So I got angry at my silicon molds...

[kchaystack]

I had been waiting for 4 days to unmold 2 soaps I made - one for my mom and one for my brother. I used a heating pad and everything - but it did not gel. I may have to up my water amount... anyway, I decided I was fed up with them and went to the home improvement store....


So I now have a table saw.


This is my first attempt, but it is not bad. They will be for smaller batches, and I will need to line them, but I have never really minded that. The PVC pipes are for round soaps and embeds - and idea I got from TVivian.

 

[Seawolfe]

lol that's how we ended up with our chop saw. Those are very nice molds!!

 

[Susie]

I had been waiting for 4 days to unmold 2 soaps I made - one for my mom and one for my brother. I used a heating pad and everything - but it did not gel. I may have to up my water amount... anyway, I decided I was fed up with them and went to the home improvement store....


So I now have a table saw.


This is my first attempt, but it is not bad. They will be for smaller batches, and I will need to line them, but I have never really minded that. The PVC pipes are for round soaps and embeds - and idea I got from TVivian.

How are you going to line the small tubes? And did you get some end caps for the PVC?

 

[kchaystack]

How are you going to line the small tubes? And did you get some end caps for the PVC?

Either butcher paper or parchment paper. They were out of the flat ended caps for the 3" pipe - so I will get some in the next week. If I use it before then I will just us some butchers paper and tape to seal it. Same with the small tubes. They might leak a little but not too bad.

 

[SheLion]

I love my table saw. So much easier than using a handheld.

Nice work on the wooden molds. They look awesome!

 

[Susie]

Those are awesome wooden molds, and I am drooling over them. I need some wooden molds ASAP. I am tired of having mold rash every batch I either CPOP or use a heating pad with.

 

[kchaystack]

Those are awesome wooden molds, and I am drooling over them. I need some wooden molds ASAP. I am tired of having mold rash every batch I either CPOP or use a heating pad with.

These were pretty easy to make. I need to sand down some rough spots and round the edges. The loafs are aprox. 10" long - so about the same as a crafters choice 1501 mold. If you can cut a board straight with a hand saw (I can't for the life of me) all you really need is a drill to put the holes for the carriage bolt. I just glued one side in with wood glue, the other on the wingnut side will come off. That way I can make the bars thinner by cutting different width ends.

 

[HowieRoll]

Those wooden molds look fantastic!

Early on I made a lot of round soaps in 3" PVC molds, and came across a suggestion from a woman to use flexible cutting mats like THESE as a liner. I found they worked fantastically. Here is the woman's YouTube video where she gives a little demonstration.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWPEXLMIows[/ame]

 

[earlene]

Those wooden molds look fantastic!

Early on I made a lot of round soaps in 3" PVC molds, and came across a suggestion from a woman to use flexible cutting mats like THESE as a liner. I found they worked fantastically. Here is the woman's YouTube video where she gives a little demonstration.

You just have to be careful to real use cutting mats and not cheap place mats. I bought some cheap place mats with colored designs on them to use as cutting mats for soap when traveling. The dye transfers onto the soap, and that's not even fresh batter, which I am sure would do so even more drastically.

 

[TeresaT]

Those wooden molds look fantastic!

Early on I made a lot of round soaps in 3" PVC molds, and came across a suggestion from a woman to use flexible cutting mats like THESE as a liner. I found they worked fantastically. Here is the woman's YouTube video where she gives a little demonstration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWPEXLMIows

I watched both of her videos and happened upon this video after wards. Too bad I can't understand a word he's saying, great visuals, though. This is actually quite ingenious. I wonder if it would work with CP soap. I know the PVC pipe we use is pretty thick and this guy is using thin pipe to heat and melt to get the desired shape. I also don't think it would be a good idea to score it to get the soap out for CP. KC - maybe this could be your next mold making project?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP2LVMMv62k[/ame]

 

[penelopejane]

While I line my larger PVC round molds with a silicone mat I don't line the small ones. I just push the soap out. It takes a while to cure.

I think you are CPOPing by the old method is you are getting blister marks or wait more than 24 hr To unmold.

 

[HowieRoll]

TeresaT, your post made me recall a blog entry from Auntie Clara about how she made an oval soap mold using PVC pipe. Below is the link (that of course includes photos of Auntie Clara's beautiful soaps!).

http://auntieclaras.com/2015/03/oh-oval-oval-soap-mould-tutorial/

 

[earlene]

You can actually buy PVC rain gutter pipe in the rectangular shape, so I don't see the value of re-shaping round PVC into a rectangle. And I think it's generally of a thinner variety, so it might better serve the purpose shown in the video.

But I have never seen an oval shaped PVC pipe for sale. I can see the value of having that shape. I have seen oval shaped downspout pipes, but not PVC. I don't know why they'd make them out of metal, but not PVC. (Apparently you can get oval pvc pipes from China, but the cost and wait time, barely seems worth it.

 

[kchaystack]

While I line my larger PVC round molds with a silicone mat I don't line the small ones. I just push the soap out. It takes a while to cure.

I think you are CPOPing by the old method is you are getting blister marks or wait more than 24 hr To unmold.

That is a pain, and there is a real chance of it sticking. It takes about 10 seconds to put some freezer paper or parchment paper in them and there is almost no chance of sticking

 

[penelopejane]

That is a pain, and there is a real chance of it sticking. It takes about 10 seconds to put some freezer paper or parchment paper in them and there is almost no chance of sticking

My smaller ones have never stuck. I should try the larger PVC molds without the silicone liner and see how it goes. I don't want the crinkles from freezer paper. Very unattractive and you can see it in the final soap if the embed is not round.

 

[dixiedragon]

I second (or 3rd or whatever) lining those PVC molds! When it sticks it REALLY sticks!

 

[Obsidian]

Whenever I line my PVC mold, I get wrinkle marks all over the soap. Now I just apply a thin layer of vaseline to the inside so it doesn't stick. Still takes a bit of muscle to get it moving but its not terrible.

 

[cmzaha]

I hate silicone molds and use mostly hdpe molds unless I decide to use my tall skinny mold which is wood. Lining a mold has really never bothered me