Hard time with wire cutter

[froggybean37]

Morning, all!

So I just got my first wire soap cutter and was SO excited - but I can't seem to get the thing to give me smooth cuts :???:

In the picture are two bars from the same loaf (cut at about 18 hours). The one on the bottom i cut with my usual method of a regular knife, and on the top the wire cutter. At first I thought they were all little bubbles, but the bar on the left only has a few bubbles. I tried cutting a few loaves that were a bit firmer prior to this and had the same result.

Any ideas?

 

[snappyllama]

No clue about wire cutters, but I love the soap!

 

[houseofwool]

I get the same thing with my wire cutter.

I've stopped worrying about it. My customers don't care and once the bar is used a few times, they aren't visible.

 

[lsg]

Here are a couple of suggestions. Turn your soap log on its side and try that to see if it helps eliminate drag marks. This works well when you have mica or other materials decorating the top of the soap. You might also need to tighten the wires. You also might be cutting your soap when it is still too soft.

 

[IrishLass]

You're not alone in this dilemma. Over on another forum there have been a few discussions about this troublesome issue. Several say that their knives give the cutting surfaces of their soap a much smoother appearance than their wire cutters. At one point, there was even some tongue-in-cheek crazy talk about whether is was possible to make a Freddy Kruger or an Edward Scissor-hands multiple bar cutter with knives instead of wires. lol

Probably the best explanation/theory that I've read of why this happens is that wire cutters tend to squeeze through the soap as you are cutting and push any tiny air bubbles that night be present to the side, and then they expand back once released, giving the surface a slightly unsightly appearance. In comparison, when a knife or a putty blade cuts through soap, any tiny air bubbles that might be present are smoothed out by the flat, smooth, larger cutting surface of the knife or putty blade.

I've read that some soapers just embrace the roughness, while others either give the rough surfaces a brief wash and polish under water, or plane the rough surfaces off.

For prevention, some suggestions I've read said to make sure to burp your stick-blender really well or else exchange it for one that makes less air bubbles, and to also make sure to bang the side of your soaping pot before pouring, as well as to bang your mold after pouring to release air bubbles.

Other suggestions were to make sure your wires are very taught and free of debris before cutting. Also, a couple of soapers reported better wire-cutting results when they switched to soaping cooler.

All of the above are reasons why I still go to the trouble of using my knife to cut. Yeah, it takes me more time to make tick marks and all, but it seems to cover over a multitude of soapy 'sins' from the sound of it. lol

IrishLass

 

[Susie]

This is why I love my miter box and blade cutters.

 

[Meganmischke]

I have found if you wait longer to cut the bubbly texture is not.as likely to occur. How long? It will depend on your recipe. I read this somewhere and it definitely helps. The way you do this will depend on of you have a single or multibar cutter. I have a single so it was pretty easy to figure out what the sweet spot between bubbles and too hard to cut. I made a loaf and made my first cut at 24 hour and made a cut every so often. For me the best time to cut is between 35-48 hours not gelled.

 

[TVivian]

Yup same issue here. Less stick blending, more hand stirring. Make sure the stick blender has absolutely no air trapped underneath. I keep a small misting bottle of 90% alcohol nearby when I'm slicing. I give each cut surface a quick mist and run it across a smooth paper towel. (Viva brand is nice and smooth with no textured designs) this seems to wipe out any bumpage.

 

[froggybean37]

No clue about wire cutters, but I love the soap!

Thanks very much, snappyllama! I'm not one for rustic soap, so the rough cuts drive me bonkers!

 

[froggybean37]

All of the above are reasons why I still go to the trouble of using my knife to cut. Yeah, it takes me more time to make tick marks and all, but it seems to cover over a multitude of soapy 'sins' from the sound of it. lol

IrishLass

I'd like to say that the wire cutter is saving me time, IrishLass, but by the time I tighten and tweak all the wires and then buff/plane up my soap and make it look how I like, I might as well have just cut each one by hand and then have time to relax with a cup of coffee!:roll:

I did try tightening the wires as much as I could with one loaf, but still the same lumpy soap