Opposites Pull Throughs

[Humblegoat]

Arghhhhh I didn’t leave headroom!! I got a smaller one out finally by standing on the can!! It’s been out of the freezer for 30 minutes.



I didn’t leave headroom! Damn! Got this far. Should I freeze again? Run hot water over the mold? Just leave it set for awhile?

Finally! I guess it is soapy beans for dinner tonight. Now I’m late and I don’t have time to get my soapamine fix!

It doesn't look like you lined it with freezer paper.

oh I sure didn’t. Several rookie mistakes that I hope to not repeat!! But it is how we learn. They were interesting. Here’s how they finally turned out. A couple of questions-my recipe was lard heavy 40/60 sat/unsat on advice of wild Plantica. 1. I didn’t put coloring in the regular batter, some soaps have white, others it is brown. The white was from the mold with less volume. Less heat generated with less volume?
2. I didn’t use goat milk (don’t tell Daisy Mae) as I was afraid it would burn the milk. Is it just gel that causes the brown? Do you use coloring for white to make sure it stays white, and will it really.
3. I used mica to color, they looked vivid in mixing, but was more muted than I had expected.
Any and all feedback would be appreciated. I don’t think it was too bad for a first trial, a couple are pretty awesome. I feel side pull is superior to center pull.
Thank you all for your help in my hour (literally) of need!!

 

[Humblegoat]

Well, you don't want it to defrost. The plan is to have condensation form inside due to the temperature change. So I'd refreeze it, take it out for 5-10 minutes, and then try banging it on the concrete. Even without headroom, you can probably get it out.

For future, some recipes do tend to release more easily than others. For me, those are the soaps high in saturated fats (lard, tallow). That may be because they harden sooner than many other oils, but I'm not entirely sure that's the only reason. Gelling the soap will also help because that also hardens it sooner. You can also line the molds to make it easier to get the soap out, but only if the soap doesn't leak through the seams of the liner (ask me how I know that one, lol). I've successfully used teflon oven liner sheets, cheap dollar store cutting mats, and freezer paper as cylinder mold liners.

@AliOop thanks for getting me through that! I would love to know your “learning experience” on lining the mold. I have a couple of options (I think), parchment paper? Or I have some laminated fiberglass that I am wondering if it would work well? Do you overlap in mold or butt it together?

 

[AliOop]

@AliOop thanks for getting me through that! I would love to know your “learning experience” on lining the mold. I have a couple of options (I think), parchment paper? Or I have some laminated fiberglass that I am wondering if it would work well? Do you overlap in mold or butt it together?

Your soaps turned out very pretty! Glad you were able to unmold them, finally.

Mostly I don't need to line my cylinder molds; my typical recipe is high in lard/tallow, gets completely gelled, and slides out easily using the freezer trick.

But I do have a high-OO recipe that I make for a friend. That one does require lining the mold, so that I don't lose my religion while trying to get it unmolded. My preference is something like these oven liner sheets, which I'm guessing are the same as the laminated fiberglass you referenced. You can also buy it in a single roll and cut that to fit. Whether I overlap the edges or butt the seams together, I do have to run some masking tape down the seam. Otherwise, the batter seeps out, making it more difficult to unmold. It also ruins the spherical shape, which can bother some people.

 

[Humblegoat]

Your soaps turned out very pretty! Glad you were able to unmold them, finally.

Mostly I don't need to line my cylinder molds; my typical recipe is high in lard/tallow, gets completely gelled, and slides out easily using the freezer trick.

But I do have a high-OO recipe that I make for a friend. That one does require lining the mold, so that I don't lose my religion while trying to get it unmolded. My preference is something like these oven liner sheets, which I'm guessing are the same as the laminated fiberglass you referenced. You can also buy it in a single roll and cut that to fit. Whether I overlap the edges or butt the seams together, I do have to run some masking tape down the seam. Otherwise, the batter seeps out, making it more difficult to unmold. It also ruins the spherical shape, which can bother some people.

Yes, I almost lost my religion on that one. Thanks for the info! It really is helpful. I’m going to try the laminated fiberglass and then look for additional options if that isn’t a breeze. My biggest challenge will be to cut it straight!!

 

[Humblegoat]

Your soaps turned out very pretty! Glad you were able to unmold them, finally.

