Fumes, Temperatures, Glass/Stainless (No Plastic)

[AZJen]

Wikepedia is saying this about saponification values:

"Percentage of unsaponifiables[edit]
The percentage of unsaponifiable material varies with the substance:

• low percentage (<1%) : refined oils, refined shea butter, olive oil
• high percentage (6–17%): unrefined shea butter
• very high percentage (≥50%): beeswax
• unsaponifiable (~100%) mineral oil, paraffin wax"

I am now wondering if it might work to use a cloth to thinly coat stainless molds or cloth for lining wooden or plastic molds with a mix of something mostly unsaponifiable: perhaps that hydrogenated olive oil product and lanolin or mineral oil and beeswax.

 

[IrishLass]

I am now wondering if it might work to use a cloth to thinly coat stainless molds or cloth for lining wooden or plastic molds with a mix of something mostly unsaponifiable: perhaps that hydrogenated olive oil product and lanolin or mineral oil and beeswax.

I use mineral oil to 'grease' my individual, decorative soaping molds made of plastic. It works great.


IrishLass

 

[AZJen]

Jojoba oil is about 48% unsaponifiable and, therefore, could also work for coating stainless or similar molds of choice.

 

[Lin19687]

Jojoba oil is about 48% unsaponifiable and, therefore, could also work for coating stainless or similar molds of choice.

NO, No it can't

 

[jcandleattic]

What @Lin19687 said. You'd end up with soap that didn't come cleanly away from any intricate type of molds with patterns, if you tried to unmold too soon.

 

[AZJen]

I was thinking to wait enough time (until the soap is shrinking away from the sides) and to use simple forms like pans.

Others have put soap in the freezer for short periods of time to help it release from their molds. Has anyone tried this with bare stainless or with some kind of unsaponifiable coating like mineral oil?

 

[IrishLass]

I agree with Lin and jcandleattic on the jojoba oil. Some of that oil will react with lye, leaving you less 'greasing' oil for a smooth easy release. That's why mineral oil is my 'greasing oil' of choice. Also- don't put too much reliance on soap shrinkage for easy unmolding. It may shrink some here and there, but in my experience, it's not always as uniform as you'd like, meaning there are some parts of the soap that want to stick more tightly to the mold than other parts.

I've never used stainless molds for soap, but if I did, I would not choose to use oil for my releasing agent. With plastic molds, oil is fine, because you have the advantage of being able to slightly bend/twist the plastic molds to help create an air pocket to enable the soap to release easily and cleanly, but stainless does not lend itself to being bent/twisted in like manner. If I were to use stainless molds, my liner of choice would be freezer paper. I would cut it so it overhangs the sides, giving me 'handles' to lift the soap out easily.


IrishLass

 

[AZJen]

I agree with Lin and jcandleattic on the jojoba oil. Some of that oil will react with lye, leaving you less 'greasing' oil for a smooth easy release. That's why mineral oil is my 'greasing oil' of choice. Also- don't put too much reliance on soap shrinkage for easy unmolding. It may shrink some here and there, but in my experience, it's not always as uniform as you'd like, meaning there are some parts of the soap that want to stick more tightly to the mold than other parts.

I've never used stainless molds for soap, but if I did, I would not choose to use oil for my releasing agent. With plastic molds, oil is fine, because you have the advantage of being able to slightly bend/twist the plastic molds to help create an air pocket to enable the soap to release easily and cleanly, but stainless does not lend itself to being bent/twisted in like manner. If I were to use stainless molds, my liner of choice would be freezer paper. I would cut it so it overhangs the sides, giving me 'handles' to lift the soap out easily.


IrishLass

I see! Thank you for the explanation. I have seen tutorials on using freezer paper as a way to lift the soap out of the mold. I was just trying to avoid the plasticizers in the plastic lining of freezer paper. I plan to someday try some of the other options (lanolin, freezing, longer cure time, etc.) on a very small scale (single bar molds) before deciding that traditional freezer paper is what I must use, but again thank you for your vote and reasoning!

 

[earlene]

Lanolin works great as a mold release. I've used it many times. I have even used Vaseline, when I ran out of lanolin. Some folks use mineral oil. But I prefer lanolin.

 

[AZJen]

Lanolin works great as a mold release. I've used it many times. I have even used Vaseline, when I ran out of lanolin. Some folks use mineral oil. But I prefer lanolin.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, earlene! I have some lanolin already so am excited to someday be able to give it a whirl. And I have Vaseline (used in my garden once) in case I ever need a backup plan.

 

[jcandleattic]

I would not put lanolin/ etc., directly on a wooden mold with no other type of liner. However, in individual molds or SS molds it could work.

Also keep in mind that soap made in individual molds will act differently than batches made in larger loaf or slab molds so the time to release/unmold will be different as well.

 

[AZJen]

I would not put lanolin/ etc., directly on a wooden mold with no other type of liner. However, in individual molds or SS molds it could work.

Also keep in mind that soap made in individual molds will act differently than batches made in larger loaf or slab molds so the time to release/unmold will be different as well.

Also great input, jcandleattic!

I was not planning on lining wooden molds with lanolin (unless perhaps very cheap small ones as a test), but I am thinking to blend lanolin with something else for coating linen or some other natural cloth as a liner. We shall see if that works, and I plan to always start VERY small until sure it will. I have no money to waste.

I was primarily thinking to line stainless pans (or more decorative molds if I can find them) with lanolin. So, I'm happy to hear that you think it might work with those.