As a long time soaping beginner who likes flying by the seat of his pants there have been many successes and something short of full blown failures in my soapmaking adventures. Many have been preceded by the thought "I wonder if it's true if..." or "I wonder what will happen if..." and even "I wonder if this will work?"
To be clear, I am a hobbyist, nothing is sold but much may be given and sometimes there is a trade. That's it. Those who sell have good reason to be very particular and I understand. Enough of that, get to the point of all this!!
Ok. I hate lining soap molds. That's no secret. The silicone lined molds sold by Amazon are good but I dislike the shape. My homemade pine molds are preferred but must be lined. That has always been a source of frustration for me but lovely wife, mother of my children, keeper of the peace and counter of the coin saw fit to line them for me. She is wonderful but even she has limits. After reading about different methods and trying many, plastic bags were discovered and I decided to test them out. Naturally, the test would be extreme. It's what I do. I cut a bread bag open and shoved it in the mold print side down, trimmed the edges a bit and taped the sides. Yeah, the ends are wrinkly but that's fine with me. I'm getting wrinkly too. With the mold ready I mixed up a batch of brine soap (first time! why not? another unknown!) using a standard recipe and poured it in the mold. How would the plastic hold up in the oven? Yep, CPOP. This is where I am happiest - the unknown = potential for disaster and a wicked cleanup or success. Left it in the oven overnight and took it out this morning. SUCCESS! Finally I love lining molds .
Now I might be late to the bread bag show but they are a new, joyous discovery for me. Eezy Peezy. The batch is now on the aging hearth (highly technical climate controlled location) awaiting its turn to go into the climate controlled storage facility - under the bed - with the cat.
To be clear, I am a hobbyist, nothing is sold but much may be given and sometimes there is a trade. That's it. Those who sell have good reason to be very particular and I understand. Enough of that, get to the point of all this!!
Ok. I hate lining soap molds. That's no secret. The silicone lined molds sold by Amazon are good but I dislike the shape. My homemade pine molds are preferred but must be lined. That has always been a source of frustration for me but lovely wife, mother of my children, keeper of the peace and counter of the coin saw fit to line them for me. She is wonderful but even she has limits. After reading about different methods and trying many, plastic bags were discovered and I decided to test them out. Naturally, the test would be extreme. It's what I do. I cut a bread bag open and shoved it in the mold print side down, trimmed the edges a bit and taped the sides. Yeah, the ends are wrinkly but that's fine with me. I'm getting wrinkly too. With the mold ready I mixed up a batch of brine soap (first time! why not? another unknown!) using a standard recipe and poured it in the mold. How would the plastic hold up in the oven? Yep, CPOP. This is where I am happiest - the unknown = potential for disaster and a wicked cleanup or success. Left it in the oven overnight and took it out this morning. SUCCESS! Finally I love lining molds .
Now I might be late to the bread bag show but they are a new, joyous discovery for me. Eezy Peezy. The batch is now on the aging hearth (highly technical climate controlled location) awaiting its turn to go into the climate controlled storage facility - under the bed - with the cat.
