Small Cavity Silicone Molds & Gel

[navigator9]

Again, I'm dumbfounded at the bubbles. Here is a pic of one of mine made in an individual silicone mold, and CPOPed. No bubbles ever....what's the difference??? Is there a common denominator in the ingredients with those of you who get bubbles? Maybe if you can post a list of ingredients of soaps that have bubbled like that, we can get to the bottom of this. There has to be a reason why I use silicone, CPOP and never get bubbles! My basic ingredients are olive, PKO, and coconut.....those are 99% of my soaps. I know a lot of people add castor to their soaps.....could that be the culprit? There has to be a common thread that links your soaps, but isn't present in mine. I have old silicone molds, and newer ones, loaves and individual molds, heavier silicone and the lighter ones that I think are made for chocolate. I have never had my soap bubble like that. I'm convinced that we can figure this out!

 

[dixiedragon]

I have CPOP with small silicone molds and never gotten those bubbles. I would try it at a lower temp.

 

[KristaY]

No Bubbles!

Whew! Third time is a charm in this case - no bubbles. I didn't CPOP, just covered and left at 78 degrees F room temp. I just popped these guys out and they look okay. Still a bit soft so I'll leave the rest in the molds another 8 hours or so. Maybe I left them in the oven too long as Marley suggested. Maybe they should have come out just after gel? Someday I'll try your technique, Marley, but at least I know this worked to avoid those horrible bubbles. It would be interesting to know if a certain oil can potentially increase bubble formation using silicone and CPOP. I didn't use castor in this recipe, Nav, so that can't be my particular culprit. I have no idea! Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. Happy New Year!! :wave:

 

[KristaY]

Greasing the Molds

I'm giving this project one more try. The soap was in good shape on the 3rd try with no bubbles but I had a problem with areas sticking to the mold. I'm going to add 2% SL (which I forgot to do in the last batch) so that should help harden it up. I also want to grease them a bit. From other threads, people have done this using mineral oil, Vaseline and spray Pam. Is there a specific reason for those types of lubricants? I don't happen to have any of them on hand. I can use any soaping oil I have on hand but I'm not sure it'll work once it's exposed to the lye. If you think it would be best to use one of the others, I'll run off to buy it tomorrow. TIA!

 

[cmzaha]

Put them in the freezer for an hour or two before unmolding and they will pop right out. Also I find I have a lot less problems if I do not gel my soaps

 

[navigator9]

Silicone molds shouldn't require any type of lubricant at all. I've heard of people greasing the hard plastic molds, like the ones from Milky Way, but silicone molds are flexible, and you should be able to just push the soap out. Also, you shouldn't need SL with a silicone mold, that's something I also use only with the Milky Way molds. And I never have to put my silicone molds in the freezer to get the soap out, only MW molds. The only time I ever had a problem with soap sticking to a silicone mold, was when it hadn't gelled. If your soap gelled, but not all the way, that might have been the problem, the soap is soft and still going through the saponification process.

I don't know how much time you have and how many of these soaps you have to make, but if there is time, you could try not gelling them at all, but then you need to leave them in the molds for a few days. There are times when I don't have room in the oven and I don't gel the individual molds. I usually wait about three days to unmold then. Good luck!

 

[KristaY]

Thanks cmzaha & Navigator. I un-molded the 1st one after about 16 hours. When that stuck a bit I waited another 8 hours then put the rest of them into the freezer for 30 min. Still stuck. I guess I need to wait a couple more days. I usually unmold my silicone logs 2 days later but thought I could go sooner with these because the cavity size is so small (2 oz.). Also, it looks like I got a full gel with these. Today is the last day I've got to get it right so I'm off for my last attempt! Big sigh.....