Piping tops, days after pouring the base

[tricia819]

I poured 5 loaves of soap on Saturday. I was hoping to get a piping set that day for my birthday (also Saturday) but, I didn't so, I had to wait and order my own. It is now Wednesday and I have a piping set but, the bases are well on their way to curing. I have not yet unmolded them (let alone cut them) but, I was wondering if it was too late to pipe on them.

I looked for ideas online and wondered if maybe "frosting" the tops with melt and pour and then piping CP on that might work or maybe taking a heat gun to the top to soften / melt them a bit might help the piping stick?

Also, regarding the frosting recipe... I have also been researching that... I do NOT have a stand mixer and I only have a little hand held cake batter mixer that I could use for whipping. Do I HAVE to whip the batter for 45 minutes? Some suggest liquid oils for a slow moving batter, some suggest hard oils for a harder batter. I am not sure how to proceed. Does anyone have a good suggestion for where to find a good CP soap frosting recipe and what the pros and cons are of the different methods of making frostings?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me on this!!

 

[jcandleattic]

When I pipe my tops I use the same recipe I do as my soaps (ease of labeling) and wait until it gets a bit past thick/heavy trace to start piping.
No you do not have to whip the soap, unless you want your piping to be whipped soap (I've tried this, thinking it would be easier, it was not, and a total pain!)

I've never piped more than a few hours after my soap has been in the mold, so I'm not sure if the M&P would work, but what I would try first is scoring the tops of the soap loaves with a fork or knife and then pipe on that, maybe covering to try to promote some warmth (if not a gel) to help the soap stick to the top and not pop off after cure.

 

[Buckscent]

I have piped loafs a couple days after poring with no issue. I to use the same Recipe for piping, just a smaller batch.

 

[Soapprentice]

I have seen videos on YouTube with people piping a few days later.. the only thing she did is, took a fork and made marks on the side of soap where she is about to pipe and sprayed some alcohol.

 

[shunt2011]

I have done it in the past. My only suggestion is to score it a bit and if you do spray with alcohol do so lightly as I did it rather heavy and it left a discoloration on the soap (a line). Generally, I pipe as soon as the base is hard (not more than a couple hours) enough to support it. Mind you, I've only done cupcake and icecream cones with piping. I too use the same recipe for labeling ease.