Milky Way molds....

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celticjanis

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Does anybody else use the individual small molds from Milky Way? If so, how long do you wait to unmold your soap? (without having to use the freezer. I use too may mold trays to fit in the freezer.)
Thanks, again!
 
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It depends on the recipe, the FO, how much water, gel, etc. I generally try to get them out within 24 hours, but sometimes it's as much as a week.

While I think the shapes are GORGEOUS, the hassle of unmolding makes them not worth it. I do grease them with a bit of mineral oil and that helps a lot.

If the mold has a lot of small details, freezing is almost required to get them out without those small details getting ruined.
 
Does anybody else use the individual small molds from Milky Way? If so, how long do you wait to unmold your soap?

Yes, I do occassionally use them for un-gelled CP soap. I also use them with HP soap sometimes, though I don't do that as often as when I first started soaping.

When I started soaping, I read about using a release agent with molds and for me, lanolin (the solid waxy stuff in a jar) worked perfectly. Also putting the soap into the freezer helps them release more easily without or with less damage to the intricate designs.

But how long before unmolding really depends on the recipe. Some soaps are ready within hours, while others can take days.

I check how firm the soap feels and if it feels right, I unmold one. If it comes out clean, good. If not, I pop the rest in the freezer.

sorry. this is a duplicate posting. don't know how that happened. don't know how to delete this one.

Go to edit post, then the delete option appears.
 
I like your attitude Earlene! If something doesn't work; try something else. If something does work; keep doing it!! That's how I approach life, too!

So, what's your opinion. Leave them longer in the mold until they all come out and don't leave any pieces of soap left behind in the mold or, unmold them sooner, when they're a little oily/slick on "top"(bottom) of mold and hope the ash doesn't get to them very badly?

Did you find that unmolding them "too soon" encouraged more ash all over the soap? Included down in the design crevices? I've been unmolding them easily after 24 hours and then someone told me that it may be too soon and the unsaponified are reacting with the air and creating the overall ash. But then today, after letting them sit in the molds for 48 hours, many of them stuck to the mold. I'm so confused!?!?!?

I wish I didn't like my milky way molds designs so much! Looks like I may need to buy a walk in freezer!! :cry:
 
I use my Milkyway molds in the same manner as Earlene, and I also use the same freezer method of releasing my soap from them, only I use mineral oil instead of lanolin to 'grease' my molds.

I often leave my molds in the freezer for 3 days (or even more, sometimes) because I get so busy with other things that I forget about them, and I've found them to pop out wonderfully and cleanly after I flip them over and give them a very brief run under some lukewarm water from my faucet.


IrishLass :)
 
Did you find that unmolding them "too soon" encouraged more ash all over the soap? Included down in the design crevices? I've been unmolding them easily after 24 hours and then someone told me that it may be too soon and the unsaponified are reacting with the air and creating the overall ash. But then today, after letting them sit in the molds for 48 hours, many of them stuck to the mold. I'm so confused!?!?!?

The CP soap batter that I pour into my Milkyway molds remains un-gelled and therefore will develop ash on them (mostly the bottoms that are exposed to air as they are finishing up saponifying). If it were me, I would leave them in the mold for 2 or 3 days on the counter to finish up completely saponifying, and then I would pop them into the freezer to help with unmolding cleanly. Your bottoms will probably be ashy, but the tops should cure out with less or no ash.

Also- there are many threads on the forum that show the different ways one can safely remove ash without causing much or any damage to the soap. I'll see if I can gather some up for you. Stay tuned...


Edited to add: Here are 2 of the most recent thread on removing ash:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=61642&highlight=remove

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=60528&highlight=remove



IrishLass :)
 
Well, this is a catch 22...if I leave them in the molds for 2-3 days to avoid the ash (as you suggested. and, no, I don't gel my soaps) they DEFINITELY won't come out unless I use the freezer, correct? Will leaving them in the MW molds for extra time definitely avoid the ash on the "top"/bottom??

But, I'm willing to go the freezer route after 2 days IF it avoids the ASH in the crevices etc on the designs......

I've used all sorts of techniques to remove the ash but, as you know, it gets trapped in the designs and even steaming them doesn't get the ash out of the details. Thanks for the links, tho.
 
