Soap Wire cutting hints

[ngian]

I think that if you avoid adding salt, the soap's surface will be a lot better.

It sounds weird but after 1,5 years of personal soapmaking for the first time I made a recipe without salt and I really liked the surface and texture of the final soap. It was more soapy plastic kind of texture.

I think salt is giving a more grainy surface and sodium lactate or vinegar might be a better choice for adding hardness (one of my forthcoming experiments).

 

[penelopejane]

Post 6 bar doesn't have salt.
I've confused the issue with by posting these pictures of a soap with salt in the batter, sorry. It is the face of the bar that has been bad not the salty bits - just ignore those. [emoji2] Generally, when I am not going for a scrubby effect, I dissolve the salt in the water and you can't tell it's there.

 

[DeeAnna]

Nice outcome, Penelopejane! Looks very good -- kudos for plugging away at this problem!!!

 

[penelopejane]

Nice outcome, Penelopejane! Looks very good -- kudos for plugging away at this problem!!!

DeeAnna! Amazing difference!
I am going to try a 30% lye concentration with really really tight wires (probably just the "right tightness" I only use my hand) and test the result. Too impatient to do them one at a time, first off. 33% lye concentration really speeds things up for me and I tend to need time to think while soaping.
So exciting.
Just remember, if others try this, You have to remember to loosen the wires after use on a beautiful timber cutter!

 

[Guspuppy]

I'd LOVE to be able to tighten the wire on my cheese cutter soap cutter, but alas it is cheap and I cannot afford a nice one. Glad you figured it out though!!

 

[penelopejane]

I have just made a new discovery about wire cutters and the marks they leave.

Both of these soaps are exactly the same recipe (same batch but soap one has no confetti, soap two has a little confetti) at 31% lye conc, dual lye, with pumpkin, salt, no CA, no vinegar, made on exactly the same day, cut with the same tightness of wires and look at the difference! Soap one is perfectly smooth. Soap two (forget the confetti in the soap I am just talking about the surface) has the rough surface I've noticed in most of my soaps that I cut with a wire cutter.

Soap one (perfectly smooth) was put in a cardboard box, wrapped in a blanket and put on top of the oven.
Soap two (rough) was put in a cardboard box, wrapped in a blanket and put in the oven (100*F) turned off.
Both were cut 18 hours later.

I am thinking that the smooth soap might have been less saponified. So in theory it was cut a little earlier than the one that went in the oven. So it was a little softer than soap two although this was barely noticeable at the time. So I am thinking I should cut my soaps about 12>14 hrs if I CPOP them.
Does this make sense?
Has anyone else experienced this?

BTW just ignore the cinnamon line gone wrong - someone!!! was too heavy handed with it.

 

[mommycarlson]

penelopejane, that soap is really pretty! how did you get those criss cross lines on the top?

 

[earlene]

It certainly makes sense to me that softer soap would cut a bit more smoothly. I know if I wait too long with a recipe that becomes a very hard bar, that any method of cutting will run into problems, but if I cut earlier it will be easier to cut.

They are very pretty. They look like a fancy desert with raspberry parfait on top.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...how did you get those criss cross lines on the top?..."

Not PenelopeJane, but when I do something like this, I want to pour the soap when it is at very light trace so the top levels itself smooth after pouring. I then wait until the top of the soap is slightly thickened -- like soft pudding. I hold a small stainless steel spatula vertical so the front tip faces down and gently insert the spatula tip down into the soap maybe 1/8 inch (3 mm). Pull it straight up out of the soap -- voila, a little ridge!

If you make a set of parallel diagonal lines at one angle and another set of parallel diagonal lines that cross the first, then you'll end up with the embossed diamond shape in PJ's picture. You can also form a little tool out of wire to make these ridges. But if you just want straight lines, a spatula works well.

