creativity of this community, someone will invent a really fabulous way to use it for a new signature technique!

Please keep us posted with updates!