My "all-in-one" mold

[jayhkr]

So I've been looking at the various types of molds everyone has made and I really like a few designs. However each design had its own unique trait about it I liked. So I thought why not try to COMBINE those traits into one mold! I give you my "All-In-One" Soap Mold! (patent may be pending, lol). I took an idea of the hindged mold, mixed with the adjustable size mold, mixed with the no liner needed mold, mixed with the cutting slat mold! I know, pretty over the top. It's just a rough draft of it. I have a small 1 pound batch in it now to see how it REALLY works and see if I have any kinks in the design. So, what do you all think?

 

[jayhkr]

I also thought about making my own lye since this time of year we burn a lot of hard wood. So I also made a simple device to do just that. 5 gallon bucket with a spigot attached. Inside I will have a piece of cloth covering the inlet so to keep the ash out when its done brewing. Yeah, I was bored these past few days.

 

[TVivian]

Wow looks like you put a ton of work into that. The mold looks genius! I'm so curious how it worked out and if the liner you put in there released easily. Nice job!

 

[jayhkr]

Wow looks like you put a ton of work into that. The mold looks genius! I'm so curious how it worked out and if the liner you put in there released easily. Nice job!

Thank you, I will unmold tomorrow and take some more pictures. It's anyone's guess but it was a fun project. We'll see how it turns out!

 

[CaraCara]

I LOVE the mold. Very cool indeed.

 

[boyago]

What did you use to laminate the acrylic to the wood? That pine?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

That's a great looking mold. Ideas!

 

[AKjulz]

Those are both fantastic! Anxious to see how your soap comes out. My DH was just asking me if we were saving ashes for lye as we too are burning hard wood. We've not made our own yet but it is something we have looked into. I would love more info on it if anyone wants to share.

 

[CaraBou]

Great ideas! Why didn't I think of them?? Well thanks for sharing and please let us know the lefts and rights of your prototype!

 

[shivani]

Genius!!

 

[shivani]

Where did you learn this from?? N what did you use to make it no-liner-needed-mold? M sorry if this question is silly,i have never used any wooden mold,coz m a new to soap making n not a regular soaper.

 

[seven]

cant wait to see the outcome of the soap from your new mold.. brilliant idea btw

 

[jayhkr]

Thank you everyone! I got the idea from just reading different posts here and on other boards. I'll admit I'm a bjt nervous for the "unveil" but I'll be sure to post pictures regardless of what happens. This batch is also my first scented soap batch too, so it'll either be double good or double bad. As far as using the hardwood ash, the more I was reading the more I might not use any of it, but I guess its more of a "can I do it" project more than anything else. If I find a great recipe using ash water lye I will let everyone know. Give me a few more hours and I'll post the unveil pictures!

 

[jayhkr]

Well like all good ideas, tweaking is needed to make them better. Looks like I have a little tweaking to do but for the most part it turned out fairly well. I'm going to do a bit more research on the non stick sides. Thought plexiglass would be the ticket, I might try an alternative. I kind of figured the adhesive wouldn't stick, but its what I had on hand at the time. Loktite will do the trick next time, when I find a suitable nonstick replacement. Anyway, here are the pictures to the unveil.

 

[boyago]

What did you use? I was thinking of doing a couple puzzle box type molds with either Acrylic or this cool glossy PVC that I have seen but can't find anywhere. Gorilla glue (my fav adhesive company) makes an epoxy that I was going to use. HDPE would probably also work well too.

 

[jayhkr]

Well since I knew the acrylic wasn't going to adhere anyway (was more interested in if the soap would be nonstick) I only had wood glue on hand. I know loctite will bond it together, just need to grab some. I'll figure this out. It's now my project of "have to complete".

 

[Paintguru]

Silicone is probably your best bet for non-stick, but you need to figure out how to adhere it to the wood.

 

[jayhkr]

Silicone is probably your best bet for non-stick, but you need to figure out how to adhere it to the wood.

Yes, finding a adhesive is the easy part. Getting the soap not to stick is the fun, tricky part. I might just go the mylar route and call it good. The mylar just needs cut and it's reusable. Only draw back is I just have to peel it off after each batch. Might be worth it, but we'll see.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I was thinking of making this, but cutting baking paper to fit the bottom and sides with a little bit over for tucking it between the joins when the mold is in the "up" position.

 

[CaraCara]

You mean parchment paper? Go with freezer paper. With parchment and wax paper you will be peeling strips and bits off and cursing the whole time. Ask many on here how they know this.

One other cheap and functional option is to pick up the thin flexible plastic cutting boards at the dollar stores if they sell them, cut them to size and voila. They work well and peel nicely off the soap.