I got this idea from Auntie Clara's blog -- she uses this concept a lot and makes some really cool designs by bending wire into the various shapes she wants to emboss on the soap. http://auntieclaras.com/2014/04/tutorial-inverted-stamp-technique-lattice-tops-more/

 

[penelopejane]

^^^
As DeeAnna said I got the technique from Auntie Clara's blog - I used a thin wire hanger tool. This was my first attempt at it. I called in DH to admire my handy work but his level of excitement left a lot to be desired!!

Earlene, do you think soap one would have been marginally softer being on the bench rather than.CPOP? Do you agree it might be a timing thing?

It's going to be tough getting the timing right with vinegar soap.

 

[HowieRoll]

Well, penelopejane, I have admired your soap a few times since you posted (seriously, I've come back to this post to look at it!) and am totally excited about your handiwork. In fact, I had the same thought as earlene, in that they look like a fancy dessert with a raspberry filling - complete with such a decadent whipped topping, the kind you see behind the glass display cases at fancy bakeries.

For what it's worth (which is, admittedly, not much), the one and only time so far that I've used vinegar a few of the bars crumbled a little bit when cutting with a wire cutter. I think had I cut them sooner it may not have been an issue, but then again, it's also possible that my vinegar usage calculation was wrong (I was shooting for 2% sodium acetate and want to try again at 1%).

 

[earlene]

^^^
Earlene, do you think soap one would have been marginally softer being on the bench rather than.CPOP? Do you agree it might be a timing thing?

It's going to be tough getting the timing right with vinegar soap.

I do agree. Since the only difference between the two soaps is the method to encourage quicker gel, it stands to reason that the timing of cutting the soaps within the parameters of the actual gel time are the factor here. In my mind, anyway. They both obviously reached gel. But the first one probably took longer, so it wasn't as advanced in the gel completion phase, so it would seem it was probably somewhat softer. And it was probably also somewhat cooler for a longer period of time than the CPOP'd one was.

I am assuming they both were at the same temperature when cut but I have never given any thought to how temperature of the soap might affect cut, so don't know if that matters. But I do know that when I use a blade to cut, I get a smoother result if the blade is warm instead of cold, so perhaps the actual temperature of the block of soap might impact the cut texture. (Just thinking on the fly here.)

Oh, I guess there might be one other factor. Did you wipe down the cutting wires between use? I assume you did as everything I see always emphasizes doing so.

 

[penelopejane]

Well, penelopejane, I have admired your soap a few times since you posted (seriously, I've come back to this post to look at it!) and am totally excited about your handiwork. In fact, I had the same thought as earlene, in that they look like a fancy dessert with a raspberry filling - complete with such a decadent whipped topping, the kind you see behind the glass display cases at fancy bakeries.

For what it's worth (which is, admittedly, not much), the one and only time so far that I've used vinegar a few of the bars crumbled a little bit when cutting with a wire cutter. I think had I cut them sooner it may not have been an issue, but then again, it's also possible that my vinegar usage calculation was wrong (I was shooting for 2% sodium acetate and want to try again at 1%).

Thank you very much for your kind words. I still feel I have a disaster for every two good soaps I make. I couldn't believe the cinnamon line! I didn't put much on so I think the problem was putting it on too early. I should have let the first layer harden more and I could have as I did it in two batches. However if I want to cut early I want both parts to be equally saponified so timing and s going to be important.

Regarding the vinegar. I usually substitute 1/2 the water for vinegar because I premix my lyes with water. This is a dual lye with pumpkin so I ended up with only 40g of vinegar in the coloured part as the rest was purée. In future with purees I'll have to learn how to premix my lyes with vinegar.

Just occurred to me - I wonder if the cinnamon reacted with the vinegar or the KOH this is the first time I've used cinnamon with either.

 

[penelopejane]

I do agree. Since the only difference between the two soaps is the method to encourage quicker gel, it stands to reason that the timing of cutting the soaps within the parameters of the actual gel time are the factor here. In my mind, anyway.

