So Mad! Mold Issues...

[adoptapitbull]

I bought this 3 cavity wooden mold box off of ebay for about $55. It said it had 3 2lb cavities and it came with re-usable liners....great! Ha....

The cavities are uneven and make the middle cavity useless. I spent 10 minutes trying to get my soap out! The "liners" are just folded butcher paper that I'm supposed to tape back together! There's soap residue all over them...do I seriously wash paper?

So now my soap has these funky crinkled edges thanks to the "liners" and is practically useless. If the seller doesn't take it back, I'm going to be very ticked!

Any ideas for cheap molds that make normal sized bars? I don't want to have to spend $70 for a PVC one on ebay

 

[adoptapitbull]

Oh, and also, I completely screwed up cutting the soaps because I was so mad. They look great, but are crazy uneven from me and the crappy liner. Do I just rebatch?

 

[nattynoo]

If you want perfect edges and corners I'd suggest you go silicone.

 

[HutCar92]

If its an option, its really not too difficult to make your own box. If you wanted help figuring it out let me know. I had my boyfriend build me one, we got the wood cut to our specs at the hardware store, brought it home and screwed it together, its even got the hinges! Not only that but it cost very little and the amount of wood we got was enough for two boxes! You do have to use freezer paper tho....or Im about to line it with nonstick oven liner, I saw somewhere else this is supposed to work?! Well see this weekend! Anyways! Sorry that happened to you, sometimes ordering online stinks....and I hope they do refund your money cause really freezer paper as a reusable liner? PLEASE!

 

[falldowngobump]

Sorry about the new mold. The soap looks good though, rather than a rebatch, why not just trim the edges up a bit?

 

[busymakinsoap!]

sorry about the mold.

The soap looks really nice and creamy, I love the colours - is it a milk soap?

I wouldnt rebatch, chances are your edges will look rough anyway, and you will loose your beatuiful colours.

You could just trim at the edges? and use those bits as confetti?

 

[TJ]

I agree to just trim off the edges. The soap is beautiful.
I've had the guys at home depot cut some wood to size for me before, then I just go home and hot glued it together (it was for a dollhouse ) I Imagine you could do the same with some nails or screws or even velcro if you like. It's really inexpensive and they will do all the hard work for you for free. (Well for free up to so many pieces.) I drive a small car and had to have the big wood sheets cut anyway, so I just had them cut to the right sizes.

 

[JackiK]

I made my own wooden molds and love them. However, I purchased good wood and know how to use a measuring tape and square!! They do require freezer paper, but I like it. The silicone molds are so expensive.

Sorry you got a bad product off eBay. I've always had good luck on the site. Hopefully, the ding-dong that built it will refund your money. Probably not worth the postage to ship it back.

 

[Relle]

Love your soap, what fragrances and colours did you do ?

 

[adoptapitbull]

I used:

1300 g OO
150 g CO
150 g Canola/Soybean blend
210 g lye
210 g strong coffee (3x strength)
210 g goat milk

I mixed the coffee with the milk and added lye to it. At first it had like a greeny yellowy brown (like baby poo) color, and then it lightened up after a few hours. Phew!

At trace I added 3 tbsp freshly ground coffee and just some cocoa on top that I still seem to not swirl enough. I'm always afraid to swirl too much! But anyway, I'm happy with the result of the soap itself. It's not too dark, not too light, and doesn't have an overpowering coffee smell.

After showing the seller that her mold was made incorrectly, she agreed to send me a replacement. At first she thought I just did it wrong, but pics don't lie! Hopefully she will be true to her word since I already left positive feedback before this whole disaster happened.

I do think I'll rebatch. There are a few bars I could shape, and the rest are just so messed up that they'd be scrapped anyway. I might add more milk (as per another soaper) and then hopefully it'll balance out the color of the cocoa.

I showed my stepdad what a mold looks like and he said his buddy, a shop teacher, could whip some up in school. If not, he could do it himself. So until then, back to silicone...

 

[Sunny]

Since you are considering rebatching anyway I would trim the ones you are able to and just rebatch the scraps and the bars that are too far gone to trim. It's worth saving a few of the originals in my opinion just because they look really nice!

 

[Dragonkaz]

Sorry about the mould, but hopefully you'll get a great new one from the seller!

I think your soap look amazing and can't see any reason why you'd rebatch.

 

[Tabitha]

If you paid with paypal you can get your money back claiming "not as described."

 

[LavenderLady]

Sorry about the ebay experience! If you dont want to make one, you can get very inexpensive and straight molds at http://www.candlesandwoodcrafts.com/
Their website is pretty retro, but the products are good and at a great price!

 

[cthylla]

I love the look of them! And I don't care at all about imperfections. I feel that it adds to the character of a handmade, one-of-a-kind item!

Also, when all else fails, act like it was supposed to come out like that. :wink:

 

[kelleyaynn]

Also, when all else fails, act like it was supposed to come out like that. :wink:

Great advice I follow often.

 

[adoptapitbull]

I think I'm going to try to salvage the ones I can, and shave down the rest for accents in other soaps. Maybe today I'll do a white soap and add some tan coffee shavings for contrast.

 

[SmellyKat]

If its an option, its really not too difficult to make your own box. If you wanted help figuring it out let me know. I had my boyfriend build me one, we got the wood cut to our specs at the hardware store, brought it home and screwed it together, its even got the hinges! Not only that but it cost very little and the amount of wood we got was enough for two boxes! You do have to use freezer paper tho....or Im about to line it with nonstick oven liner, I saw somewhere else this is supposed to work?! Well see this weekend! Anyways! Sorry that happened to you, sometimes ordering online stinks....and I hope they do refund your money cause really freezer paper as a reusable liner? PLEASE!

Could you send me the dimensions you had your wood cut, please? I will go to Home Depot and ask them to cut them for me. Thanks!!
Smellykat

 

[judymoody]

I also made my own. Use 1x4 boards (which are really 3.5 inches long, cut to length that you want. Hinge together and voilá!

There are directions for making soap molds all over youtube.

I also really like these:

http://bebecollection.com/loaf-mold-tool/loaf-mold

They are the same as the soaper's choice (WSP) green ones but release better and are cheaper. No fuss, no muss, and small enough that you can put them in the freezer if you want to inhibit gel or in the oven if you want to force it.