{"id":39514,"date":"2022-12-26T22:38:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-26T21:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/?p=39514"},"modified":"2022-12-26T22:38:27","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T21:38:27","slug":"how-to-unmold-soap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/cold-process-soap\/how-to-unmold-soap\/","title":{"rendered":"How to unmold soap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of soapmaking. Cutting it into bars and seeing the design for the first time is such an amazing feeling. However, cutting too early can lead to dents and drag marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patience is best when it comes to unmolding soap. But if you want to speed the process up a few days, we\u2019ve got you covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing the right mold<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wood molds<\/a>\u00a0tend to be the fastest option. That\u2019s because they have good airflow and they insulate soap well, which causes it to heat up. Higher temperatures can help you unmold your batch more quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silicone molds<\/a>\u00a0are another good option \u2013 they\u2019re sturdy, flexible, and easy to use. They don\u2019t have as much airflow as wood, so unmolding can take longer. You can speed the process up with\u00a0single cavity silicone molds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plastic molds take the longest. You can unmold the bars cleanly with a few tricks, but if you\u2019re in a hurry we recommend wood or silicone. Learn more about choosing molds in this blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Formulating a hard recipe<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to unmolding, hard oils are your friend. Oils like\u00a0coconut\u00a0and\u00a0palm\u00a0are solid at room temperature and help firm the recipe. Learn more about\u00a0common oils and how to work with them here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good place to start is around 70% hard oils. That creates a firm bar that unmolds quickly. The rest of the recipe can be moisturizing options like olive and sweet almond oil. Learn more about formulating cold process recipes in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We unmolded the Pink Salt and Gold Soap after just a few days. It has 71% hard oils, as well as soft oils like rice bran that feel silky on the skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another option is decreasing the superfat level. We typically use around 5%, but you can drop that to 2-4%. The less free-floating oil in the recipe, the faster it will unmold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a water discount<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This technique is simple \u2013 adding less water to your recipe means it won\u2019t take as long to evaporate. The soap will unmold and cure more quickly. Water discounts also help prevent\u00a0soda ash\u00a0and\u00a0glycerin rivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We usually discount around 5-10%. Higher amounts can accelerate trace and make the soap a bit trickier to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using sodium lactate<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve probably heard us mention\u00a0sodium lactate<\/a>\u00a0a time or two. It\u2019s a liquid salt that helps harden cold process soap. Simply adding 1 teaspoon per pound of oils to your cooled lye water helps the soap release 1-2 days earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sodium lactate can also be used in hot process soap to make it smooth and in lotion to draw moisture to the skin. We definitely recommend having it on hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using higher temperatures and forcing gel phase<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gel phase\u00a0is a part of the saponification process where the batch gets hot and gelatinous. It doesn\u2019t affect the quality of the bars, but it does help the colors pop. Gel phase also helps the soap harden more quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To force gel phase, we recommend having your lye and oils around 50-55\u00a0\u00b0C. Then, cover the mold with a piece of cardboard and a blanket. You can also place it on a heating pad. Learn more about\u00a0how to insulate soap here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to unmold soap<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can typically unmold soap in 2-3 days\u00a0using the tips above. Once it\u2019s firm to the touch, gently pull on one side of the mold or liner. If it releases without sticking, pull on the other sides of the mold to release the airlock. Flip the mold over and gently push the soap out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you still end up with drag marks, don\u2019t worry \u2013 it happens to the best of us. We have tools that can help. The Soap Shaver removes dents, drag marks, and soda ash. If the bars are dented on the corner, try the Soap Beveller. It removes imperfections and gives the soap a polished look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the dents are pretty deep, you can shred or cut the soap up and use it in a variety of ways. It may not be what you originally planned, but it will still feel amazing on the skin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of soapmaking. Cutting it into bars and seeing the design for the first time is such an amazing feeling. However, cutting too early can lead to dents and drag marks. Patience is best when it comes to unmolding soap. But if you want to speed the process up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":395,"featured_media":39529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4857],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cold-process-soap"],"acf":{"schema_OpeningHoursSpecification_repeater":null,"schema_SpecialDays_repeater":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39514"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159889,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39514\/revisions\/159889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youwish.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}