To gel or not to gel

Do you gel your soaps? If so, why? If not, why not?

I haven't figured out which I want to do yet. My husband prefers the look of gelled soaps, but are there any reasons to gel or not to gel other than how it looks?

Here are some threads on the matter - it's a popular topic.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=28073

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=20903

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59932

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=6261

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=22762

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=16315

It's all about personal preference, what your goals are, etc.

Gelling makes some colors bolder and more vivid. You soap will also be able to be unmolded sooner. OTOH, gelling may make it more likely for you to get crackle (glycerin rivers).

Not gelling will yield a creamier-looking soap. You may have to wait a day longer to unmold.

It just depends on what you want.

I'm a geller, although I oftentimes pour off about 3oz - 4oz of my main batter into a single cavity of a Milkyway-type mold just to see how certain formulas and/or scents/colors perform un-gelled.

I prefer to gel for a couple of different reasons:

1) My colors come out truer/brilliant/bold instead of pastel.
2) My gelled soap can be unmolded and cut a whole lot sooner compared to my un-gelled soap.
3) My gelled batches don't need to cure as long as my un-gelled batches (4 to 6 weeks cure compared to 6 to 8 weeks cure for my un-gelled soaps)
4) Ash is a very rare occurrence in my gelled soaps compared to their un-gelled counterparts. My un-gelled soaps always ash, sometimes very heavily so. In the rare times that I get ash on my gelled soaps, it's just a very light dusting that easily wipes off with a wet cloth.

As far as the quality & performance of my gelled vs un-gelled soap in the shower/bath, there is no difference between them..... at least not after each has gone through their individual, proper lengths of cure, that is. The reason for the 2-week longer cure for my un-gelled soaps is because it takes about that long for them to catch up to the quality of performance (i.e., bubbliness, mildness, etc...) that my gelled soaps are able to exhibit in a shorter period of time.


IrishLass

Really it's a personal preference; I happen to like bolder colors than pastels. Unmolding a day or two sooner is also a reason I try to encourage gelling in my soaps. It makes me so happy to see the soap turning to gel when I peek under the dish towels I've wrapped the soap in.

Thank you! I really appreciate all the responses thus far!

How long should I be waiting to unmold a gelled soap? I tried waiting 24 hours (first time I've encouraged gel v trying to prevent), and by the time I unmolded and cut it, it was HARD. I could barely cut it with my single wired cutter. Any longer and I don't think I would've been able to cut it!

sweetbean said:

Thank you! I really appreciate all the responses thus far!

How long should I be waiting to unmold a gelled soap? I tried waiting 24 hours (first time I've encouraged gel v trying to prevent), and by the time I unmolded and cut it, it was HARD. I could barely cut it with my single wired cutter. Any longer and I don't think I would've been able to cut it!

Click to expand...

My understanding of how long is really going to depend on the recipe. Recipes with lots of hard oils like palm and coconut are going to harden faster than others. When I talked to Steve85569 about his salt bars (100% coconut oil) he said significantly less than 24 hours it will be ready to cut.

On the other side of things, lots of olive oil might require more than 24..

I don't like gelled milk soaps because they turn dark. Other gelled soaps may prevent ash.

It depends on my recipe as to when I unmold & cut. With my regular/main formulas made with a 33% lye solution, I unmold & cut as soon as they have cooled back down from gel- roughly 18 hours or so after pour. But with my salt bars, or with my 100% CO soaps with a 20% S/F, I'm usually unmolding and cutting within 6 hours after pour. If I wait longer than that with those, they are too rock-like to cut.

With my normal/regular batches that have full water in them (28% lye concentration), I wait until 24 hours after pour to unmold/cut.


IrishLass

Thank you guys! I'll keep an eye on my soap and see when it cools. I'll try it at 18 hours and see what happens!

I prefer to gel; it's a lot less work (and worry?) on my part to let soap gel than to try and prevent it. I typically make soap after dinner and cut in the morning while things are still noticeably warm (about 16-18 hours).

Depends on the recipe and intent.
Sometimes I want a nice pastel and others I want colors to pop and contrast.

Then again my wife tells me I'm color blind.:mrgreen: