THe Term "Gell"

[amanda131]

When you say "gell" do you just mean when the soap hardens in the mold? Or do you mean the kind of soap that has a jelly middle? I saw pics of soap with a jelly middle but I thought that was an accident......No?

 

[Rosey]

Gelling is when it heats up, if you peek at your soap, you'll notice that there it's getting darker in the middle and it will spread to your whole soap.

I can't explain it real well but it's not a bad thing.

 

[Guest]

No it wasn't an accident , the soap heats up and changes from the traced soap look , to a jelly like look , then it cools down and then you have the finished soap , that looks different , yet again.
I would encourage new soap makers to watch the stages , Check the soap half an hour after it is in the mold to see what it looks like. Then check again in an hour etc , until they see the gel stage . Then you know what the soap is doing in the mold , it's pretty cool .

Kitn

 

[vivcarm]

Agree with Kitn, keep watching, you will know it when you see it, I find it fascinating, even after over a year and a half!

 

[carebear]

actually the term is "gel" - one L.

it's no accident - for the most part anyway, some try to prevent gel because it can impact the final texture/color/scent of the soap. it's basically caused by the heat of the reaction (soaping is chemistry, after all). the soap does get "jelly-like" while its still hot, but as it cools it hardens up.

this said, if you find jelly-like cool soap, then either it's not finished saponifying yet or something is horridly wrong!

 

[cleanwater]

I would encourage new soap makers to watch the stages , Check the soap half an hour after it is in the mold to see what it looks like. Then check again in an hour etc , until they see the gell stage .

LOL, as if we could stop them. When I started, it was all I could do to not peak every 5 minutes... (Is it gelling yet? Is it gelling yet?) Like a long drive with kids in the backseat, but all in my head.

Seriously though, I agree with Kitn. Watch the stages. And when you look and your reaction is "Aaaagh! It's gone all dark and ugly in the middle! What did I do wrong?" the answer is "Nothing, you're on your way to beautiful soap."

 

[amanda131]

Once I wrap it up I don't peak for fear of messing it up! I guess next time I'm peaking!!

 

[carebear]

I try not to peak because it seems to increase the likelihood of ash forming (tho not peeking doesn't necessarily prevent it!). Also peeking lets some of the warmth out!

This said, you absolutely should get to know your process from beginning THROUGH THE MIDDLE to the end, so do peek!!!!

 

[Guest]

I peek at every batch . I insulate well , as I soap in my rather cool basement .( unless it's a milk soap ) . I need to know if it is overheating , I have wooden molds , so touching the sides isn't always a true indicator of the heat inside .


Kitn

 

[amanda131]

So I just poped out a batch I made on the 5th and some of the cornors still looked "gel" is this what you mean? My first batch did this too, but now they are fine and solid. Am I understanding correctly, is this "gel"??

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/4469/dscn0613s.jpg

 

[Guest]

Do the edges zap ? It does look similar to what gel would look like . It looks it hasn't quite hardened up yet on those corners .From my experience when using very small molds , it is difficult to get the all the soap to gel properly ,( if at all ,for me anyway) the smaller portions of traced soap just don't have the heat producing capabilities of a large mold where a larger volume of soap is creating heat .

HTH

Kitn

 

[Rosey]

I was looking at pictures and found one that I had taken on one of my first molds. This is the soap gelling.

HTH