silicone loaf pans... what's the deal? (foamy, fluffy soap)

[meeplesoap]

I usually use wooden or acrylic loaf molds, but I found myself needing to make many 1 pound loaves at once in the last couple weeks and the only place I could get them locally only had silicone.

I've used silicone before for mini sample cubes and hexes and of course embeds. Mostly small items. But my loaves (exact same recipe that hardens fine in the wood mold) it's got a strange cheesecake type texture after three days. The outer shell is firm, but when you cut in, it's gooey. There are some gel spots, but it's not the gel areas that concern me. It's just weird! Literally like a cheesecake, it's even sort of fluffy and whipped looking! I will see if I can get a photo to show you.

I thought the first batch, maybe I was in a hurry and didn't mix the oils well enough. Yet three batches later, they're all the same. The only other difference is that it's been quite hot lately (100 degrees). Having not soaped in the heat of summer here, I am wondering if that's the issue.

Any ideas? I will post my recipe tomorrow. (Too sleepy to get up now!) Perhaps this is a common soap issue in other climates, it's just never happened to me, and I can't find much searching for "foamy soap" except for things that are MEANT to be foamy! :wink:

 

[CaliChan]

That really is odd I've never had that happen before.

 

[kharmon320]

Do you normally gel your soaps in the wooden molds? If the soaps did not go through the gel phase in the silicone, it will have a different texture and take longer to harden.

Did you use a different fragrance, etc.?

 

[kazmi]

Haven't used a wooden mold yet but don't feel/see a cheesecake texture from my silicone loaf mold. But haven't soaped in hot weather yet.

 

[VanessaP]

The wood insulates a lot better than silicone does. I pop my silicone logs in the oven to force it to gel, otherwise it loses the heat a lot faster. A few pictures would probably be ideal to see what is happening

 

[Marieke]

It happened to me too a couple of times. I barely insulated the silicone mold and my soap also was cheesecake-like after 2-3 days. I use my silicone mold only for left over soap. The very same batches gave no problems at all in my wooden and pvc molds.