How to insulate your soap loaf with a fancy swirl/peaked top

[saltydog]

This question may be ridiculous (and mind you, I have not tried CP-YET) but if you make the beautiful, peaked tops that I see all the time, how do you cover this directly after pouring? I watch videos and see people insulate their soap loaves to gel, but do you need a special loaf mold with a top for this? Thanks

 

[my2scents]

I never cover mine, I do CPOP & I just pop it in the oven @ 150 for an hour then turn the oven off & leave it over night.

 

[cp chick]

I place my mold in a box that our office paper comes in and put the top on it. It then gets covered with a blanket. I've read about others leaving the loaf in a warm oven that has been shut off, but haven't personally tried it.

 

[cthylla]

I don't cover mine....and obviously the soap needs to be getting hard to make the peaks!

 

[saltydog]

Ahh...makes sense, ok thanks for the replies.
Um, what is CPOP?

 

[Relle]

I sometimes put glad wrap loosely on the top, but its quite firm after I've done the swirly tops anyway.

 

[soapbuddy]

Try one of the insulated foam coolers (that are used for cold drinks).

 

[LavenderLady]

I always set mine down in a box and just close the lid. When I first tried that I also put a blanket on top, but I kept overheating and getting cracks, so now I just close the lid and that is that. It works just fine, I get gel without cracks!

 

[cinta]

Ahh...makes sense, ok thanks for the replies.
Um, what is CPOP?

Cold Process Oven Process




I also loosely cover mine with cling wrap, then I wedge it in a space on the kitchen bench between the microwave & blender and I can cover it with a thick towel, squishing the bulk of the towel down the sides against the mould so it's warm & snug however the cosy fit keeps the towel from resting too heavily on the top of the soap...if that makes any sense!

 

[busymakinsoap!]

I have a special mold that was built with really high sides. In saying that I dont insulate any more, I just let it do its thing, if it looks like the gel is taking longer than expected I pop it in a warmed oven for an hour or two

 

[margarita]

I also have a homemade wooden mold which is a little higher than I want my soaps to be, so I just put the lid on and that's it. It always gels, sometimes even overheats - no need for insulation.

 

[gaerwen]

silly question: when and why do we want to make soap gel, and when and why do we not want to??
I make cp soap, and have never heard of doing this cpop. can someone help me understand?

 

[Midnight Rowan]

I put the term "gel" into search, and came up with 70 pages of posts about gel, partial gel, and non-gelled soap lol :shock:

Here are a couple decent ones to get you started:

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24067&highlight=gel

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23279&highlight=gel

Have fun searching!