Life span of silicone gang molds or is it possible to hand shape cp?

[Karyn]

Hi everyone...I'm still here and learning and my next adventure is figuring out if I want to make my own silicone gang mold.

Possiblity #1 is making my own silicone gang mold to have a multiple of the shape I want to make. I could do it, but I can't seem to find an answer to how long the mold's expected life span would be.
Any ideas?
The shape I'm after is a large (fat) oval. There's nothing on the market for what I'm after.

Possibility #2 may or may not be a possibility.
Can you hand shape cp soap at some point in the set up process? That would be ideal.
Say, if I wanted to have an oval-y shaped soap ball? Would that work?

I think I'd love for Possibility #2 to be an option, but I've never heard of that being done before.

Thank you so much for any help with my daydreaming!

Happy new year

 

[SaltedFig]

Hello Karyn

There is a fellow who makes molds (that's his business) and he talked about the difference between tin cure and platinum cured silicone for mold making - his point was the platinum cure molds last a lot longer, but the initial costs are higher. Perhaps if you do a search for "platinum cure silicone", you might find some suggestions on the best brand(s) to buy where you are

Hand shaping CP soap is possible ... soap clay, or soap dough might be what you are looking for

Alternatively, most CP soap recipes have a time window that allows for manipulation of the dough while it is firm, but malleable. If you are working with freshly made, ungelled CP soap, remember it will still be very alkaline, so wear gloves for shaping work

 

[Karyn]

Thanks so much SaltedFig!

I checked out the ideas you mentioned, clay/dough isn't quite it. I want to end up like a hard bar of soap at the end of curing. So I think your second idea about finding that window of opportunity (firm but malleable) is what I'm looking for. I should be able to press out hard edges that way, don't you think? As in, I would get the loaf out of the mold, cut it into pieces and then press/squash the edges a bit to round them out of being hard edges. Does that make sense?

Also, thanks for the tip about the gloves. I think the ones that I have on hand will need to be upgraded. They're just latex gloves but I think I need something a bit more substantial.

 

[dibbles]

I think you should be able to do it that way. I've let small amounts of batter sit overnight on a piece of freezer paper, and it is very malleable the next day. I just use my regular latex gloves when handling it.

Soap dough/clay will harden once it is exposed to air during cure. I just thought I'd mention that in case you thought it stayed soft.

 

[Karyn]

Oh, thanks dibbles! I did think it stayed soft, although that seems silly now that I think about it. haha
I've got some experimenting to do...