When do you trim your soaps?

[JuneP]

My latest batch is a pretty soft (looks like I may have forgotten to deduct the 5% cream addition from the water!) I got it all un-molded today but not without a couple of messy looking soaps from some of the guest ovals.

i went ahead did a test using my soap trim tool and it is too soft to do it right now; but it brought up the question - "What stage of un-molding/curing do you like to trim your soaps?

June (love that the whole house now smells of Nag Champa!)

 

[Obsidian]

I usually wait a week or two unless I know it will be a extra hard soap.

 

[cmzaha]

I just beveled a soap that is 8 months old and it beveled just fine

 

[Dorymae]

Hard recipes I plane and bevel the day after I cut. Softer recipes I wait a week.

 

[gigisiguenza]

A planer and a beveler are on my wish list... I've been trying to do them by hand for now... some days that's a good plan, some days it's a not so good plan LOL. Depends on how shaky my hands are that day.

 

[RogueRose]

Hard soaps can become difficult the longer you wait and can tend to chip a little especially if the tool used to trim isn't very sharp or is "thicker" (hard to define how thick".

The best way to bevel is to use a wire cutter with the wire at the angle perpendicular to the side of the soap. Then just push the soap along a guide rail to give a perfect strait bevel. Another good way is to create a soap holder that can be pushed along the guide rail to cut the bevel. They have similar things in woodworking but I've never seen one for soap but I'm sure it could be made if needed.

 

[gigisiguenza]

Hard soaps can become difficult the longer you wait and can tend to chip a little especially if the tool used to trim isn't very sharp or is "thicker" (hard to define how thick".

The best way to bevel is to use a wire cutter with the wire at the angle perpendicular to the side of the soap. Then just push the soap along a guide rail to give a perfect strait bevel. Another good way is to create a soap holder that can be pushed along the guide rail to cut the bevel. They have similar things in woodworking but I've never seen one for soap but I'm sure it could be made if needed.

Hmmmm you have my MacGyver brain working now....

 

[shunt2011]

I bevel mine at 3-4 weeks. I just use a potato peeler. I purchased a beveler but prefer my peeler.

 

[hozhed]

I trim mine as soon as I unmold it. I use a Titan peeler....The same tool I use to make embeds for my M&P soaps.....lol

 

[LittleCrazyWolf]

I don't actually bevel but I do tidy up my edges by rubbing them with a dry rag. I usually do it 1-2 days after unmolding because my recipe is pretty firm.

I tried beveling with a potato peeler and I'm just atrocious at it. My poor soap was mangled and uneven. The dry rag works very well for me but I wouldn't do it with a softer recipe.

 

[JuneP]

Beveling

I like the way my trimmer/beveler works. Never tried the potato peeler but I'd imagine you'd need a pretty steady hand to do a neat job. Before I got the trimmer/beveler I just smoothed the edges right after I unmolded and cut the soap.

I don't actually bevel but I do tidy up my edges by rubbing them with a dry rag. I usually do it 1-2 days after unmolding because my recipe is pretty firm.

I tried beveling with a potato peeler and I'm just atrocious at it. My poor soap was mangled and uneven. The dry rag works very well for me but I wouldn't do it with a softer recipe.

 

[Dorymae]

This is the one I use, and I love it. It is totally idiot prove (which I appreciate), needs no blades or sharpening, can bevel or plane or do both at once. Cleaning is a breeze since it can be totally submerged.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192733...a_search_query=soap beveler&ref=sr_gallery_30

 

[IrishLass]

I bevel whenever my soap tells me I can bevel it, , which basically means that it all depends on how hard/soft things are after unmolding and cutting. Sometimes that's immediately right after cutting, and sometimes it's a day or 2 later. I normally pick out the runt of the litter right after cutting and 'test the waters' out with it before deciding to immediately continue with the others, or to wait it out.

I use to use a potato peeler to bevel when I first started out, but I was quite horrible at it- I ended up doing much more harm than good to my poor soap edges. lol I now use a handheld Japanese woodworking tool called a radius planer/round molding plane to bevel mine: http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=41232&cat=1,41182 . I just slide my soap along either of the grooves (depending on the depth of bevel I am after), which holds my bar wonderfully steady, and then I bevel away.


IrishLass

 

[JuneP]

Lee Valley Tools

I loved Lee Valley Tools. Their Japanese weeding tools are the best! My other favorite hand tool which they probably sell as well is a Hori knife. You can weed with it, use the serrated edge to divide perennials, and it was number on the slightly concaved face of the blade for proper planting depths.

Nice bevel tool

I bevel whenever my soap tells me I can bevel it, , which basically means that it all depends on how hard/soft things are after unmolding and cutting. Sometimes that's immediately right after cutting, and sometimes it's a day or 2 later. I normally pick out the runt of the litter right after cutting and 'test the waters' out with it before deciding to immediately continue with the others, or to wait it out.

I use to use a potato peeler to bevel when I first started out, but I was quite horrible at it- I ended up doing much more harm than good to my poor soap edges. lol I now use a handheld Japanese woodworking tool called a radius planer/round molding plane to bevel mine: http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=41232&cat=1,41182 . I just slide my soap along either of the grooves (depending on the depth of bevel I am after), which holds my bar wonderfully steady, and then I bevel away.


IrishLass