My DIY Soap Hanger Tool

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

VeggieOPeach

Active Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2020
Messages
25
Reaction score
14
Location
Mississippi
Hi everyone,

I thought to go ahead and post this for some extra opinions, but I tried to create my own soap hanger tool using a hanger wire, some straws, and then ducktape. Also, I tried looking at some DIY videos regarding this handcrafted tool, and for the most part, people just stick with straws together and call it a day. I tried doing that, but my straws ended up bending and twisting considerably :confused: so I thought to go ahead and add duck tape in hopes to make it a little smoother...

What do you guys think? I haven't tested it out yet, but I hope it works.
 

Attachments

  • thumbnail.jpeg
    thumbnail.jpeg
    55.8 KB · Views: 30
I tried that long ago and found it too big in diameter. But, it did work to a point. I've been using a gear tie and that works fairly well too but still too thick, at least the one I have. I like a metal hanger thickness/thinness.
 
IMHO, It's a great attempt.

The only thing that concerns me is whether the tape and other plastic coating can handle the NaOH without leaching into the soap and even exposing some of the cheap hanger metal to the soap. Can't help but wonder whether this DIY attempt is also possible with a hard plastic hangar but am unsure of the plastic types that are most suitable. Perhaps someone else could advise.

Outside of this, maybe PVC pipes with as wide as possible a circumference can be cut and heated into shape to make small tool ... if PVC is soap safe and or it can be coated accordingly.
 
Hi everyone,

I thought to go ahead and post this for some extra opinions, but I tried to create my own soap hanger tool using a hanger wire, some straws, and then ducktape. Also, I tried looking at some DIY videos regarding this handcrafted tool, and for the most part, people just stick with straws together and call it a day. I tried doing that, but my straws ended up bending and twisting considerably :confused: so I thought to go ahead and add duck tape in hopes to make it a little smoother...

What do you guys think? I haven't tested it out yet, but I hope it works.
@VeggieOPeach If that doesn’t work you can try what I did. Just use a regular thin
8CEFB19F-9C1A-4A68-8770-EBA698506AE3.jpeg
metal hanger and wrap electrical tape around it. You can control the thickness by how much you wrap it. This works perfectly for me and it cleans up beautifully.
 
Last edited:
The only thing that concerns me is whether the tape and other plastic coating can handle the NaOH without leaching into the soap and even exposing some of the cheap hanger metal to the soap. Can't help but wonder whether this DIY attempt is also possible with a hard plastic hangar but am unsure of the plastic types that are most suitable. Perhaps someone else could advise.

When I just started out, I basically cut a regular walmart plastic hanger to the length of my mold and kept the hook to hold onto as I swirled. It worked well, although I prefer to just use a chopstick now.
 
I agree with Garden Gives Me Joy- it's a great attempt! :)

I used to use beefed up wire hangers bent like that (beefed up with straws and wrapped in electrical tape) until a few years back when I saw Ione of Eve's Garden Soap make fantastic swirls with just a plain ole' wire hanger in its original triangular shape without any beefing up. It was a revelation to me that such amazing swirls could come from a plain, unadorned wire hanger in its original shape! Since then, I use plain ole' wire hangers in their normal triangular shape for my hanger swirls, but manipulated/bent just enough so that they custom-fit like a glove into my molds from end to end. At first, I used to tightly wrap the exposed parts of the hangers that would come into contact with my batter with Glad Press & Seal wrap, but ever since DeeAnna posted that wire hangers are already coated in plastic, I've just been using them naked. The exposure with the batter is very brief, and I clean them right away and keep watch on them for peeling or cracking. So far so good! No peeling or cracking, and no DOS.

The picture of soap in my avatar is an Ione-inspired swirl that I made with a regular ole' triangular shaped wire hanger.


IrishLass :)
 
I have gear ties and agree that they are too thick. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a wire hanger - we don't have any at our house! Maybe I need to stop at the dry cleaners and see if they'd give me one. :)
 
Back
Top