Do you prefer gell and why only milk soaps get ungelled

[Maythorn]

I had to gell a small almond batch I did because it wanted it that way, there was no stopping it. Am I correct in thinking it produces a harder bar? The recipe just subbed a small amount of almond oil instead of some of the olive and that is the only difference between it and my other soaps. Anyway, I think olive is harder.

My ungelled goat milk and buttermilk soaps seem softer and definitely more opaque. Even if they're really aged, if a bar gets used a lot in one day, it's really kind of mushy by night time.

I have to decide about this I guess. But what would happen if you didn't gell and there was no milk in the batch? I never tried that.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Gelling speeds up saponification, so the bar will seem harder than a non gelled soap in that it can be unmolded sooner. Gelling milk soaps can be tricky because they tend to overheat as it is. You can suppress gel in any soap for whatever reason you like ungelled soaps for.
I prefer to gel for 2 reasons: 1. it can be unmolded sooner, and 2. it wants to anyway

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I prefer gelled. I like the look of it better and it seems to stay harder and last longer in the shower. I even gel my milk soaps, the very few I make. Yes, they get a little darker, but that doesn't bother me a bit. I haven't noticed any funny milky scent to those soaps, but I have never figured out the big deal about gelling milk soaps.

 

[nebetmiw]

I have never used olive oil because my skin just does not like it. I have used almond oil though and they were some of my hardest bars. But my formula has changed since then too. I try not to gel but I did the last one in my new mold. Had to put it out in the cold to unmold it for cutting.

I use pvc for that one from BB and it is thicker than most pvc so it gelled on me. But even then I still had to chill it to cut it. Non of my others have I had to do that with but they were pringle can molds and they never gelled on me unless I wrapped them. I am now doing coconut milk soap and my new recipre is softer than my old one gelled or not gelled. But after cure it is just as hard as my old recipe. I have done same new recipe with my pringles can too and did not have to chill it too cut.

So it all comes down to what oils used in what amounts. Gelling gives a whiter bar but I have not seen much differance in cutting between the two gel or not gel.

 

[danahuff]

As other said, you can gel or not gel any soap. Doesn't have to be milk. You can also gel milk soaps successfully. I do. However, I have noticed that when I use titanium dioxide, if I do not gel, I tend not to get those glycerin rivers in my soap. I haven't figured out the secret formula for avoiding those glycerin rivers if I do gel my soaps with titanium dioxide. I have found I sometimes have to wait a full week to unmold and cut when I don't gel. The soaps eventually get harder. You can try adding salt or sodium lactate to harden up the ungelled soaps. When I remember to do it, that's what I do.

 

[CaliChan]

Don't do it!! I tryed it with non GM bars and they were so soft I couldnt cut them for a week

 

[Maythorn]

Yep, I have waited a week with not gelled when I didn't want to go with less water and milk in case the scent accelerated. I don't have any titanium dioxide but I wonder if by opposite a dark discoloring scent like chocolate would make rivers.

The almond went really dark. It's about a milk chocolate color. All messed up though by freezer paper that crinkled from heat exactly where the cords run through the electric pad. I saw that and I thought what next? So I intend to make the almond again (mostly all I do is redos) and this time in the sliicone cavity mold and then in the freezer to make sure it unmolds all right. I'm going to beat those fairies one of these days.

Thanks!

 

[new12soap]

Ungelled soaps take a little longer to firm up and get hard. The end result will be about the same, if your soaps are soft chances are it is a soft recipe. Olive oil will cure out to something hard enough to pound nails given enough time, but that is not all hardness means. Olive oil soap is also very very soluble in water, and will "melt away" much more quickly in the shower no matter what it's age. Try the exact same recipe, let one gel and stop the other one, and try them both in 6 months. I know, that is a long time to wait for an experiment, but I think you will find they are nearly identical except in looks.

 

[Maythorn]

That's so true about olive new12soap. For me Castile seems more practical as a facial bar and the rest of the family can use a harder bar for hands and kitchen.

I'm going to post my standard recipe I created in Soapcalc and see what people think but the numbers look pretty good.

Not gelling a batch is a little easier because you just pour it and check on it a few times for the next two hours and you're done. This is 1 pd size, for bigger there's more chance the refrigerator will be needed. I do remember not gelling a darker scent one time and it came out looking muddy and not real even. The almond I gelled looks a nice complete maple syrup brown.