Just to clarify
@MelissaG, you are saying the mold doesn’t come out of the silicone liner, correct? You are not having an issue getting the silicone liner out of the wooden mold, right? (And I am easily confused and need to clarify.)
I typically CPOP my soap, and the loaf is hard enough to come out of the mold 12 hours later, sometimes less. If I had to wait several days to remove the soap from a liner, I would call it a soaping failure and reformulate the recipe. I have no self-discipline to wait on cutting those bars to reveal the design!
![Rolling on the floor laughing :rofl: 🤣](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f923.png)
![Rolling on the floor laughing :rofl: 🤣](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f923.png)
The silicone liners in loaf molds sometimes cause problems with the overall finish on the sides of the bars, the absolute worst of which is silicone rash.
![Face with symbols on mouth :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: 🤬](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f92c.png)
And it can be difficult to break the seal between the silicone and the soap. To avoid problems with the silicone, I now use freezer paper (plastic side facing soap) to line a silicone mold, or cut a Mylar liner to fit. I know, it makes no sense to line a silicone loaf or slab mold because it’s supposed to release, but now I don’t have problems with silicone rash or getting the soap released.
For loaf molds made of wood, I started tossing worn out or temperamental silicone liners and treating the wood with mineral oil to make it water resistant. Mineral oil won’t turn rancid or interact with the lye. Molds are then ready for use with Freezer Paper (FP) and/or Mylar liners.
Freezer paper pros:
- Disposable, so no washing liners or molds afterwards
- No silicone rash from CPOP temperature errors
- Easy to source at the local stores
- Versatility in fitting molds of various dimensions
Freezer paper cons:
- Disposable, creating waste with plastic in it
- Expense of replacing freezer paper supply
- Must be cut to size and fitted to molds for every batch of soap
- Potential to sometimes absorb moisture in the mold, creating gentle ripples on the sides and bottom surface of the loaf
I already liked using Mylar sheets, cut to size, to line loaf and slab molds. I bought
10 sheets of clear 12 x 12, 10 mil Mylar from Amazon for $8.99. My latest Custom Craft TS mold came with its own Mylar sheets to line it.
Mylar liner pros:
- Reusable
- Doesn’t warp or wrinkle
- Heat resistant, so good for CPOP with
no risk of silicone rash ![Partying face :partying_face: 🥳](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f973.png)
- Transparent, so used with a transparent mold you can see the design as you build it
- Liners are cut and fit only once for multiple uses in a specific mold (label them)
- Can use leftover Mylar scraps for making stencils
Mylar liner cons:
- Need to wash liners after every use
- May still need to use FP or silicone liner in addition to the Mylar in a wood mold that isn’t water resistant
Hope this gives you some ideas for alternatives to keep using the molds you already have.