The lid on slab molds. Is it a leveler/smoother, or a lid?

[Marya]

Hello,

In the past, I've used a plastic rubbermaid type lid (through the clear kind) that happened to sit over my wooden slab mold nicely, and then I put towels over/around that. The lid never made sense to me cause it fit inside the mold, not over it. Then recently I saw a video in which someone said his lid (different kind of mold, but similar in some ways) is really more of a leveler of sorts, if you don't want lumpy soap. So when he lined his mold with freezer paper, he had it fold over the top part too and then put the heavy "lid" down over that top - over the paper. This way the top would be flat, I guess.

Is that why some lids fit inside molds rather than on top?

Thanks!

 

[Marya]

Ha - this is my second thread that I figured the answer out on my own like a big girl. In case anyone else out there was also a little uncertain as I was (ugh - hopefully I'm not the only one!), googling fairly hard finally resulted in the answer which was actually from this forum a couple of years ago. Here's what I found, which was in response to someone asking how to get less crumbly-looking tops on his HP soap:

"You can get wood molds that have lids that are inset. Once you pour, you can cover the soap (or inner surface of the lid) with freezer or parchment, and press down firmly. Then you'd have minimal trimming if any." Combined with a comment I found also online about ash, I see it's a smoother/flattener AND a lid. Leaving the lid on reduces the chance of getting ash, apparently.

So the only question I have left is: does it matter whether it's HP soap or CP soap? Will it gel properly with no air between the top of the soap and the lid? Hopefully that's not a stupid question! The times I made soap long ago, I used the same wooden slab mold but put a plastic lid over the sides of the mold, then wrapped in towels or blankets. Came out well but I just wanted to know if it was really meant to sit right on top of the soap like that. Seems it would squish out over the sides or something!

 

[sistrum]

IMO lids are to cover the mold to keep the heat in and keep your tops from being damaged. So It should sit on top not inside. When you do HP if you flatten the top instead of mounding it up when it dries the top will sink in and you end up with "shrunken head syndrome"

 

[jcatblum]

Lids are also a way to keep things out. What if a fly got stuck in your soap?


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[Marya]

Sistrum - that makes sense to me too. It's just that so many wooden slab molds come with lids that sit inside the mold rather than on top...and they often have a handle or knob to pull it out. I've never fully understood until now, why anyone would want the lid to be too small to sit over the top of the mold as you're saying. But maybe that's because it's okay with some type of soaps and not with others, also as your'e saying about HP soap.

Jcatblum - right but the issue I was having was understanding the difference between the lids that sit on top of the mold itself, and lids that sit inside the mold, actually touching the soap itself, with the exception hopefully of freezer paper. Both will keep bad stuff out, like a fly, but one allows no air and actually touches the soap and the other has space between the soap and the lid.

Thank you both!