Best non metal soap cutting tool??

[Steph Hoskins]

Hiya! I recently posted about getting white-orange spots on my cold process soap and received lots of helpful hints, one of which was regarding contamination from my processes, including using questionable metal utensils, pans, etc. .. I have decided to make the switch to all-plastic/silicon, but how do I cut my soap??
Any suggestions gratefully received!

 

[lsg]

You can a use stainless steel knife or cutter to cut your soap with no problem.

 

[dixiedragon]

Cheap way - plastic miter box from wal-mart with a putty spatula or pastry scraper. A knife will work in a pinch, but a knife is slightly wedge shaped so it can crack your soap, whereas the spatula or scraper are flat. You can get a soap slicer like this one: https://www.etsy.com/shop/budhaffner. Some string it with fishing line vs wire. The contact is so brief that the fact that it is metal doesn't matter. But do keep it clean!

 

[soapmaker]

Do as you choose but I agree with Isg.

 

[earlene]

So many of us here use multi-bar cutters with SS wires, such as the BudCutters dixiedragon linked to or SS pastry knives, even SS painter knives (looks like a putty knife) or even SS kitchen knives and don't get DOS from them. It's the quality of the SS used to make them.

I have met a soaper who used to use a ceramic knife for cutting his soaps, but I think he switched to a multi-bar cutter. So if you really want to avoid all metal, try a cutting board or wooden or plastic mitre box and a ceramic kitchen knife. But search for a knife with little or the thinnest wedge possible. Most larger & heavier knives made for cutting dense foods, such as meat, raw carrots, apples, etc, have a blade that is wedged (thicker at the spine than at the sharp edge of the blade) that helps when cutting dense foods, but for soap can sometimes cause splintering and crumbling when cutting soap.

 

[IrishLass]

I use my trusty Cutco large SS French Chef knife. Been using it to cut my batches of soap for almost 12 years now without any DOS problems.


IrishLass

 

[shunt2011]

Before my husband made me a soap cutter, I used my Cutco Filet Knife, it was nice and thin and long. But, I couldn't cut a straight cut for the life of me even with a mitre box. After I wore out the cutter my husband made I got the metal multi-bar cutter from Bud. Best purchase ever.

 

[dixiedragon]

If you are cutting with something other than a wire, it really helps to wet the blade with water between slices. It helps the blade slide through and not get stuck.