Refrigerate or wrap in towels? Gel or no Gel ?

[Jerry S]

I do CP most of the time. I did HP making bars for the Holidays, because I was running out of time. I’ve been soaping for 6 or 7 years, on and off. I don’t sell my soap.

All my bars turn out to my satisfaction. I generally do CP, combining my lye water and oils at roughly 110 degrees, stick blend to trace, add my FO’s and color then pour and wait about 15 hours before I cut.
The HP, I do in a crock-pot, after mixing the batter the same as CP. I work faster getting it in the mold cuz it wants to stiffen up on me. I wait the same 15 hours plus or minus a couple, before I un-mold.

I’m a little confused about some of the threads I read when after people pour they put there soap in the refrigerator or freezer. Then, on the other hand I read where others cuddle their mold after the pour in towels to keep it warm. Then there is the “Gel Factor” which I’m not completely clear on either.
Obviously, I am missing something, or doing something wrong.':cry:' Can someone or all give me your comments?':?'
Thanks
Jerry

 

[soapbuddy]

It's a matter of personal preference. I prefer not to gel.

 

[jennikate]

If you gel wrap in blanket. If say goat milk soap most prefer fridge for no gel. All in what you like. I gel usually its all personal taste. The difference is all in the look of the soap .

 

[jennikate]

Something i have seen suggested take a batch split in two wrap half in blankets sick other half in fridge and see which you think looks nicer.

 

[carebear]

I gel. My preference.
Plus I have a hard time preventing gel, so it's better to encourage it and make sure it gets to the edges than to have partial gel.

 

[Jerry S]

The “look” of my bars has always been pretty consistent throughout the bar. I mean the shade of the soap. When you say partial gel, do you mean that the center of the bar looks sort of translucent, while the outside is coating is not?
If this is the case, then what would prevent this, putting the mold in the refrigerator or keeping it warm with towels to keep it from “gelling”.
Jerry

 

[jennikate]

darker in center would be partial gel. Wrapping in blanket will get you full gell hopefully. Fridge overnight wil hopefully prevent gel.

 

[cwarren]

I gel. My preference.
Plus I have a hard time preventing gel, so it's better to encourage it and make sure it gets to the edges than to have partial gel.

same here

 

[Elly]

I also find it hard to sometimes prevent partial gel even if it goes straight into the freezer after mixing at low temps. Each batch behaves differently. I still prefer no gel but have to put up with partial gel sometimes, it is frustrating. The only time I encourage gel is when I use chocolate as coloring and desire a deep dark brown shade

 

[Elly]

sorry, message duplicated

 

[Jerry S]

This is really interesting. Sorry if what I say is confusing, but I have never experienced “gel” or partial gel as you all describe it. I have never seen this in my soaps in the whole time I have been soaping. My bars are always a consistent color throughout the bar regardless of the oils I use or if I color them or not. I do soap a little warm but that varies from time to time. I do have a thermometer but when my temps come down to 110 both oil and lye water I start to make soap.
I’m wondering if it’s the part of the country that I live in which in most cases is very dry, meaning very low humidity but I don’t know if that would have anything to do with it or plus the fact I'm at sea level or maybe a combination of different things.
This really seems strange to me…':?'
Jerry S

 

[Sunny]

Soaps that gel all the way through are uniform in color.
Partial gel is when the soap does NOT gel all the way through and then part of the soap is darker, part is lighter.

Putting the soap in the refrigerator (keeping it cool) is an attempt to keep the soap FROM gelling. It never works for me and I experience partial gel because of the natural heat that is generated by the soap - so part stays cool and part stays hot and that is partial gel.

Putting towels around the soap would be an attempt to help the soap gel all the way through (keeping it warm). This is what I go for.

Most likely if you make normal CP soap, and you have never tried to cool the soap on purpose, your soap is always going through the gel stage.

 

[Sunny]

So here is a picture of a soap that went through partial gel:







Part of it is light and part is dark because only part of the soap got to go through gel stage. I hope this helps a little!

 

[c.a.p.]

Great pic of partial gel, Tasha.

