Bar Mold Vs Loaf Tell me your Pros and Cons. Help me Decide on A Bar Mold

[reinbeau]

Would you ever use a wooden mold without lining it? Not really following there. I feel pretty good about the inserts being correctly sized so there's no "divots" and even if you got some soap on them, you could pop the end with a kitchen knife. Both ends would be accessible on all of them because of the dado (groove).

Hmm, didn't think of it that way. Good point. Duh on me Regarding the tall skinny - yes, it's making the bar on the side, so to speak, but people just love them, the skinniness of them makes them easy to smaller hands to hold, I've heard people say.

 

[snappyllama]

Lee, I've used my dividers only about 10ish times. So far I haven't seen any wear on them. I'm a hobbyist though, so my usage is pretty light.

The T&S is a bit like making a bar sideways. They are great for being able to do certain designs though. They seem to have gotten really popular recently, with a lot of suppliers suddenly offering the molds. I really like the size bar they make. I have fairly small hands and the soap fits in my hand better than typical loaf molds. I agree with Ann, you could make a regular sized multi-loaf and a T&S multi-loaf. I actually haven't seen an multi-T&S loaf, so that could be a selling point. Also, one thing I've seen folks mentioning is looking for a T&S that cuts into fewer bars... most produce 12 bars which is a little much for hobbyists like me. A multi-loaf with each loaf making 8 or 9 bars would be nice.

 

[snappyllama]

Another thought... a T&S multi-loaf with enough headroom for a textured top might be deep enough to get two regular bars out of slab configuration. That would be great for things like spin swirls or for folks that just want to make bigger batches.

 

[reinbeau]

Another thought... a T&S multi-loaf with enough headroom for a textured top might be deep enough to get two regular bars out of slab configuration. That would be great for things like spin swirls or for folks that just want to make bigger batches.

I like the way you think! I do like to be able to cut bars horizontally for various effects like spin swirls.

 

[LBussy]

I'll play with some measurements and see what I can come up with. Making The One Mold™ (with apologies to JRR Tolkien) may be a tall order if you will excuse the pun, but within reason some dimensions can be fudged with inserts as I have seen some of the others do.

In theory, once a design is done it's not much harder to make a slightly different size since I won't be using CNC. I do need to order some more blades though.

 

[IrishLass]

Wow, Lee- awesome design!

Re: unmolding: The hinges on mine make the task of unmolding quite easy, but the one thing that I'm wondering about with your design is how easy or difficult it will be to slide those end pieces up and out in order to open up the mold to get the soap out. My wonder stems from the way in which I line my mold. I use either mylar or silicone fondant mats that are temporarily 'glued' to the sides of my mold with Vaseline. Although it doesn't take much effort to detach the sides of my mold outward from the Vaselined mylar or silicone with a gentle tug or push so that I can swing the sides down away from the liner (which is still stuck to my soap), I'm trying to picture whether or not I might need to slide a knife down and run it along the length in between the mylar and wooden side before the sides can slide up unhindered.

I gave some more thought to this while drinking coffee this morning. It struck me that the design you shared results in bars that are not 3.5" wide if you use it in slab mode. As I said I monkeyed around a bit with a design and I used the following assumptions for a stab at a "universal" mold:

Yes- my slab bars are 2.5 long by about 3 5/16" wide. I compensate for the slight loss in wideness by making my slab bars thicker.

I drew your slab dimensions out on paper to physically 'see' the size bars it would make, and it's just the opposite to mine- the width of each bar is a perfect 3.5", but the length is just a bit shy of 2.5". lol No biggie for me, though- I'd just simply compensate the same by making my slab bars thicker.

Making 1 mold to rule them all (hats off to Tolkien) sure would be awfully cool indeed if one could work all the bugs out, but I wonder if it would turn out to be more trouble to make than it's worth. You might end up having to take it to Mount Doom to throw it into the fire and keep Gollum company. lol

If it were me (and if I made molds), I wouldn't try to include a T&S aspect to the design. I'd make a separate mold for that instead, because the taller sides might prove to be a frustration when using the mold in its other modes.

For what it's worth, my T&S mold liner makes soaps that are 3.75" high x 2.5" wide, but the wooden mold that holds the liner itself is actually 5" tall (1.25" taller than the liner) to provide some extra headspace in case of upwardly expanding soap when gelling. That much height in a universal mold would annoy me to no end if I were using it in slab mode or in regular log mode. Just my 2-cents.


IrishLass

 

[Luv2Soap]

To me it is a tossup. I like the loaf molds because you could be extremely creative with them with swirls and embeds. However, I like the bar molds because they feel more like real soap in my hand, or at least the soaps that I am used to.