I am assuming they both were at the same temperature when cut but I have never given any thought to how temperature of the soap might affect cut, so don't know if that matters. But I do know that when I use a blade to cut, I get a smoother result if the blade is warm instead of cold, so perhaps the actual temperature of the block of soap might impact the cut texture. (Just thinking on the fly here.)

Oh, I guess there might be one other factor. Did you wipe down the cutting wires between use? I assume you did as everything I see always emphasizes doing so.

The only other difference is the mold shape. Don't know if that makes a difference. I wish I had tested their temps when I cut but I think they were both room temp - not cold. It was 18hrs after they were made.

A blade cut - warm or cold is always smooth for me, regardless of timing or temp.
Yes I wiped the wires down between soaps.

 

[mommycarlson]

Thank you DeeAnna and penelopejane! I never would have thought to do that. The challenge for me is having soap stay fluid that long, when I get to the point of the top layer, it's always so set up I could never do this technique. I love it though, and I have a soap in mind to use it on, but it's a layered soap and I know that it likely will not happen. but it's good to know how to do it! Thanks for the link and the advice!

 

[penelopejane]

Thank you DeeAnna and penelopejane! I never would have thought to do that. The challenge for me is having soap stay fluid that long, when I get to the point of the top layer, it's always so set up I could never do this technique. I love it though, and I have a soap in mind to use it on, but it's a layered soap and I know that it likely will not happen. but it's good to know how to do it! Thanks for the link and the advice!

Yes, that technique is really time dependent.

If you are making a layered soap you can do your mix in batches if you want a little more time to do things.

You can either make 2 soaps at the same time and put 1/2 in one mold and 1/2 in the other mold then wait and make the next layer.
Or if you want to make three layers you can divide everything into 3 as well as the lye mixture and then make three layers individually.

 

[mommycarlson]

Yes, that technique is really time dependent.

If you are making a layered soap you can do your mix in batches if you want a little more time to do things.

You can either make 2 soaps at the same time and put 1/2 in one mold and 1/2 in the other mold then wait and make the next layer.
Or if you want to make three layers you can divide everything into 3 as well as the lye mixture and then make three layers individually.

I literally said "ohhhh" out loud as I read this LOL, I never would have thought to divide everything as well as the lye. Interesting idea! Thank you

 

[DeeAnna]

I use PenelopeJane's method when I make a beer soap that has several tilted, irregular pencil lines running through it to simulate rock. The FO accelerates trace so I use that to my advantage.

I tilt my mold to one side so the soap batter will fill a wedge-shaped portion of the mold. I then make my beer soap batter, portion it into 4 parts. I add FO to just one of the parts, mix that portion, and pour it into the mold. Wait until the the batter stiffens so I can "rough up" the surface (remember I want the soap to look like rock!), and add my cocoa pencil line. Tip the mold to the other side. Put FO into the second portion of batter, mix, pour, rough up, and do pencil line. And so on.

It works pretty cool!

 

[earlene]

I use PenelopeJane's method when I make a beer soap that has several tilted, irregular pencil lines running through it to simulate rock. The FO accelerates trace so I use that to my advantage.

I tilt my mold to one side so the soap batter will fill a wedge-shaped portion of the mold. I then make my beer soap batter, portion it into 4 parts. I add FO to just one of the parts, mix that portion, and pour it into the mold. Wait until the the batter stiffens so I can "rough up" the surface (remember I want the soap to look like rock!), and add my cocoa pencil line. Tip the mold to the other side. Put FO into the second portion of batter, mix, pour, rough up, and do pencil line. And so on.

It works pretty cool!

This sounds so cool, DeeAnna. Do you have a photo of one of your soaps done with this techniqe? I imagine they can be quite beautiful and I'd love to see how they look.

 

[DeeAnna]

Earlene -- Sometimes it looks more rock-like than others. This isn't the best example, but it gives you the idea.