Should I just buy a cavity mold

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chibi-soap

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Hi Lovely Soapers,

I just unmolded my 2nd batch of soap (woo hoo!) from the mold I made from coroflute. Now I'm wondering, why don't I buy a silicone cavity mold from ebay and save myself a lot of bother. Then I'd have consistenly sized soaps that would come out easily from the mold (the coroflute stuck a bit).

If you're not making fancy swirls and patterns, there's no advantage to the loaf mold is there? Other than maybe insulation?

thanks
Samantha
 
Yeah, gelling is problematic in little single bar sized silicone molds. You can put them in the oven, but then you often get "silicone rash" - bubbles appear on the surface where the soap meets the silicone for some ummm... unknown reason. It's happened to me when I tried it, even with a good water discount (40% lye to water ratio).

But there's nothing wrong with ungelled soaps and they get as hard and dense as gelled soaps once cured. Gelled soaps can often get a more translucent character, allowing the colors to pop a bit more. Ungelled are more opaque and if you use uncolored soap they are more white looking.
 
Thanks Gerry. Guess I'll stick to my coroflute mold. The soap stuck a bit to the coroflute this morning when I unmolded. Should I have waited longer? The soap wasn't completely solid. It gave a little, like firm cheese. Would it help to grease with mineral oil first?
 
I have a wooden log mold I got on etsy from a really good craftsman. I like it a lot.

But I also have a silicone cavity mold that makes 4 separate oval bars, about 5 oz each. I use it when I make 100% CO soap... that stuff gets hard fast and I would rather unmold the little bars instead of cut them.

As you go along you might find that you need different molds for different tasks and that is OK.
 
There's decent little silicone loaf molds on Amazon for about $15 with a wood frame on Prime.
 
I mostly used cavity molds and I don't have problems when I gel. I use an empty container, a heating pad, and an old towel and my soaps gelled with great consistency.
 
I mostly use silicone loaf molds. However, I've recently delved into wooden loaf molds because I've been making bigger batches. I also have recently purchased single molds which I never thought I'd do since they're so expensive. However, I really love the single molds I have. They're perfect sized (roughly 5 oz) for the extra batter from batches and the shapes are really beautiful. I've decided that, for me personally, spending a higher amount on a quality mold isn't as bad as I thought it would be. (My molds are averaging $15 for a single cavity mold. To me that's expensive when I can get loaf or multi-cavity mold for the same price.) As I've started to branch out into soap making; I've discovered that I'm using my cavity molds more frequently than just my loaf molds. I have trucks and hearts and a bunch of different shapes to appeal to different subjects and events. I'm going to make whipped soap batter using the truck molds so the soap will float. It is intended for children. I'll probably "paint" the trucks as well using micas.
 
Thanks everyone, I did find a little silicone mold on aliexpress which is pretty much the size of the one I made and cheaper than the piece of coroflute I bought. But I'll keep going with the coroflute until I get sick of it, or I've used it up and the molds have fallen apart. :) Looks like I'm going to have to buy lots of different molds, by what you're all saying :)

Nicole-Food-Grade-Silicone-Linner-For-Soap-Making-DIY-Swirl-Soap-Moulds-Cake-Bread-Mousse-Cake.jpg_640x640.jpg
 
I peeked into your blog about tamoxifen. That is some heavy stuff. Well written, too. I like your post on sugar.
 
(My molds are averaging $15 for a single cavity mold. To me that's expensive when I can get loaf or multi-cavity mold for the same price.) As I've started to branch out into soap making; I've discovered that I'm using my cavity molds more frequently than just my loaf molds. I have trucks and hearts and a bunch of different shapes to appeal to different subjects and events. .

Teresa, I used to pay that much for single cavity molds too. Here is an example of one mold that I use a lot. The soaps I make with them sell very well for me, and I have about a dozen of them. The first ones I bought, I paid top price for. Then I started looking around. There are so many places to buy from, and the range of prices is mind boggling. You should be able to find the molds you love at a lower price. I think it's a safe bet that most of these are coming from China, what isn't these days? Sellers take a variety of mark ups, so prices vary widely. So you can order direct and skip the middle man, and save yourself some money. Even on Aliexpress, you will find differing prices for the same item, it pays to look around a lot. Here is an example of varying prices for the mold that I mentioned above.
http://www.kudosoap.com/html/product.php?pid=205
$18 plus shipping

https://www.etsy.com/listing/224878990/sun-and-moon-fondant-mold-chocolate-mold?ref=market
$16.75 plus shipping

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Moo...2762621060.html?spm=2114.30010308.8.24.XSfOZW
$4.00 free shipping
 
I mostly used cavity molds and I don't have problems when I gel. I use an empty container, a heating pad, and an old towel and my soaps gelled with great consistency.

I never try to gel my soaps so I am a little lost here. What do you mean by "empty container" and what do you use it for? Thanks!
 
Cavity molds are useful for a lot of things! Get a coupon for Hobby Lobby, Michael's or JoAnn fabrics and pic one (or more) up. Useful for salt bars, small test batches, overflow, etc.
 
Thanks for the tip, Nav! I keep forgetting about them. I've seen that site before (and spent hours on it), but always forget to check for a similar mold when I see one I like. I really need to bookmark them.
 
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