Should I use a heating pad?

[Gigio]

I soap in my craft shack which is somewhat at the mercy of the outside temperatures. We live in Florida. During the summer months I never had a problem with my soaps going through gel phase. Once I finished working out there, I'd lighly cover my tented loaf with a towel or light blanket, turn off the AC and 2 days later I unmolded lovely soap. Now that our temperatures have cooled down a little I'm noticing some loaves are not completely go through the gel phase. (I saw another post on this yesterday, but I didn't want to high jack it). Someone mentioned putting it on a heating pad. Can someone advise on that? How long, and on what setting? Should I try more blanket insulation first? I'm a little concerned about leaving a heating pad unattended. Also I don't want to have my soap volcano if it gets too warm.

Thanks in advance.

 

[CaraBou]

How cool is it there? If you don't want to use an external heat source, there are some other things to try first. Soap at warmer temps and insulate immediately with something heavier than usual, like you suggested. Better yet, nestle the soap and towels inside a shoebox, and drape it all with a blanket. You can also try using milk, honey, certain fragrance oils, or other "heaters" in your recipe.

You'll have to experiment to see what will get you there. I like giving my soap a hot water bath (in a crockpot on "low") -- but I live in a much cooler climate and don't keep my house very warm. I almost always have to force gel.

 

[mommycarlson]

I put nearly all my soaps on a heating pad, if I don't, they either don't gel or go through partial gel. Sometimes I'll have an FO that is a heater and I can tell right away so I just insulate and don't use heat. I preheat my insulation box (while I'm soaping) that DH made me, heating pad on top and on bottom, then when I put my soap in I turn the heating pads to medium setting. I cover with blankets. Luckily my heating pads have 1 hour auto off features, so I don't have to do anything else. I have had no issues with my soaps not going through gel phase since I started doing the heating pad. You may have to experiment. I used to check the temperature and sometimes if the soap wasn't hot even after an hour I'd give it a little 10 minute boost on high just to coax it into gel. In most cases I can unmold and cut in 12 hours.

 

[Susie]

I would use the heating pad. I use it every time now that I soap cooler.

 

[navigator9]

There are a lot of variables involved here, air temp, your recipe, the volume of the mold. All of these affect how the soap goes through gel phase, so it may take a little trial and error on your part to see what works. Depending on the size and shape mold you're using, another option might be a styrofoam cooler, you know, the real cheapie ones. I use a lot of individual silicone molds, and because they're so small, it's difficult to get them to gel on their own. And I use some of the plastic Milky Way molds and also Crystal Lite containers, and these can't be CPOPed in the oven, so I place them in the styrofoam cooler, and if I want to make doubly sure they gel, I may add one of those hand warmers that you heat up in the microwave. I leave them overnight, and by the next day, they've all gelled. Not knowing the size of your molds, I don't know if it would work for you, but I have good luck with this method.

 

[osso]

I use a heating pad with an auto shut off feature. I usually put it on high and reset it a few times until I'm comfortable the soap is gelling. I cover with a towel also. In my opinion, if the soap overheats, it was going to overheat anyway, it won't be caused by using a heating pad, although that may push it along.

 

[DeeAnna]

If you don't have an auto-off heating pad, you could also use a separate timer that you plug between the house outlet and the heating pad. Most of them are set to repeat the on-off cycle every 24 hours, but that would give you 24 hours to unplug the heating pad before it would turn on again. If you try this, make sure the timer is rated for the wattage that your pad will need.

Here's an example rated at 1725 watts -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MVFF59S/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[penelopejane]

I use a personal electric blanket - one that just goes over your knees.
It only gets to about 30*C. I preheat it as soon as I start making soap.
I soap fairly warm (I try to soap at 40*C - 100*F but by the time it's in the mold it's around 30*C).

I have a thick silicone mold (nurture) and a solid timber frame with a lid.
I put it in the mat and wrap it around the mold for 1 hr). The mat is about 30*c. Then I cover it with 2 doonas. After 1 hr i unwrap the soap and put it sitting on the mat and cover it with the two doonas again and don't touch it for 18-24 hours.
In winter when my soaping room got to 10*C I turned the blanket to Lo for 6 hours when I unwrapped it. In summer I turn it off.

 

[Gigio]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I did find an auto off heating pad and that seemed to help. Based on these replies I could probably turn it up higher. I like the fact that it turns off after an hour or so. Makes me feel more safe using it. The styrofoam cooler is a great tip also and my loaf molds would fit fine.

 

[penelopejane]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I did find an auto off heating pad and that seemed to help. Based on these replies I could probably turn it up higher. I like the fact that it turns off after an hour or so. Makes me feel more safe using it. The styrofoam cooler is a great tip also and my loaf molds would fit fine.

You'll have to experiment. When I bought molds that didn't fit in my oven i had to reinvent the way to cure my soap. Previously I'd CPOP'd at a very low temp and it worked perfectly every time.

I had to try and recreate that without the oven. I tried a cooler but it retained the heat too much and my soap was crumbly and dry.

You are not heating your soap. You are just creating a nice little micro environment where it can go through its own saponification process. Good luck with finding the right method for your work space and climate.