Cardboard Soap Molds

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ZandarKoad

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Has anyone used cardboard for a soap mold? I'm talking straight cardboard, no liner. I know it will absorb some oils... I'm thinking of using cardboard tubes for molds, and it's impossible to line their interiors will anything.

I will wrap the outsides of the tubes with plastic wrap, for strength, since the soap will most likely weaken the cardboard.

Will this spoil the soap in some way?

If you're going to respond, try to do so within the next 2-3 hours. After that, it will be too late, and I'll be telling you if it worked or not in 48 hours! :D
 
You can line a cardboard tube pretty easily with freezer paper, just cut a piece, roll it up, pop it in the tube and let in expand to fill the tube. I would line it with something for sure.
 
For the bottom put some more freezer paper (I've even added a piece of plastic wrap then the freezer paper) on and duct tape or masking tape it securely, even add a rubber band if you want.

As far as using cardboard only, it will be messy. The cardboard will just absorb the oils and get weakened, maybe too weak, and leak out or just collapse. It will stay an oily mess until you remove it from water is left inside for soap.
 
OK! It's done!

I did both. One mold, I had already constructed without the wax paper. It's a very complicated mold... The second mold, I put in wax paper. It was an 18 pound batch, but I'd guess maybe 1/4 lb went into the mold with no wax paper. The cardboard started to get wet right away, but I'm not to worried about it retaining it's form. It's surrounded on the outside by plastic, so it should be fine. I'll let you all know how it comes out in two or three days!
 
Wow, had no idea you were doing so much, 18 pounds! Would have tried lining with garbage bags. I can't imagine how big the box is.

Hope it works out well, and do let us know the results. :)
 
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I have a lot to say, and many pictures to share, but I'm on a cell now. The cardboard was single walled, not corrugated. The wax paper did nothing, and both tubes were completely soaked with oil/soap. But it didn't seem to harm the end product in any way. Next time I'll build the tubes with some plastic sheeting I have...
 
Wax paper isn't good for lining molds. Freezer paper is a whole different thing. It's heavy white paper with a thin coating of plastic on one side. The plastic side is the soap side and it works great, although it can be a pain sometimes to cut to size.

I'm glad your soap turned out. It would suck to have 18 pounds of soap go to waste.
 
Did I read that right? You poured 18 pounds of soap into a round cardboard tube? No way! lol How on earth did you do that? Pictures please?! :)
 
Nonono, it's was more like 24 lbs of soap, and only a small fraction of that batch was poured into the tubes. Sorry for the confusion. There were four, one inch diameter tubes that were each 13 inches long. It was messy pouring it all into the tubes, because I was too lazy to get a proper funnel. I got many drops on my fingers, thankfully it didn't hurt at all.
 
Cardboard Soap Pics

Alright, here they are. I can only do four pictures, so just check my other posts for more shots of the end result.

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Those look like they turned out well.

Happy to hear you did not get lye burns. Do tell us about the rest of the adventure, you said there was much to tell.

Will be looking for the other photos you mention, can't wait to see the big box!
 
Well my brother in law heard that I was making "Ninja Soap" (black soap), and I was talking about different, fun ways we could market it. He was the one that came up with the idea for Nunchucks. So I just had to make them. It was very hard getting the nylon rope to remain straight inside the tube. I did NOT want any part of the rope exposed on the side of the nunchuck. I tried melting the rope with a lighter, but that didn't work well. In the end, we had to use a needle and thread a thread through the end of the nylon rope, and poke the needle through the center of the base of the mold. Then we pulled the rope straight down into the tube. I made a custom cap, to keep the rope in place at the top. It was very time consuming, but if I were to ever do it again (doubtful, but if the nunchucks are in high demand I may) I have lots of ideas to make it faster / better. A added bonus of the nunchuck soap is that it's "soap-on-a-rope"! You can hang it from the shower head, and you don't have to worry about it getting all slimy!
 
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