How long do I have to wait to cut non-gelled soap?

[bombus]

I have been experimenting with not gelling my soap for the past few days.
I have been pouring it in my garage, and just leaving it out there uninsulated
It has been around 40 degrees day & night, so I figure it is just as good as
putting it in a refrigerator.

I like the creamy look, but I can't believe how long it takes to cut the log!
I cut one after 48 hours, and it was kind of "wet crumbly". I didn't get nice
sharp cuts.

I did a second loaf and so far it has been 36 hours, and I am determined to
wait until it is ready. I took it out of the mold and peeled off the paper so
it can dry a little. On Thursday we are leaving for 10 days, and I'm thinking that
I may not slice it until I return.

When I force gel, the loaf is ready to cut in 18 hours. Is it really that much
faster to gel- or am I doing something wrong?

 

[IrishLass]

My gelled soaps are hard enough and ready to cut by 12 hours (I soap with a 33% lye solution), but not so the small handful of ungelled batches I've done. By 12 hours, the ungelled soaps were still quite soft, somewhat like the consistancy of cream cheese. This is typical with ungelled soaps ( you are not doing anything wrong.) Although ungelled soaps eventually get as hard as gelled soaps as time goes on, it doesn't happen anywhere near as quickly.

IrishLass

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Depends on the recipe and the mould. Shallow moulds I cut usually after 48 hours, sometimes only 24 hours.

 

[Vintageliving]

Depends on the oils and the amount of water I've used in the recipe.

Before I started using lower proportions of water, my Castille would need to sit in the mold for several days.

 

[whisks]

i can leave them for days before cutting now; i used to be very impatient, but now, because i'm so busy, it doesn't seem to be a problem. i went all out buying moulds as well, so i don't have to empty them out before i can make more soap.

 

[carebear]

depending on the oils - 5 days+

for me.

 

[holly99]

I cut mine around 48 hours.

 

[bombus]

Thank you for your responses- I can see that it really varies.
Yes- IrishLass- cream cheese is the perfect example.

Here is a picture of the soap today. It has been 48 hours- still so soft
that I can easily dent it with my finger, and now it is cracking! Don't
know what caused the brown specks Ugh!

The "ticks" at the top are my cutting marks that I made last night. All of the
other marks are spontaneous. I cut the excess off of the top with my
sheet rock knife, - easily 1/8 inch, so there are some vertical "waves"
caused by that. Mind you, when I put the soap to bed, it was LEVEL with the top of the mold.

I had something similar happen with another recipe, and thought I really messed up on my
measurements. Both soaps also GREW- expanded actually, right up and out of the mold.

Here is the recipe for my lavender disaster:
OO 35%
CO 32%
PO 26%
Shea Butter 7%
water 24.3 oz
lye 8.9 oz

 

[charlotteda]

:roll: Pay no attention to me because I dont really know squat but does the CO % seem a little high ? would that cause cracking ?

charlotte

 

[Guest]

:roll: Pay no attention to me because I dont really know squat but does the CO % seem a little high ? would that cause cracking ?

charlotte

That was my first thought, but not sure if that would cause those cracks. Those are interesting cracks.
IDLaura

 

[tHe sOaPinG TrUckEr]

Too much palm and coconut oils which creates a very hard bar. Try this:
Decrease to:
co 25%
po 15%

Increase to:
Shea 9%

Add
Canola 16%

No sure on the lye because I don't know your batch size>

 

[xyxoxy]

I almost never gel. Generally I unmold AND cut at 48 hours give or take. This works really well though the bars are soft at the time... but not so soft that it hurts them. They harden up just fine.

I generally use a little more palm than you plus CO and Babassu and others.

 

[carebear]

with a lot of olive you need to give it extra time -

I'd say just wait several days before cutting next time, and if you get ash issues then either up the non-hard oils or


I also know that if I soap a recipe that high in hard oils without gel I risk that nasty, deep, sticky ash that you cannot just ignore - if you get that, either gel or add more soft oils (I personally have learned that Canola and I are NOT friends. I can use a bit, maybe 10%, MAX 15% - but with trepidation - or DOS becomes an issue.)

but don't be afraid of coconut - I like it at 75% in some soaps!

 

[bombus]

with a lot of olive you need to give it extra time -

I'd say just wait several days before cutting next time, and if you get ash issues then either up the non-hard oils or


I also know that if I soap a recipe that high in hard oils without gel I risk that nasty, deep, sticky ash that you cannot just ignore - if you get that, either gel or add more soft oils (I personally have learned that Canola and I are NOT friends. I can use a bit, maybe 10%, MAX 15% - but with trepidation - or DOS becomes an issue.)

but don't be afraid of coconut - I like it at 75% in some soaps!

So are you saying that the higher percentage of hard oils the higher the risk
of ash? Do soft oils resist ash? Having that bit of information would help in
formulating!

 

[carebear]

actually I'm not saying that. I'm just speaking from experience that in my soaps that are 75% hard oils (or more) if I don't gel the soap I get that nasty sticky ash.

wish I could speak more to it than that, but I simply don't know more!

 

[SoapieCP]

I would be more concerned about the DOS IMHO, and I would assume that the cracking may have something to do with water evaporation. Although I wouldnt say I m an experienced enough soaper to know for sure. :S

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