 

[LBussy]

Re: unmolding: The hinges on mine make the task of unmolding quite easy, but the one thing that I'm wondering about with your design is how easy or difficult it will be to slide those end pieces up and out in order to open up the mold to get the soap out. My wonder stems from the way in which I line my mold. I use either mylar or silicone fondant mats that are temporarily 'glued' to the sides of my mold with Vaseline.

A reasonable point. The hinges to me just "feel" wrong, But I'll noodle on that some more. This should be simple, allow lifting up the mold when full, and ideally become an heirloom and not a disposable mold after years of even the roughest handling. A little bit of raw soap on those hinges would spell disaster for them I fear.

I'm really hoping to avoid all metal which could come in contact with raw soap for that reason. It should also be tool-less of course.

I drew your slab dimensions out on paper to physically 'see' the size bars it would make, and it's just the opposite to mine- the width of each bar is a perfect 3.5", but the length is just a bit shy of 2.5". lol No biggie for me, though- I'd just simply compensate the same by making my slab bars thicker.

I think it would be impossible to make a loaf length which was perfect for everyone - for the same reason that the soap cutters out there are either adjustable or are purchased at a desired width. Everyone has a different idea of perfect. At the worst, a particular length would leave one "bad" bar, and everyone knows that's the soaper's bar anyway.

For what it's worth, my T&S mold liner makes soaps that are 3.75" high x 2.5" wide, but the wooden mold that holds the liner itself is actually 5" tall (1.25" taller than the liner) to provide some extra headspace in case of upwardly expanding soap when gelling. That much height in a universal mold would annoy me to no end if I were using it in slab mode or in regular log mode. Just my 2-cents.

Agreed. I was more looking to find one design which could be modified when made to allow different options without designing a completely new mold each time.

To me it is a tossup. I like the loaf molds because you could be extremely creative with them with swirls and embeds. However, I like the bar molds because they feel more like real soap in my hand, or at least the soaps that I am used to.

I can appreciate that. The challenge is, as we've seen, everyone has a different idea about the right size.

 

[TeresaT]

Lee, I love the mold and like many others, would like to have one. However, I think the bottom of the mold should be smooth, not grooved. I have the mold from Dianna's Sundries that IL posted about earlier. The bottom is smooth. I made a single loaf and it leaked. It was easy getting the soap off of the bottom. However, it was a major chore getting it out of the grooves where the divider sits. I cannot imagine going through that again on a larger scale, as I would if I don't properly line the bottom of your mold.

 

[LBussy]

Lee, I love the mold and like many others, would like to have one. However, I think the bottom of the mold should be smooth, not grooved. I have the mold from Dianna's Sundries that IL posted about earlier. The bottom is smooth. I made a single loaf and it leaked. It was easy getting the soap off of the bottom. However, it was a major chore getting it out of the grooves where the divider sits. I cannot imagine going through that again on a larger scale, as I would if I don't properly line the bottom of your mold.

I appreciate your observations.

The challenge is, I think, a design that is mechanically sound yet provides features soapmakers want. Anyone can make a plain box. I want to make something people don't supply.

Done well, a mold like that with dados (the grooves are called dados) could be very handy. I don't think anything can prevent a mess if the liners leak. A mold could be made that would still come back apart easily even if it leaked. Would that alleviate your concern?

I've been poking around, sticking scrap wood together, trying to find a good way to do it. If it's going to be just like everything else then I'm not going to bother because there are plenty of choices already.

 

[TeresaT]

I appreciate your observations.

The challenge is, I think, a design that is mechanically sound yet provides features soapmakers want. Anyone can make a plain box. I want to make something people don't supply.

Done well, a mold like that with dados (the grooves are called dados) could be very handy. I don't think anything can prevent a mess if the liners leak. A mold could be made that would still come back apart easily even if it leaked. Would that alleviate your concern?

I've been poking around, sticking scrap wood together, trying to find a good way to do it. If it's going to be just like everything else then I'm not going to bother because there are plenty of choices already.

OK. I see your point. I'd invest in it with or without the dados. That was just an observation I made while looking at your cool drawings. And the only reason I even thought of it was because of the leak I had. (Which I probably wouldn't have had if I used freezer paper instead of the "custom" liners that came with the mold.) I love the idea of using one mold to make three logs at a time. My only experience so far with a slab mold was a failed column pour that reminds me of a dead amoeba.

 

[LBussy]

.My only experience so far with a slab mold was a failed column pour that reminds me of a dead amoeba.

That's not a failure, you've just not thought of a catchy name to describe it.