Question about Milky Way tray molds

[Kerry K.]

I made some batches of melt and pour soap using Milky Way tray molds, and I got a lot of compliments on their appearance. I love the look of them.

Made my first cold process soap using them - an anise and amber soap that smells wonderful. The soap surprisingly came out of the mold very easily after popping it in the freezer for an hour, and the details at the top of the soap are nice, but how do you get the bottoms nice and smooth? I read somewhere in the archives that someone used plastic wrap - is that okay?

Thanks in advance! I am otherwise happy with how the soap turned out and want to use these molds in CP again.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, some people use plastic wrap. You may also want to try pouring when the soap batter is thinner so it levels out on its own.

Be careful about temps -- these molds can warp if the soap gets toasty warm. I wouldn't use a CPOP method with these molds, for example.

 

[dibbles]

What DeeAnna said. Also, if your batter is thick, you can take a dough scraper and use that to scrape off excess. A little messy, but it works.

 

[DeeAnna]

Oh, good point, Dibbles. I have used a stainless steel ruler that was long enough to go completely across the mold. I used it to level off the soap while the soap was still soft-ish. Kind of like leveling off a concrete sidewalk.

 

[lsg]

I grease my plastic molds up with petroleum jelly, using a brush to get into all of the crevices. I have made two batches of goat milk cp soap, using the plastic cavity molds. I did put the soap in the freezer for a couple of days to keep it from gelling. It popped right out of the molds.

 

[Kerry K.]

Thanks for the advice! These are so pretty, and I'd like to use them with CP soap. The first batch worked out fine, just the bottoms were a little uneven.

 

[jcandleattic]

All of this great advice, and you can also use a planer after they are out of the molds to get a smooth bottom.

 

[earlene]

For a really smooth 'bottom' (the top becomes the bottom of the soap), I find that DeeAnna's ruler method works best for me, followed by using a planer after the soap is hard enough to plane. I have used plastic wrap, but get wrinkles when I use it. So I overfill the individual molds, then run a straight scraper-type thing over them and let set up. But even then, most of the time I still plane them to make the bottoms more smooth.

If you don't have a soap planer, you can use a mandolin, but be careful not to nick your fingers.

 

[Kerry K.]

Thanks. Since this soap is just for me and friends and family, I just planed it on both sides and I love it now.