How long should I wait for it to set up?

[gigisiguenza]

I haven't been able to make soap in a week, been too busy with work and filling in for people out of town. But I've been planning hehehe.

I have an idea I want to try involving embeds and this brought me to a couple of questions I couldn't find adequate answers to on the web:

Should the embeds be made using the same recipe that I plan on making the rest of the soap with?
I know I need to let the slab I'm planning to make the embeds from set up so it's solid enough to cut, but how long is too long a time to let it set up before I risk having separation issues in the finished soaps?
I would hate to do two days of work on this idea only to have the soap split apart as it hardens cuz the embeds were too solid, or I didn't prep them properly.

As it stands now I plan on using one of the two recipes I've already had success with, and I'm going to stick with FOs and colorants I've already used, to lower my risk of having trouble with this experiment, but I might decide to tweak the recipe to have more lard, and sub safflower for olive, to avoid the green from the OO influencing the hues in the end product. Not sure yet, cuz I'm still planning and weighing options LOL

Any suggestions or feedback from those who've played with embeds would be appreciated.

TIA

 

[Yooper]

You can make embeds out of any soap you like, and when to cut depends on the recipe and shape. For example, I saw the greatest idea here: http://www.soap-making-essentials.com/soap-curls.html#.VcifwPlViko That requires the soap to be pretty soft.

You could use little embeds out of molded soap, like little butterfly molds, and those can be hard.

 

[kumudini]

Has it been a week since your awesome fallen leaves soap already?
What recipe you want to use for embeds is up to you. If you are making embeds for a specific soap and those are going to be a major part of the main soap, as opposed to adornments on top, I would use the same recipe and fragrances as the main batter.
I would cut the embeds with in 12-14 hours unless the loaf is too soft.
I think you can use embeds anytime after cutting, just spritz with alcohol just to be sure, before you put them in the soap.

 

[gigisiguenza]

Yooper - Ty for the link. I've seen that pick before and wondered how soft it would have to be

 

[gigisiguenza]

Vkumudini - spritzing with alcohol is what helps the fresh batter adhere to the embeds I assume? Ty for the info and yes it's been a week already , I'm excited to use it but have a to wait another three weeks geez lol