Questions about gel and timing!

[tersh79]

Hi soapers! Last night I made my FIRST BATCH of CP soap! (Hooray! Thank you all for the help and guidance to this point!)

It looks great - it gelled almost the whole way in the 12 hours since pouring.

http://imgur.com/utcOHEa

But not quite, and I haaaate the un-gelled outside edges. I know I can always just bevel those off or something, but I'd love to not have to do that.

So my questions - am I jumping the gun? I still have 12 hours until I plan to cut. Will it keep gelling? Surface temp of the soap was 88*F. Room temp is roughly 83*F - I live in Las Vegas and keep a warm house.

I did wrap the mold with a few towels (on the sides and top) and added a wool blanket this morning (on bottom and wrapped around to top). Should I put the soap outside too? It's about 90* outside right now. Would this help make sure it gels the whole way, or am I past the point of no return and how it turns out is how it turns out?

Thank you all so much!! I'm already ready to make this recipe again - I can see why this is an addictive hobby!

Edit: BTW it's 30% coconut oil and 70% olive oil if that helps. Kept it simple!

 

[Hazel]

Congratulations on your first batch! I'm not sure if it will keep gelling. However, the ungelled outer edges is just an aesthetic issue and it's still soap. You could bevel the edges off and put the cut pieces into an organza, sisal or muslin bag to use as a soap saver bag. If you can, please post pictures of your batch. :grin:

What type of mold did you use? I've had problems with ungelled outer edges when I've used a silicone mold. A trick someone mentioned was to heat the mold in the oven before pouring to ensure the soap would completely gelled. I found this did work for me. When it's really cold, I warm the mold, pour and then set it back in the warm oven.

 

[Rosnasharn Farm]

Hi soapers! Last night I made my FIRST BATCH of CP soap! (Hooray! Thank you all for the help and guidance to this point!)

It looks great - it gelled almost the whole way in the 12 hours since pouring.

But not quite, and I haaaate the un-gelled outside edges. I know I can always just bevel those off or something, but I'd love to not have to do that.

So my questions - am I jumping the gun? I still have 12 hours until I plan to cut. Will it keep gelling? Surface temp of the soap was 88*F. Room temp is roughly 83*F - I live in Las Vegas and keep a warm house.

I did wrap the mold with a few towels (on the sides and top) and added a wool blanket this morning (on bottom and wrapped around to top). Should I put the soap outside too? It's about 90* outside right now. Would this help make sure it gels the whole way, or am I past the point of no return and how it turns out is how it turns out?

Thank you all so much!! I'm already ready to make this recipe again - I can see why this is an addictive hobby!

Edit: BTW it's 30% coconut oil and 70% olive oil if that helps. Kept it simple!

Congrats on your first soap...
With all that Olive Oil it will be a soft soap so I would leave it as long as you can in the mold.

ETA oh and I cant see your pic its just a little square.

 

[roseb]

Congrats! There is no turning back now...you will be addicted! Can't speak to the mold, I use a wooden mold (that I made myself..thank you very much) and always get a gel.

 

[MKRainville]

Congrats on the first soap! Can't wait to see a photo!

 

[kazmi]

Congrats on your first soap! It doesn't hurt to keep it wrapped up for the remaining hours - just don't peek as this will cause it to cool. I think once most or all of the lye is gone the sponification process is done so whether it continues to gell depends on where your soap is at in the process. I've taken my soap out of the freezer after 24 hours and it started to heat up to go into gell so you never know.

 

[Cemetery]

First, I think it's awesome that your first batch was successful.

I have used plywood molds, silicone, plywood with a silicone liner and wood molds made from MDF.

My plywood slab mold always gels completely when wrapped with two blankets an a lid. I wait 24 hours before unmolding. The last soap I did I actually waited 36 hours.

I found that the silicone liner with the plywood mold made the soap so hot I got bubbles on the bottoms and the sides.

The straight silicone works great. My wood MDF loaf mold got a full gel with the same insulation as the slab. It actually got so hot I started to get bubbles. I'm in Arizona so I have a similar climate. Not sure what kind of mold you are using but I can't imagine not getting full gel if you insulate and wait 24 to 48 hours.

I think that it's still early and if you wait the full 24-48 hours and try not to peek too many times, like me, it will get full gel. If you find you have to add more heat, I would recommend placing the mold on top of your dryer. It will generate some more heat while the laundry is going.

I tried CPOP and it was a disaster. I even used a digital thermometer and watched the temp closely. It just created tiny bubbles all over the surface f the soap.

Good luck and let us know what you find out!

 

[tersh79]

Hey everyone! Thanks for the great advice. Check out the soap here: http://imgur.com/a/Ipdm6#0

I actually used a wooden cigar box for the mold. It seemed to work great aside from the not quite full gel, the sides were not even a quarter inch thick so it makes sense that the heat was lost through the side. I actually have a plywood box mold I made I think I will use for my next batch (which, of course, I'm already planning!) I'm working on getting used to the process with small batches before wasting a bunch of oil.

And now.... I wait!

Sent using Soap Making mobile app

 

[kazmi]

Looks good! and it sounds like you've got the soaping bug too LOL Always planning the next batch

 

[Saswede]

You could always try not allowing the soap to gel - which is my preference because you lose less of the essential oils, and the color seems to stay more uniform and clear. I learned about the "cold method" when reading up on milk soaps, and have used it ever since - mostly successfully.

To do this, I soap when the lye and oils have cooled right down (at or below 30 degrees C - which I think is around 85 F) and then refrigerate the soap in the mold for about 4 to 6 hours, which is when gelling generally occurs. And then I leave the soap in a cool place for a total of 48 hours before unmolding, because the saponification process slows down in the lower temperature. (In France most of the houses have a cellar/basement, so that's where my soap goes from the fridge.)

Even doing this I do sometimes get uneven gelling, especially with some EOs (citronella has caused me some problems!) and soaps high in shea butter. And in the really hot weather we've been having over here recently, I even resorted to using the freezer for the first 2 hours for a special batch that I didn't want to have go wrong! Then moved it to the refrigerator for the remaining 4 or so hours. (It worked just fine, thankfully!)

 

[savonierre]

Great looking sap, as it cures you may not even notice that edge that did not gel.

 

[tersh79]

I might try this just to get a feel for gelled/ungelled soap! Thanks for the info. I'll let you know how it goes