Small individual soap moulds not working

[Anne121x]

Thanks penelopejane! I think the heat and the longer insulating time is the trick. It is going to be hard as I am always
dying to see how my soap turned out the next day. I will have to be a bit more patient. The reward will be ash free bars hopefully.

Thanks penelopejane. I have no idea what a wheat bag is but it sounds good. I think the heat and the longer insulating
time is the solution. I am always very impatient to see my soap next day so I will just try to be patient and my reward will be ash free soap hopefully.

Did not think that first reply went so had to rewrite it..

 

[penelopejane]

wheat bag! what a great idea!

I used to CPOP but my new molds don’t fit in the oven so I had to work out another way. If you don’t have a polystyrene box just use cardboard and cover with blankets and leave it undisturbed.

I think ash is something to do with the air getting to the soap before it’s saponified fully? Doesn’t explain why logs are ok but they might produce more heat so may fully saponista quicker?

 

[penelopejane]

Thanks penelopejane. I have no idea what a wheat bag is but it sounds good. I think the heat and the longer insulating
time is the solution. I am always very impatient to see my soap next day so I will just try to be patient and my reward will be ash free soap hopefully.

A wheat bag is a cotton bag with wheat or barley grains in it. You can heat it in the microwave. It’s like a hot water bottle but lasts much longer. Chemists or pharmacists have them or you can make one yourself. Also good for neck pain or stomach aches.

 

[Sonya is soaping]

You can use CP soap within 3 days too. It's just not a good bar any more than HP. HP just has the saponification process done a bit quicker. Curing is a totally different thing. It allows the soap structure to change and make it a much better bar that will last longer. You are certainly free to believe what you like but please don't mislead new folks. That subject has been discussed here many times.

Sorry if this came across wrong. I totally agree that during curing all sorts of things happen. I just meant that if a soap is SAFE to use and Hard, it can be used with no worries. I am leaving my HP to cure for upto 3 weeks or more if I don't need straight away. Anyway, the simple question was about soda ash and I really I should have just said I changed to HP so I don't have to deal with soda ash.

 

[Anne121x]

Thanks everyone for sharing..can't wait to try all these new tips and finally not see my beautiful soap covered in ash!
Will post some photos of my results..

 

[zanzalawi]

i had a couple loafs that had been hanging out in an insulated cardbord box since i poured them monday night
i opened the box last night and one of them had a good deal of ash. i spritzed it pretty heavily with my alcohol again, i figured why not? closed the box, and it sat for a couple hours while i fed kids, got them in bed and what not. when i opened it up again to cut- the ash was gone. theyre on the curing racks, hopefully it doesnt come back. but interesting, i hadnt tried that before.

 

[earlene]

i had a couple loafs that had been hanging out in an insulated cardbord box since i poured them monday night
i opened the box last night and one of them had a good deal of ash. i spritzed it pretty heavily with my alcohol again, i figured why not? closed the box, and it sat for a couple hours while i fed kids, got them in bed and what not. when i opened it up again to cut- the ash was gone. theyre on the curing racks, hopefully it doesnt come back. but interesting, i hadnt tried that before.

I've done that, too. The only problem is that with my soaps (recipe might have something to do with this - I don't know), the alcohol leaves tiny little pock marks on top. I get rid of them by planing the soap. But since I always plane the sides (that's what the top becomes after cutting a loaf mold) to make them smooth, it seemed like a waste of time and effort to spray the top.

Now what I usually do and have done for a long time now, is after the cut, I do this with each bar one at a time: Lightly mist with alcohol & hand dry with a micro-fiber cloth so no alcohol pock marks can develop. Then sit to cure.

This doesn't work so well with soap that has mica painting on top or fancy top soaps, but they're not something I do a lot of anyway. I tried it with mica-painted soap & the mica just came off. And I rarely do fancy tops.