I use gm, cp, and most of my soaps do not gel. I like no gel. I don't freeze or cover. I will get a partial gel depending on my recipe or depending upon the eo. I've been taking notes, so on my batches where I do get partial gel, I'm going to try to force gel either by wrapping or by sticking it in the oven. I do not like partial gel.

Jerry: If your soap is uniform in color, either your batches are not gelling or they are all gelling. After you pour, if you are gelling, it will turn from an opaque look, to a more shiny, translucent look. And it will get darker in the mold. Not translucent like MP glycerin, but, it's hard to describe. If your soap looks basically the same after you pour and as it's saponifying in the mold and slowly getting lighter, then you are not gelling. And Tasha's pic should make it clear for you.

 

[Guest]

Wow, Thanks for posting the pic, Tasha. If you hadn't said it was a mistake, I would have asked how you got a perfect little arch in the soap like that.
One of the first batches I made this holiday season is rather translucent. I cp, put in pvc pipe, and wrapped in towels. When I put my hand under the towels about 5 hours later, it was quite warm and was even warm a little the next morning. So I unwrapped and let them cool. I wondered why they seemed so translucent. Will have to look at my recipe again.

However this soap seems to make my hand seem slimy. I am letting it cure longer and may just rebatch.

Does gel effect how the soap feels when used?

 

[carebear]

This is really interesting. Sorry if what I say is confusing, but I have never experienced “gel” or partial gel as you all describe it. I have never seen this in my soaps in the whole time I have been soaping. My bars are always a consistent color throughout the bar regardless of the oils I use or if I color them or not. I do soap a little warm but that varies from time to time. I do have a thermometer but when my temps come down to 110 both oil and lye water I start to make soap.
I’m wondering if it’s the part of the country that I live in which in most cases is very dry, meaning very low humidity but I don’t know if that would have anything to do with it or plus the fact I'm at sea level or maybe a combination of different things.
This really seems strange to me…':?'
Jerry S

are you sure? if you soap heats up in the mold, then you likely are going through gel. do you peek? the color of the soap in the mold darkens - starting in the center then spreads to the edges as it progresses, so by the time you take it out of the mold, it's usually a uniform color.

humidity would have nothing to do with it - and I don't think sea level would have much impact either.

 

[Jerry S]

Thank you all for addressing this gel issue.
Ok, I think this gel no gel thing is starting to make a little sense to me. First let me ask one more question on the photos that Tasha posted, is the gelled part of the soap on those bars the Outside or the Inside of the bar?
Carebear….Yes, my soap generates heat in the mold for a few hours after I pour it. It sets on my bench to the open air. As it reaches total saponification the color turns consistently the same shade throughout, if I have put a colorant in it or not. So, maybe as you describe total gel, that’s what I’ve got.
I am going to post some pictures of my soap in its mold and also the pictures I’ve taken of my bars after I cut them.
I have to pick up a friend at the airport this morning, but I WILL POST those pics on this thread later. Thank you all again…lol..I keep thinking of Carebears caption…you can’t cure stupid..''
Jerry..

 

[carebear]

the gelled part is the center. the edges are ungelled.

 

[Jerry S]

Here is a shot of some brown oatmeal castile and white soap made with
lard and a couple of other hard oils..note no shade differences.

Here is another shot of my bar mold, I do a lot of my bars in this one cuz
its easy to unmold and cut them..they cure for about 15 hrs. on the bench just as you see them..no cover

These pink bars are mostly OO with castor and PO with plumeria scent.
note they are pretty consistent in shade...

This is my Log mold with one I poured but cant remember what went in this one....No gel shade differences on this...I let it cure the same as the
others on top of the bench..about 10 hours.

Just a close up of the same bars of the bar mold..the bars turned out really nice and the color your looking at was consistent throughout the bars..thats why I was so confused about reading on the Forum about soaps that gel and have different shades. they sat on the bench just as you see them..

Jerry S

 

[PrairieCraft]

Geez, no wonder you are able to get a gelled soap with no cover on. That is a lot of soap! I think people wrap their little molds in blankets to insure gel because there isn't as much soap and so it might not create enough of its own heat. Pretty soap, BTW.