Silicone mold from hell

[zolveria]

okay so i have a silicone mold. my soaps where coming out soft..
I used same recipe. I normally use my pvc molds.

This time i put 1 bar in the sili mold and the other in pvc.
well the pvc came out wonderfull and the Silicone mold cracked and came out brittle.


CAN SOME ONE EXPLAIN THIS PHENOMENON

 

[not_ally]

Zolveria, I have no idea what could be causing this, but you are an experienced soaper, I am going with a guess that maybe it is a defective mold?

Ie, I suspect you have tried as many things as you can to trouble shoot, so it sucks if you usually use wood, thought you might try silicone and then got a rare out and out bad one. Where did it come from?

In my experience they have their pluses and minuses (having to do w/the size/thickness of the individual mold), but not like that, and I generally like and mostly use them and have a lot.

 

[zolveria]

I got them on amazon
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CavV9xzRL._SX522_.jpg

I have used the blue ones from bulk apothecary and yes it soft but not like this. brittle cracking.. wierd..
same recipe used on the Bulk Apoth too. no issue but had to wait 48 instead of the 1 day with pvc.

Zolveria, I have no idea what could be causing this, but you are an experienced soaper, I am going with a guess that maybe it is a defective mold?

Ie, I suspect you have tried as many things as you can to trouble shoot, so it sucks if you usually use wood, thought you might try silicone and then got a rare out and out bad one. Where did it come from?

In my experience they have their pluses and minuses (having to do w/the size/thickness of the individual mold), but not like that, and I generally like and mostly use them and have a lot.

 

[TeresaT]

I would suggest you contact Amazon and return it for another mold. Tell them it is defective and you'd like to exchange it. How long have you had it? They're pretty good about returns, even if you've had the product for a little while and it is not working to your expectations, they are willing to work with you far more readily than other companies are. It's worth a shot. The worst they can say is, "No," and you won't be out anything more than you already are if they do.

 

[not_ally]

Do you CPOP and/or have heater ingredients in the soap? That mold looks kind of thin, I am wondering if the soap is overheating or there is something going on b/c of that.

I would still return it if you can, though, as Theresa suggested. Some of those Amazon molds are pretty thin, I use them for MP but since I mostly do CP and CPOP most batches I like thicker silicone for that.

 

[Susie]

That mold won't hold enough to gel the soap. You have soap that gelled in the PVC (unless you put it into the refrigerator or freezer to prevent gel). That is a common phenomenon with those individual bar molds. I have to wait days for mine to firm enough to unmold when I can unmold and cut the loaf in under 24 hours.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

I will second Susie. They probably don't gel and there is your issue.
I also have to wait for 2 days at least to unmold individual soaps that haven't gelled. They will be somewhat firm, but corners will often crumble.
It almost never happens with gelled soap. It has completely different texture and it sets really firm once it cools down.
I made this soap, few weeks ago, same batter, same FO, everything same. One in small rectangle gelled and few small individual didn't and they both look and feel very different.
Also, I have to add, those molds have verrry straght abd pointy corners, they probably add to the whole crumbling and squishing problem. Even gelled soap would be pain to unmold from those
I gave up on similar ones ages ago. I mostly used molds with soft corners and edges, like hearts, rounds, etc.

 

[seven]

Similar experience with thin, individual sili mold. One batch i poured too thin, came out a bit crumbly, obviously did not gel. After that i poured thicker, insulated, and it gelled just okay. Soap was firm when unmolded in less than 24 hrs.

 

[dillsandwitch]

I have the same moulds. I just leave the soaps in there for a good week before unmoulding them to get them to come out clean. The only exception I have had is my salt bars after about 12 hours came out just fine. Let them sit if your not in a rush to use the mould again and they will eventually harden up enough to come out clean

 

[nsmar4211]

I just ordered that mold myself..... good to know!

I've already noticed the soap takes longer to be unmoldable in any of my silicone molds...I just chalked it up to the lack of air circulation.

 

[navigator9]

I'm with Susie, too. Small, individual molds of any kind, don't have enough mass to generate the heat needed for gelling. You can try to force gel by CPOPing, or just leave them, as dillsandwitch suggested. The first time this happened to me, as a new soaper, I had no idea what was going on. I zap tested, and it was zappy, and I thought it was lye heavy, and just got it out of the mold into a plastic bag, intending to throw it out, but it sat on my work table for a couple of weeks, forgotten. When I noticed it again, for some reason I zap tested it, and was surprised to find that it was just fine. I finally figured out that it just hadn't gelled, and now, I either CPOP, or just leave any soaps I make in small molds for a week or so. I'm thinking your mold is fine, you just need to let your soap finish saponifying. Until it's done, it will be soft and zappy, just leave it.

 

[IrishLass]

Yep- ditto what Susie said. When I make my batches, I like to pour a bit of my batter off into a small individual-type mold so that I can have an ungelled portion of my batch (I always gel the main portion). If I try to unmold the ungelled portion at the same time as when I unmold the main gelled portion- it's a no-go. The ungelled portion is much too soft and is as crumbly as cheesecake if I try to unmold it, while the gelled portion is hard/solid and very easy to unmold and cut.

What I like to do is put the ungelled bar (which is still sitting in its indy-mold) into the freezer once it has set up overnight after pouring, and then I am easily able to pop it out of the mold 8 to 24 hours later and set it on my cure rack.


IrishLass