Wire cutter problems

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Kizzy

Active Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
43
Reaction score
5
My wire cutter is leaving a weird texture, almost like little bumps, on my soap. I have seen this problem talked about before but I have not found a solution for it. Have any of you guys?
Thanks
 
To some extent, that's the nature of the beast. My thinking is the bumps are lumps of slightly harder soap that the wire "floats" around rather than cuts through. But that's just a guess on my part. Some things to try --

Make sure your fats are fully melted before soaping. I want them to look clear, not milky.
Tighten the wire on the cutter until it's reasonably tight.
Let the soap become reasonably firm before you cut. My goal is for it to be firm like cheddar cheese.

The sure-fire, never-fail solution for me, however, is to plane the faces of the bar after cutting.
 
To some extent, that's the nature of the beast. My thinking is the bumps are lumps of slightly harder soap that the wire "floats" around rather than cuts through. But that's just a guess on my part.

I think your guess is probably right. On bars I've cut with wire and seen those bumps on, they disappeared with the first few uses after the soap cured.
 
I think it's a problem if a person thinks it's a problem. For the soap that I sell, I've gone back and forth about it. Lately I've been lightly planing the cut faces of the soap, but I honestly find myself wondering if I'm being too anal about it.

Planing does have an unexpected benefit in addition to getting rid of those bumps. The scrap from planing and beveling is enough to squish together to make a small patty of soap per batch. I cure it along with my "real" bars. Thanks to those homely soap patties, I actually get to use and enjoy some of my latest batches of soap. Nowadays almost all of my good ones are given to friends and family or go for sale. If I only beveled the soap, I'd not have enough scrap to make much of a patty.
 
IMO - I honestly feel these bumps are very similar to "wet spots" in candles. The only ones who care or worry about them is the maker...

Most consumers are not even going to notice them, or if they do, they are going to just think it is part of the soap - which they are. It is an aesthetic problem only, so why make yourself nuts about it?

By having my soaps sit longer,(cut when they are harder loaves) I don't get them as often as I used too, but sometimes still do.
Never once - in all the years of selling my soap has someone even made a small remark about them, asked what the bumps/specks were, nothing. So I don't worry about them.
This is just my opinion and experience though...
 
The only way I've been able to get rid of them is planing. One day I may just let them be, but right now I love the super smooth surface after planing.
 
Yeah, it does feel neat doesn't it? I like it too. But I also agree with JC -- while we may appreciate the esthetic differences between planed and unplaned soap, I'm not too sure our customers, family, and friends do.

I took a graphic design class once merely for personal interest (it was a college class, so I was surrounded by undergrads working their bums off for credit and good grades). I was struck by the excruciating attention the real graphic design students paid to the layout and typography. They were obsessed about (what seemed to me) insignificant issues of this font versus that one, tiny differences in colors, minute changes in the positions of text and images, etc.

I think we get obsessed about the details of soaping every bit as much as they obsessed about the details of graphic design. ;)
 
I too get those little bumps if I cut too soon. However, I don't give them a second thought and have never had anyone blink an eye at them. I'm not that anal.. ha ha. I do bevel the edges though.

I used to bevel my edges. But changed the design of my soap, rarely soap in a slab mold, and at one point I think I had almost 20lbs of shreds. LOL (one can only make so many confetti soaps! LOL)

I decided I needed to stop. And with the design of my soaps now, they actually look better unbeveled. :)
 
I used to bevel my edges. But changed the design of my soap, rarely soap in a slab mold, and at one point I think I had almost 20lbs of shreds. LOL (one can only make so many confetti soaps! LOL)



I decided I needed to stop. And with the design of my soaps now, they actually look better unbeveled. :)



One of my beta testers has actually said she prefers non-beveled soap, because she said this makes her feel more like she's buying handmade soap.
 
My wire cutter is leaving a weird texture, almost like little bumps, on my soap. I have seen this problem talked about before but I have not found a solution for it. Have any of you guys?
Thanks

Why don't you use 28+ pound fishing line. It cuts better then wire and doesn't leave bumps. In fact, it cuts thinner and is less likely to have small lumps of soap after use.
After I break mine, that's what I'm going to use in the soap cutter.
I've already tested it and have had to use it when I feel my soap is too hard to cut with the wire. I have 2 small round dowels that I attached fishing line to and I just place the loaf on top of the wire, pull the wire tight so it wraps around the loaf, aim on my marks, and just pull (cutting sideways not top to bottom). It goes through much cleaner then the wire and doesn't leave bumps.
 
I have a similar problem. It looks like wire drag marks on the face of the soap. It creates an arched pattern that mimics the path of the wires.

I like the idea of using fishing line instead of wire, but instead of fishing line, I think I will try nylon guitar strings. They have the metal piece at one end and can be used with the guitar tuner pegs my cutters equipped with.
 
I have a similar problem. It looks like wire drag marks on the face of the soap. It creates an arched pattern that mimics the path of the wires.

I like the idea of using fishing line instead of wire, but instead of fishing line, I think I will try nylon guitar strings. They have the metal piece at one end and can be used with the guitar tuner pegs my cutters equipped with.

Make sure you wipe down the wire after each cut.
Also for soap with botanicals on the top cut from the side.
Try one cut then 4 hours later try another cut and see if it meme a difference.
 
I have a similar problem. It looks like wire drag marks on the face of the soap. It creates an arched pattern that mimics the path of the wires.

I like the idea of using fishing line instead of wire, but instead of fishing line, I think I will try nylon guitar strings. They have the metal piece at one end and can be used with the guitar tuner pegs my cutters equipped with.

Can you let us know how it goes? I am wondering if they will be strong enough and if it makes a smooth cut. It would be interesting to know your results.
 
I have a similar problem. It looks like wire drag marks on the face of the soap. It creates an arched pattern that mimics the path of the wires.

I like the idea of using fishing line instead of wire, but instead of fishing line, I think I will try nylon guitar strings. They have the metal piece at one end and can be used with the guitar tuner pegs my cutters equipped with.

Guitar string is what most people replace their cutters with if a wire breaks, so you are on the right track. Most people use size "G". (yes, as in a G-string - LOL)
 
Back
Top