I like your attitude Earlene! If something doesn't work; try something else. If something does work; keep doing it!! That's how I approach life, too!

So, what's your opinion. Leave them longer in the mold until they all come out and don't leave any pieces of soap left behind in the mold or, unmold them sooner, when they're a little oily/slick on "top"(bottom) of mold and hope the ash doesn't get to them very badly?



I've done it both ways, early removal and longer in the mold. If ash is going to form, it's going to form. It's not that hard to remove for the most part. It goes away once the soap is being used. And sadly those beautifully designed soap molds make oddly shaped soaps with indistinguishable designs once the bar starts wearing down from use.

I have left my mold in the freezer for longer when I forgot, but 10 or 15 minutes is all it takes (link). I drink so much iced tea that I am always opening my freezer door and can't miss it when there's a soap mold sitting there! The time in the freezer is just to help solidify the water inside the soap, making release easier. Depending on how old your molds are, they can become quite brittle with age and exposure to lye, etc, so extended periods of time in the freezer isn't really good for some of those plastic molds.
 
I find that adding a bit of sodium lactate to your recipe (about a teaspoon per pound of oils) helps with unmolding from the Milky Way molds, especially to keep from losing any of the fine detail. I like to err on the side of caution, and usually leave mine in the mold for about a week if I can, and then into the freezer before unmolding. Here is a pic of the MW dragonfly mold, using that method. Before using sodium lactate, I'd always lose part of the dragonfly's body when unmolding, but here, all the detail is intact. Good luck! :)

dragonfly.jpg
 
Ouch! A whole week before you unmold????!! I don't have that much storage rack space for the molds to wait a week.....hmmm....I'd only be able to do 3 large batches = 70 soaps per week! I'll give it a try, tho. Thanks.
Are your soaps goat milk soaps? They're lovely BTW.
Do you get much ash after keeping them in the mold for a week?

Anybody else use Milky Way molds for goat milk soap? How long do you keep them in the molds?

I see you're from New England..I was too. Where about are you?
 
Yes, I have the Milky Way Goat Milk Guest Soap tray mold and have used it for Goat Milk soap. I started using SL at some point after I got tired of always rubbing the lanolin into molds and not always getting as fine a film on them as desired. Good for my hands, as I love lanolin on my skin, but very time consuming, too. So I ordered some SL and started using that. Now I'm liking vinegar in soaps and might one day give it a try and see if it helps with releasing soaps from the Milky Ways molds faster. I'd just have to do the calculations and so on, which is also a bit time consumptive. But it does harden up the soaps faster.

Oh, to answer your question about how long I kept the GM soap in the mold, I've only done this once and looking back on my notes did not write down how long I left it in the mold. I see I used salt as well as SL, so maybe a bit of overkill, but I know the detail remained on the soaps and they look nice. My SIL wanted some guest size soaps, so I thought making them as GM with that mold would be a nice touch. I do know this one never went into my freezer because there's usually not enough room for a tray mold in mine.
 
Ouch! A whole week before you unmold????!! I don't have that much storage rack space for the molds to wait a week.....hmmm....I'd only be able to do 3 large batches = 70 soaps per week! I'll give it a try, tho. Thanks.
Are your soaps goat milk soaps? They're lovely BTW.
Do you get much ash after keeping them in the mold for a week?

Anybody else use Milky Way molds for goat milk soap? How long do you keep them in the molds?

I see you're from New England..I was too. Where about are you?

Yes a whole week, lol, as I said, I like to err on the side of caution. But try some sodium lactate, and try removing them when you need to and see what happens. Like I said, I also stick them in the freezer before attempting to unmold. A word of caution there, freezing the MW molds makes them brittle and it's not hard to crack them if you handle them too roughly when trying to unmold. I just place them upside down on my kitchen counter and push gently with my thumbs. I don't remember those being goat's milk soaps. I honestly don't use the MW molds all that often, I'm too spoiled by silicone molds. I'm sure you'll find a recipe that works for you, and allows you to unmold when you need to. When we soapmakers find a mold we really love, we find a way to make it work! :-D
 

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