Acceleration and cracking

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Ugeauxgirl

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I made my first batch of soap in two weeks and it accelerated and I smashed it into the mold. I insulated it as usual and checked it later to find that it cracked. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. When a fragrance accelerates your soap, do you cover and insulate as usual or do you treat it differently?
 
I've found when a batch accelerates, aka "soap on a stick", it's best to set a timer for 5 minutes and walk away. When you come back, it's likely going into gel and easy to stir up and mold up. I would not insulate at that point. It's already gone through gel although it may heat up again... not sure about that. :oops: I don't have a lot of experience with FOs. Use your best judgment. :thumbs:;)
 
It wasn't soap on a stick- more like peanut butter. I just wondered that if you've already got a thickening soap, you should keep it cooler rather than hotter. Obviously mine got too hot.
 
I agree with @Zany_in_CO - let it start gelling and then mold it. The only thing I do differently is stay and watch to be sure I catch it at the right time.

The other option is to throw it into heat-safe pot and HP it, whether in a crockpot, on the stove-top, or in the microwave. The extra heat speeds up the gel process, which loosens up the soap for easier/better molding.

Whether it gels on its own or via HP, I wouldn't heat it any further or insulate it after that, to avoid cracking.
 
I've never had an accelerating FO crack in the mold. I just had one today in fact and I still CPOPped it.
ETA - how big is your mold? Mine is a standard loaf mold with the purple/pink silicone liner. If you mold is bigger then that would cause more heat.
 
I've never had an accelerating FO crack in the mold. I just had one today in fact and I still CPOPped it.
ETA - how big is your mold? Mine is a standard loaf mold with the purple/pink silicone liner. If you mold is bigger then that would cause more heat.
It's a tall skinny mold about 12 inches long - about 30 cm
 

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