Sticky soap in silicone liner

[candicec003]

Hello soapers I recently bought some 5lb silicone soap liners with mold from Nurture Soap Supply. I have a hard time getting my soap out of the liner even after its been sitting for 24-48 hours. It was never like this before with my wooden molds with same dimensions, and parchment paper. I have to wait 2-3 days before I can take them out with minimal damage. Maybe in doing it wrong? Is there a special technique with silicone liners? Also I've been thinking about the water content in my recipe. I do a 2.4 : 1 ratio of water : lye. Could this be a higher content then normal? But again, I didn't have this problem before with the wooden molds. Last thing, does having less water in your recipe make for a harder bar?
Thanks

 

[toxikon]

Silicone can keep soap a bit softer for longer. I generally unmold from my silicone molds after 1.5-2 days. I don't like rushing it and risking any sticking or accidentally denting a corner.

A water discount will speed up the water evaporation process a bit during the cure, but probably won't help speed up unmolding.

 

[penelopejane]

CPOP will speed up the process.

 

[candicec003]

CPOP will speed up the process.

What does that involve?

 

[BattleGnome]

All water evaporates out in the end. In my experience the amount of water you use only changes how the batter moves.

I use silicone molds and I have to wait a minimum of here days for most recipes. Silicone offers the most air tight of seals against your soap which slows down some of the process. After a day or two I crack the seal on the sides of my soap and let it sit. This allows a bit of air to get to the sides. I also let the soap sit at least 12 hours after unmolding before I cut it to make sure I have a few sides of non-sticky soap to touch

Edit: people posted while I was typing

CPOP- cold process oven process. When you put your mold in the oven to encourage gel.

 

[penelopejane]

What does that involve?

Cold Process Oven Process
Wrap your soap in the mold in a towel and a blanket and put it in your oven preheated to 100*F (40*C). If your oven doesn't go this low turn it off and wait till it cools enough so that it's about that temp inside (use your hand or a laser thermometer.) Turn the oven off straight away and leave it unopened for 12 hours.

If your molds don't fit in the oven put the molds on a towel on a heatpad (old electric blanket) on high (about 100*F) and wrap the mold in both and cover the whole lot with a normal blanket for 1 hour. Then unwrap the mold and turn it down to low (68*F or 20*C) but leave it sitting on the flat heatpad and cover it with the normal blanket for 12-18 hours then it is ready to cut.

I use 31% lye concentration. It makes the bar less likely to warp by the time it cures than if you use 25% lye concentration (default lye concentration).

 

[candicec003]

Awesome! I'm going to try this, thanks!

 

[dibbles]

I have the Nurture molds and love them. I do use sodium lactate, which is supposed to help harden the soap for easier unmolding. But I think ensuring gel phase is the biggest help. I set a heating pad on top of a thick blanket, put my mold on top of the heating pad (set at the highest setting for 1 hour), wrap it all up. I can usually unmold the next morning. Using the oven isn't really an option for me because I soap during the day and need the oven to be free for dinner.

 

[penelopejane]

Awesome! I'm going to try this, thanks!

It is winter here now and the above is what I do now.
When summer gets here I might turn the heat pad off altogether after 1 hr.
I just want to keep it at those temps for that long so adjust for your ambient temperature.
In the oven it was easy - summer and winter was the same.

 

[shunt2011]

I use those same molds and can unmold 12-24 hours. I do use sodium lactate which helps with that too I'm sure. And as stated, gelling the soap makes a difference as well. Mine just slide right out of the mold after I lift the sides a bit. They are my favorite loaf molds to use.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Try the sodium lactate, or search here for "vinegar" and find the thread(s) about replacing some of the water with vinegar to get sodium acetate.