March 18, 2012

Transition

Recently, I have had some issues with my silicone molds and lots of sweating/condensation. The soap is still lovely to use, but the condensation was leaving pock marks on the outside of the soap-not very attractive. I tried several different things-removing all insulation,soaping cooler,un-molding as soon as possible etc.- but to no avail. I could try to stop gel altogether,but my formula wants to gel and I prefer to gel. Sooo, I am having to go to a completely different mold(a block mold my husband built, but I never used because it needed a splitter to go with it.) Now, with a bit of adjustment for the mold itself and a new combination splitter/planer in the works I will be moving up a bit in batch size. At first, I was a bit intimidated by the thought of a larger batch,but after actually making it and going through the motions it was very manageable. It think it's going to work out well.

I will most likely be selling my current (very nice silicone molds) once I see that all is going to work out well. I think they would work out very nicely for someone who doesn't gel or with a formula that perhaps doesn't heat up as much as my formula does (although no guarantees.) They are very nice and well made molds. More deets as I see how things are working out.

3 comments:

Jennifer Young said...

Would love to see photos of both moulds! xo Jen

Ruth said...

It sounds like you've found the silver lining to your problem! Larger mold means more efficient soapmaking. Good for you!

Tierra Verde Handmade Soap said...

@ Ruth,yes-it's a bit of an adjustment,but really it's not too bad and I do feel like I am much more efficient.The new mold makes over 2 times what I was making previously. I do like it and since it's a block it's not as hard to line in terms of freezer paper the log I started out with before I switched to silicone. My plan is to increase the number of molds as I grow-I'm really liking this size batch for ease of handling.