questions on hp soap

[moozakabooza]

so i decded to check out hot process soap and i have a few questions that i havent been able to find the answers to yet so if your making hp soap is taking the gel phase out does that mean that once your hp soap cools you are able to cut it without any gel phase happening again?
please add any helpful tips you guys might think will help!
thanks

 

[Lin19687]

Gel phase is done. When you cut it depends on the recipe.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm not sure what you mean by "taking the gel phase out".

Gel is a physical state that soap can turn into, much like water (liquid) can turn into ice (solid) or water vapor (gas) depending on the temperature. The three physical states of water are ice, water, and water vapor.

Soap can be a solid or a gel (a soft paste), depending on the water content and on the temperature. So the physical states of soap (simplifying a bit here) are solid soap and gelled soap.

When soap saponifies, it can turn into a gel if the chemical reaction releases enough heat so the soap becomes warm enough to turn into a soft paste. Once the soap cools down, it turns into a solid.

If you heated this soap back up on the stove, it won't saponify, because that process is done, but it will turn back into a gel if it gets warm enough.