brittle soap

[beautifulbay]

I have this terrific all vegetable recipe, and it makes beautiful soap. However, cutting it always seems to be a problem. It cracks and chunks before I get the knife all the way through.

am I doing something wrong with the temps when I mix, or is something wrong in my recipe?

It is nice if I mold it into bars and dont have to cut it, but this is not always feasible.

So, how do you fix a long brick of soap that you can't cut????

 

[vivcarm]

If the recipe is not lye heavy, then how long do you leave it before you cut it? You can wait too long before you cut it.

 

[Saltysteele]

i agree, lye heavy or not cutting soon enough for type of soap.

Disclaimer: from what i've read here, not actual personal experience

 

[Guest]

Next time you make the recipe I would check it every hour to see how hard it is and judge from that when is the best time to cut it . Some recipes get hard so fast .

Kitn

 

[beautifulbay]

ok, I usually can't wait to cut a soap, so I tend to cut as soon as it's out of the mold. I think for this one, I only waited a couple of days.
I really don't think this recipe is too lye heavy, but I will try cutting is sooner than last time, see if it helps. Thank you

Any other ideas??

 

[Ishbel]

I cut my soap as soon as I unmould it - Im seriously impatient!! Well unless its a really soft one and I know its going to be that is (sometimes a recipe with GM and TD in it takes longer to harden up). So that means I have it cut up and on the drying rack between 12 and 24 hours after pouring it. Kitn is right though, keep checking, some soap hardens up very fast!

 

[Bnky]

I always use all vegetable type oils and have always cut within 24 hours. 48 must be too long for your recipe. Check often as Kitn mentioned.

 

[beautifulbay]

Thank you. Perhaps this is the problem then. This makes it difficult then, because some soaps won't come out of their molds before 24 hours...this one wouldnt budge, until I gave it 2 days, then by the time I cut it, it was cracking....

UGH!! how frustrating...and it's a super nice soap too!! :x

 

[Milla]

What type of mold are you using? Can you use a wooden one with freezer paper so that you can take it out and cut it within 24 hours? I think I cut mine around 18 hours.

 

[beautifulbay]

This one was put into a plastic mold. I love it, because the soap pops right out of it without any trouble, but some need a little more time than others.

I really think what I'll do is mold in direct bars with this recipe....