Milk Carton Box Mold

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

This morning As I was finishing off a 1/2 gallon of Hood Low Cal Chocolate milk I said to myself "That would make a good disposable wax lined box mold for soap". I washed it out, did a little measuring and then got one of my sharper knives and cut it into this...

(I hope the pic is good enough. I have figured out how to take a picture with my "flip phone" and e-mail it to myself to use here)
I cut a leftover piece of the carton to make a dam in the formerly top end of the carton.
I used Soapmaker Man's formula to calculate the volume of the mold. I figured it two ways.
1st-2.5x4x8 inches...2.5x4=10...10x8=80...80x.40=32 oz
2nd-2x4=8 inches...2x4=8...8x8=64...64x.40=25.6 0z
I only have 3.5 oz of LYE to work with so I am going to use my current recipe that calls for 25.25 oz of Lard plus add the water lye mix to that is around 36. Hopefully I won't overflow my mold but I will have a "cupcake" mold standing by. By the way every batch I have made so far I have made a cupcake. They are handy to use to check the progress of the cure and if you stick a skinny little birthday candle in it makes a great gag/birthday gift.

I have been wanting to build a box mold and have drawn up a 18" mold that would be a 4 pounder. I will make it before I do my first 3 layer pour. More on that later...

 

[AliOop]

I love repurposing items for molds! Cartons, boxes, Tupperware.... my husband made me 3" PVC molds which are great for round soaps. Buying the PVC was about the same price as the infamous Pringles can, but it makes for a reusable mold. Plus, we don't eat Pringles, so those would have been wasted, too.

Anyhow, show us your soap when it's done, please!

 

[Kathymzr]

Grocery shopping includes mold shopping for me. Round breadcrumb packs are a good size and cheaper than Pringle’s. Quart size milk containers work great for a nice hand size soap. Small gelato containers are great (and you get to eat the gelato first!). Round oatmeal containers are good. The soap may be larger, but you can cut them in half, or slice an edge off for a soap that stands up. I reinforce them with cardboard, and line them. Lumpy HP? Try a large ice cream scoop or make a flattened snowball. Moosh it around a loofah slice. Roll it out between parchment paper and use biscuit cutters. So much grocery shopping, so many molds....

 

[AliOop]

I like your thinking in regards to the gelato container as a mold!

 

[Curtis]

My first soaps were in washed out almond milk cartons. I considered doing what you did but was lazy and just cut the top off (I actually cut it in half and used ~12 ounces of oils - small batches).

 

[Kathymzr]

Yes. One good thing about milk cartons is that you can experiment with them, tear them off, and just replace them. No washing needed!!

 

[Lin19687]

@KeepItSimpleSoap
If you go to the Beginners section, you will find all sorts of posts about 'other' molds

 

[Zing]

Love it! When I started soaping, I started looking at EVERYTHING as possible molds or soaping utensils!

 

[lsg]

Pringles cans and Velveeta boxes also make fair molds.