Mostly I don't need to line my cylinder molds; my typical recipe is high in lard/tallow, gets completely gelled, and slides out easily using the freezer trick.

But I do have a high-OO recipe that I make for a friend. That one does require lining the mold, so that I don't lose my religion while trying to get it unmolded. My preference is something like these oven liner sheets, which I'm guessing are the same as the laminated fiberglass you referenced. You can also buy it in a single roll and cut that to fit. Whether I overlap the edges or butt the seams together, I do have to run some masking tape down the seam. Otherwise, the batter seeps out, making it more difficult to unmold. It also ruins the spherical shape, which can bother some people.

@AliOop thanks for the liner link. I tried the laminated fiberglass and it released like a dream, but it is a tad to thick and made by disk pull up crooked. Got your liners and the dreamy state of release continued! Thanks so much!! I would have given up and taken a hack saw to the molds I had just spent $$ on! Happy with the result.

 

[AliOop]

So glad it worked for you. That pull-through is very pretty!

 

[Humblegoat]

So glad it worked for you. That pull-through is very pretty!

Thank you. I really enjoy seeing them when cutting, it is intense work though. I wish I liked the end resulting soap better, not the look but how the soap functions.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

Whether I overlap the edges or butt the seams together, I do have to run some masking tape down the seam.

I'm gathering materials to try some pull-throughs, and I'm curious how you do the masking tape. I assume you have to put the tape on the inside (awkward?), and does that leave an indent along the side of the soap?
Do you prefer butting or overlapping the liner edges? I'll be using freezer paper for liner.
My recipe is high lard, so maybe I won't even need liner. Lots of experiments ahead...

 

[AliOop]

I'm gathering materials to try some pull-throughs, and I'm curious how you do the masking tape. I assume you have to put the tape on the inside (awkward?), and does that leave an indent along the side of the soap?
Do you prefer butting or overlapping the liner edges? I'll be using freezer paper for liner.
My recipe is high lard, so maybe I won't even need liner. Lots of experiments ahead...

To end up with the least amount of irregularity to the soap, my ideal is to butt the two edges tightly together to make an exact-sized liner. However, I'm not good at exact measuring or straight cutting, so I typically overlap the edges. Either way, I always tape the outside, so the tape doesn't touch the soap and leave two marks (one from each edge of the tape), instead of just one where the soap meets the seam. Also, I'm just not coordinated enough to tape the inside.

 

[Humblegoat]

I'm gathering materials to try some pull-throughs, and I'm curious how you do the masking tape. I assume you have to put the tape on the inside (awkward?), and does that leave an indent along the side of the soap?
Do you prefer butting or overlapping the liner edges? I'll be using freezer paper for liner.
My recipe is high lard, so maybe I won't even need liner. Lots of experiments ahead...

I agree with @AliOop , it is tricky! DO use a liner, it took hours to get my first try out of the cylinders, my recipe was 40% lard and the 40/60 saturated/unsaturated lard recommendations. Scroll up for my panicked post, thanks to AliOop because she pulled me through! I cut the liner and then took a vegetable can and wrapped it around it to tape. Tape ends up on the outside and fits snuggly in the cylinder.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

I cut the liner and then took a vegetable can and wrapped it around it to tape. Tape ends up on the outside and fits snuggly in the cylinder.

Thanks, @AliOop and @Humblegoat . I couldn't figure out how to tape the liner on the outside, so assumed you taped inside. I like Humblegoat's idea of wrapping it on a can
My (2nd batch of) disks arrive Monday and I can start playing. I ordered these on Etsy after measuring my mold. Ordered some a couple weeks ago on Temu that turned out to be too small and flopped around in my mold. Glad they were cheap!

 

[Humblegoat]

Thanks, @AliOop and @Humblegoat . I couldn't figure out how to tape the liner on the outside, so assumed you taped inside. I like Humblegoat's idea of wrapping it on a can
My (2nd batch of) disks arrive Monday and I can start playing. I ordered these on Etsy after measuring my mold. Ordered some a couple weeks ago on Temu that turned out to be too small and flopped around in my mold. Glad they were cheap!

@Feelin' Soapy remember that the little lip on the can is the inside dimension of the column (it is for me). The sides of the can between those two lips is a little bit less.