My lovely salt soaps unmolded - pic heavy

[jcandleattic]

Can you say SARCASTIC?? LOL They seem to be an uber fail. - well most of them.
Out of the 9 bar mold, 3 turned out Okay - 4 with major chunks out of them and blemishes, and 2 - well, you'll see. 2 are just WTF? LOL

1 perfect one - (well, perfect compared - lol)

3 decent -

4 with defects -

2 WTF -

But the actual molded ones turned out nice. The rose mold was clean I swear it, so why they turned yellowish, I have no idea, but I like the egg, chick and bunny.

I'll have to clean up the bottoms of the molded ones though, so they sit flat. But here they are.
I think they are all close to 6+ oz, but will weigh them out later...
I'm too disappointed at the moment to think about it.

 

[judymoody]

Don't be too discouraged, they are very hard to cut cleanly.

Best option is to hover over them and as soon as they've achieved full gel, slice them up when they're still warm.

Or use individual molds, as you found out.

You could probably take the crumbled bars and crumble them some more and use them as a scrub?

 

[jcandleattic]

Don't be too discouraged, they are very hard to cut cleanly.

Best option is to hover over them and as soon as they've achieved full gel, slice them up when they're still warm.

Or use individual molds, as you found out.

You could probably take the crumbled bars and crumble them some more and use them as a scrub?

The Kelsei mold is like using individual molds. No cutting required. Once you put the dividers in, essentially it's cut.
They just stuck to the sides of the mold and wouldn't pop out like normal soap does.
Honestly, I'm not one to babysit my soap, so I'm not even 100% sure this even gelled. LOL I pour, cover then leave until it's time to unmold. LOL

I'll take the crumbled ones and either incorporate them into another batch, OR I'll do as you suggested and add them to a scrub.
Either way, nothing will go to waste.

 

[Hazel]

The roses and Easter ones look great. I don't think you've got any that are a failure. A lot of my salt bar batches crumble when I cut them - I think it's just the nature of the beast. There's not much leeway when it comes to time for cutting them. (I miss the specific time a lot.) This is why I really prefer molds with individual cavities.

eta: For your Kelsei mold - soap can still stick so maybe you should rub a little mineral oil on the dividers before inserting them. Then you might not have the problem with crumbling. I've got some molds with individual cavities that I sitll have to use mineral oil in so the soap will come out without crumbling.

I've had soaps discolor from silicone molds. I've learned to run them through the dishwasher on the top rack several times before I use them. I think the problem is the quality of the silicone. I tend to buy the bargain silicone molds and I think the discoloration is from bleeding. This may not be why yours discolored. I'm just talking about what happened to me.

 

[jcandleattic]

The roses and Easter ones look great. I don't think you've got any that are a failure. A lot of my salt bar batches crumble when I cut them - I think it's just the nature of the beast. There's not much leeway when it comes to time for cutting them. (I miss the specific time a lot.) This is why I really prefer molds with individual cavities.

I've had soaps discolor from silicone molds. I've learned to run them through the dishwasher on the top rack several times before I use them. I think the problem is the quality of the silicone. I tend to buy the bargain silicone molds and I think the discoloration is from bleeding. This may not be why yours discolored. I'm just talking about what happened to me.

The discoloration could be because of that - this rose mold was cheap and is OLD...

I didn't have to cut the blocks though. I was using my Kelsei mold, so it was like having them in individual molds. Once the dividers were in (right after pouring) they pretty much were cut. They just stuck to the sides and didn't slide out like "normal" soap does.
I'm not so discouraged I won't do it again, but I'll def make a smaller batch so that it won't overflow the mold and also it will be easier to take out of the mold. LOL

 

[Hazel]

I realized after I hit submit that you hadn't cut the bars. I edited to add more to my first post.

 

[jcandleattic]

I realized after I hit submit that you hadn't cut the bars. I edited to add more to my first post.

No worries.
And yes, I thought I should have added some sort of mineral oil or something as I was trying to pry them off the inserts. LOL Too bad I didn't think of it BEFORE I got to that step... LOL

Plus I've only made about 6 or 7 batches of soap since this time last year, and before that it had been 2 years since I did ANYTHING, so I'm really really out of practice... this year, though I do plan to step up my game and TRY to make at least 2 batches a month if not more. Epsecially since my soap room/basement is all nice and finished.

 

[Hazel]

And yes, I thought I should have added some sort of mineral oil or something as I was trying to pry them off the inserts. LOL Too bad I didn't think of it BEFORE I got to that step... LOL

I learned it the same way...after I had poured the soap into the mold.

 

[Soapy Gurl]

I don't think they look bad at all!

 

[Dragonkaz]

Great that most of your bars are ok. Love the flowers and easter shapes.

Here's to you loving using these in about four months!

 

[jcandleattic]

Great that most of your bars are ok. Love the flowers and easter shapes.

Here's to you loving using these in about four months!

Yeah, I LOVE salt bars. love love love them. I can't wait for these to cure out so I can use them. And with this big of a chunk bar, they will last FORever! LOL