Critique My Coconut Milk Soap

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Taffylyon10

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I am still totally perplexed about insulating soap without getting partial gel.
The blue and cream soap has a tiny crack on the side. I believe it was left in the mold too long.(34 hours)
My tree of life soap was very creamy and a little difficult getting out of the mold (time 25 hours).

I did insulate with three heavy towels and a heating pad on and off. I use a plexi-glass mold. In the past I have encountered partial gel and with the expense of the oils, especially Argan I didn't want to have that happen again. I do not want to place the soap in the freezer. I have read many books on soap making but they really do not address the what and why of insulating.......room temperature, type of mold, weight of insulating thickness and insulating per type of Cold Process soap. I do not sell soap however I enjoy the art of the hobby and especially gifting to family and friends.
Thank you for your suggestions.

IMG_1713.jpg
 
I read your post kind of fast, but not sure what you are wanting. Do you want gel or want no gel? If you don't want gel, don't insulate, don't add heat, soap at cooler temps, and stay away from all FO's and EO's that cause soap to heat up. Some scents (whether eo or fo) are going to make your soap heat up regardless of what you do. Also, the milk will cause more heat as well. Your soaps are very pretty by the way!
 
I'm sorry , my post wasn't very clear. I want my soaps to gel. Someday perhaps when I have more experience and and a little braver I will try freezing and no gelling just for
Thank You.
 
You can try cpop to get a full gel if it isn't working in your mold. To my knowledge, wood molds insulate the best and can better ensure a full gel with the heating and covering you've been doing. You're probably loosing too much heat out of your mold I feel. Also, the bigger the mold, the more difficult to gel being too much heat loss on the outside edges, especially in a mold that doesn't insulate super well.
You just may not get a full gel with plexiglass without a cpop method. I am no expert by any means, but that's my newbie soaping opinion. You can invest in wood, thick wood, or several heating pads to completely wrap around it. Maybe that'll help. If you get a wood one, this can be your no gel fridge freezer mold. Just suggestions. They are beautiful either way!
 
Ok, getting gel can be much easier than preventing it! Lol. What I do when I really want to gel my soap is sort of CPOP, but really not. I just turn my oven on, heat it to around 150 degrees, turn it off, then stick the soap in. Wait for it to gel. If it doesn't gel within like an hour, I add a little more heat. As soon as it's gelled all the way to the edges, I pull it out and let it cool down. ( I do GM Soap btw) I tried actual CPOP at first, but I was getting terribly overheated soap. With the way I do it, you get a gel, but not the overheating. The only thing is be real careful about the scents that will cause gel even just sitting on the counter. Have to make sure not to overheat them.
Oh, and it doesn't affect food baked in the oven.. no scent/taste transfer.
 
They are all gorgeous!
Regarding gelling, I would also suggest wooden molds over silicone or plexiglass ones. Wood is such a good insulator. If you don't want to get rid off your plexiglass molds, if you or someone you know is handy enough, you can try and build bigger wooden box to put your molds in. I have BB silicone mold, as much as I love it for it's smooth sides, it is hopeless when it comes to gelling. I just use recycled wine box that is slightly bigger than my mold which fits in it perfectly. Even then, I have to put the plastic lid on and insulate like crazy to prevent partial gel. It almost happened the other day, it was cool 20-ish degrees C (in Australia alright ;) ) and soap almost didn't gel al the way through. It was sitting on the kitchen bench cover in ton of towels.
 
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To all you very kind soap makers, thank you for the great advice.
I think you are correct, I have many issues with this mold.
 
Those are all lovely! It depend on what kind of mold you are using. I use silicone lined wooden molds and find that if I just put the lid on and then a towel or two that I always get a full gel. I do RTCP so sometimes it takes a couple hours for it to heat up. I use milk in all my soaps as well and rarely get overheating (some FO's heat up). I just check them periodically. If you are using something different, you could put them in a box and cover well. Or even try a heating pad under it. I've not tried that but many have with good results. I don't oven process as I've tried that twice and both overheated and on separated. Again, I know others have no trouble.
 
Not sure what the problem is but I think your soaps look gorgeous. I am one that prefers not to gel. As HorseCreek mentioned it is much harder to prevent gel than to gel. Not sure why you would not be getting full gel if you are using a heating pad and covering the mold. Mine would be bubbling over at that point and I hate cpop, sometimes it really discolors the soap in my opinion. Several of my soap are famous for partial gels because no matter what I do I can stop it even with freezing and if I let them gel they will crack and or volcano. So I just let the customers wonder how I got the oval in the middle!!
 
I use silicone liners in wooden molds and I CPOP. My soaps gel to the edges every time with this method. For me, CPOP insures complete gel every time.

And I just have to say that your soaps are gorgeous!!!
 
Your Tree of Live soaps are GORGEOUS! I do what HorseCreek does, except I leave my molds in the oven over night. Unless I am making soap with milk or honey, in that case I remove them as soon as gel occurs.

We also use a space blanket, which is a plastic tarp lined with foil. It's actually a piece of camping equipment - if you are camping in the winter, you hang up the blanket with the foil side facing the fire, then you sit between the blanket and the fire. The blanket reflects the heat and it gets VERY WARM.
 
When I gel, I place the mold on top of a heating pad set on low, cover with a couple of heavy towels for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Then turn the heating pad off and leave it alone for 12 - 15 hours. I was using med but got minor cracks during the summer months but might do so again when the weather cools....if it does. Beautiful soaps.
 

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