Soap Mold Ideas

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scotsman

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So I had a couple possible ideas for soap molds to address specific issues that many soap makers have experienced. I did a lot of searching online and couldn't find a single example of one of these ideas being implemented into the design of a soap mold. This leads me to consider a few possibilities as to why I'm not finding anything on this:
1)It simply wouldn't work
2)It's cost-prohibitive
3)Too difficult to design and build efficiently
4)I'm way too tired and should go to bed rather than brainstorm ideas for more projects to add to my already mile-long list of things I want to try ;)

At any rate, here are the two ideas that came to mind.

1)Sometimes you just want to promote a ridiculously hot gel or you live in a cold climate where achieving a full gel can be difficult at best. For this problem I was thinking that I could design a mold with some type of insulation sandwiched between the walls, base, and lid of the mold, much like the structural insulated panels that are used in building houses but on a much smaller scale. Ideally, this design would be applied to a wooden mold as wood is, on its own, a much better insulator than HDPE or silicone. The mold of course would have to have an insulated lid as well because an open-top design would allow the heat to escape and would completely defeat the purpose. I'm thinking this one would actually work rather well and was surprised that I couldn't find a single example of this type of design. It would, of course, have to have thick enough walls and possibly a clamp system on the exterior of the mold to prevent the sides from bowing out from the heat and cracking the top of the soap. Have any of you seen this type of thing done before? If so, did it actually work as intended? If nothing else, it would be a fun experiment as I have a bunch of scrap wood sitting around as well as a partial roll of fiberglass home insulation.

2)My second idea addresses a problem I have encountered on more than a few occasions. When making milk soaps or soaps with a particularly high sugar content I find it extremely difficult to fully inhibit gel short of placing the mold in the blast chiller at work. I've tried placing the molds in the freezer, pre-freezing the molds before I use them, and one time even placed the entire mold in an ice bath but have rarely been successful in completely stopping gel. So I was thinking, what about a mold with some type of integrated cooling system inside the walls of the mold. Perhaps that gel that they put into ice packs. Constructing it would not be too much of a problem but I'm wondering if it would actually work. Again, if anybody has seen this sort of thing done before please weigh in on this as I don't want to waste time and materials on a project that's doomed to fail.

Again, I may just be over-tired and grasping at straws here but I've always been the type to try to find more efficient ways to overcome obstacles. Let me know what you guys think.
 
In regards to this second idea...this reminded me of my polar cube that I used after my ankle surgery. I did a blog post about it here... this would probably work better than the gel idea from the ice packs because it would stay cool for as long as you wanted. Don't know if this would work better than popping your mold in the freezer or fridge, but thought this may help with your idea :)

Cheers!
 
I think both of those sound really neat, but probably cost prohibitive. There are relatively simple ways to get those results without a specialized mold. To ensure gel, or to get a long gel, you can put your mold in a preheated oven, or you can put it on a heating pad and wrap it in towels.

If putting a mold in an ice bath doesn't stop milk soap from gelling, it seems like it would be VERY expensive to build a cooling system that is colder than an ice bath.
 
My neighbor was getting rid of old ice chests(coolers). One of them appeared to be the perfect size for two molds. I removed the hinges to allow the top to become the bottom.

I have not tried it yet, as I just got the cast off yesterday, but this seems like it should work to me.
 
I use silicone liners inside wooden molds with lids and have no problem getting gel even in the dead of winter just by covering with some towels. Once I had to put a heating pad underneath. Can't help with non gel as I gel everthing. You'll have to let us know how your plans work.
 
What if you built a mold out of foam board (you can find it at the dollar store) just a bit larger (say 1/4-1/2 inch) then your regular mold. Line the bottom and sides and top (leave an overhang that can be folded over) with the gel packs or whatever coolant pack you want to use. Freeze the whole thing then put your soap inside the "cooler mold" and close it up.

Not sure if it would work but it would be inexpensive to find out.
 
@Dorymae
That's a good idea, and a lot less money and work than trying to build a mold with an integrated gas or water cooling system, lol! I do have to say though that it would be kind of cool to be able to build an over-the-top mold with a built-in commercial grade refrigerant system. Might be a bugger to get the piping that would hold something like freon between the walls of the mold though.
 

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