Another "How many of you ... ?" questions.

[John Harris]

How many of you plane and bevel your bars?

Like most of you, I have made LOTS of soap in my life but I have to say that I never planed or beveled. The people who got the bars, got them in the raw - like they were just cut off the slab. No one ever complained and most happily came back for more. I was so clueless that it never dawned on me make the bars more attractive.
Maybe it's an uncouth variation on being male. My bars are impressive because they are really big and people seem to like big.
As usual, this group has given me something to think about. Maybe I could start tidying things up a bit.

So! Back to the question! How many of you plane and bevel?

 

[Misschief]

I don't. My customers don't seem to mind. I don't mind. And I don't have to worry about making sure I use up all the scrap bits that I might bevel or plane off. Saves time, too.

 

[MrsZ]

I use a potato peeler to kinda bevel edges a little. I do it because the square edges feel a bit sharper than I enjoy using the first couple of times.

When I received handmade soap before I knew anything about soapmaking, the bars were not planed or bevelled, or cleaned up in any way, and I didn't notice at all. I only noticed once I started making my own soap and went back to compare.

ETA: I also don't sell my soap. I might do it differently if I did.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I don't plane, and I only very occasionally bevel (with a vegetable peeler). I, like @Misschief , don't want to be dealing with all the extra scraps that would yield.
I sell mine and no-one seems to mind/notice. However when I see some of the lovely bevels that pop up on here I do get a little jealous. Obviously not enough to do something about it ;-)

 

[MellonFriend]

I'm so cheap, I didn't want to spend $3.50 on a vegetable peeler to bevel my soap so my family just has to deal with sharp soap for the first couple uses. I'm only making soap for home use, though so I might feel differently if I was selling.

 

[lenarenee]

No. My goal with planing and beveling would be to have perfect edges and smoothness; which I could never achieve without whittling away too much good soap. Very time consuming too.

 

[Misschief]

It does make for pretty pictures, though.

 

[AliOop]

I like having a beveler for the times that I really mess up the cutting and need to straighten things out. I also like to use a veggie peeler just to take the sharpness off the edges. I save all the peels for confetti soap.

 

[dibbles]

I plane and bevel most of my bars. When asked how he liked my soap, my dad commented that the sharp edges poked him in the *insert what you never want to hear from your dad* So...at the very least I bevel them all.

 

[AliOop]

@dibbles oh yes, bevel ALLLL the edges on AAALLL the bars!

 

[dibbles]

@dibbles oh yes, bevel ALLLL the edges on AAALLL the bars!

My dad is no longer with us, but I still hear that in my head...and I do still have a father in law.

 

[glendam]

I plane and bevel all of my soaps. Initially I did not, but I prefer the smoother corners now. After getting the planer, and wanting to plane every soap I had, I realized I am very tactile and prefer the smooth feeling it gives to soap bars. I do not sell at shows, and most of my soaps are for friends and family, so it is something I do mostly for myself.

 

[Tara_H]

I plane all of them, and bevel when I feel it will add to the aesthetic. I make soap purely for my own enjoyment and as a creative outlet and I find that planing brings out the pattern more clearly because the surface is completely smooth.

 

[Babyshoes]

I bevel most of the edges, I like the aesthetic, plus I prefer to use soap without the sharp edges.

 

[Vicki C]

I have a planer / beveler and it is handy sometimes, like when I want to make my soap look spiffy for an SMF challenge. I have been selling my soap at a museum gift store and don’t plane or bevel that soap but I do smooth the edges with a pair of nylon stockings.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I have a planer / beveler and it is handy sometimes, like when I want to make my soap look spiffy for an SMF challenge.

LOL - 'spiffy'

 

[ResolvableOwl]

If there were an elegant/reliable way to bevel the 2 (in words: two) edges of column mould bars, I'd probably make many more of these.

A neat (but nougat-intensive) way to avoid beveling in the first place is usage of individual bar moulds with rounded edges.

 

[artemis]

When I bevel I use the back of a butter knife blade and just run it down the edges. This bevels the bar just enough to take the edges off without producing a lot of waste scraps. So, it's not a very deep bevel, but it does give the bar a finished look.

 

[Vicki C]

LOL - 'spiffy'

Hahaha hasn’t seemed to help me win (or place) oh well…

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Following on what @dibbles mentioned, one of my dad’s first comments about my soap was about the sharp edges. I don’t sell, but do gift, and mostly bevel or at least smooth the edges. The knife on the edge trick is fast and easy. After reading this post shared by @SoapWitch , I use a lemon zester when I want more of a bevel.

Planing can fix or improve a lot of cosmetic issues in soap, but takes time and creates waste.