Making a DIY soap mold with Mold Builder.

Making a DIY soap mold with Mold Builder.

I bet you have a favorite mold that you like to use to make your soap in. But because you always have to line your mold with freezer paper, which means measuring and cutting the 

paper to fit, you opted to buy a silicone mold or two.

I have done the same thing. But what to do with the ones you have to line?  Do they sit on the shelf and collect dust? 

Did you, or have you, contemplated giving them away, or selling them?

And what if you really like them? 

I have two such molds, and because I had to line them every time I wanted to use one of them I bought a few silicone molds to save me some work. 

Thanks to Cathy McGinnis at Soaping 101 who did a video on making your own liner with 'Mold Builder' I now have an 'all ready to use' liner for one of my favorite molds!  

Mold Builder cost me less to buy than three Crafters Choice's 2lb, white

silicone molds. That is about how many molds I can make out of 

the container of this Mold Builder! AND the liner

I made can hold three or more pounds of soap! 

 It did take me a day to make it (I just made one so far): layering one layer at a time (about 12 layers total), and waiting the 15 - 20 minutes for each layer to dry before putting on the next layer, but it was worth it. 

I love using this particular mold, and I'm so

excited to use it again without making

a paper liner!

Don't get me wrong. I do love my silicone molds a lot! But sometimes I just wanted a bigger batch, and a different size bar that my favorite mold could give me.

Follow the link to watch Cathy McGinnis's Video on 'how to' 

to fill in my gaps on how to.

First I made the box form out of foam board that fit inside my

wooden mold. It has to have NO wiggle room!

I completely covered it in clear packaging tape. Much thanks

for that tip from Katie White at Royalty Soaps! She says:
Cover the entire box with tape! Follow her
link and you till see what happened to her mold by
not doing that one step!

  

 Place form for the mold on a  sheet of cardboard or another

length of foam board. 

Then the first thin layer goes on! 

   A few more layers later..... 

You brush on a very thin layer of Mold Builder every

15-20 minutes! That's about how long it takes to dry. 

If you have a book you've

been wanting to read and can never

find time to hunker down and devour it....now's the time to get it out! 

Unless

other household chores are calling you that

you can do in-between layers. I played...um....Candy Crush! LoL

 

The next two pictures I took after 12 or more

layers of Mold Builder, and 24 hours later.

  

 

You need corn starch or baby powder when 

you release the mold from the form, because the mold is kind of

sticky, but not to anything but to itself. Kind of

like Saran Wrap. Dust the outside, and then

the inside as you release it.

    

I really liked this part. The mold came off 

really easy! I was so excited to find it worked!!!

  

The mold will be pretty flimsy.

  

I was even more excited to find how great it fit!

You definitely have to secure the sides up.

I just used clear tape to hold it in place.

 

OK! Now it's time to soap!

If you too have a mold hanging around that 

you love to use, but like the easiness of

silicone....try making a liner out of

Mold Builder yourself!

Trust me.....it was VERY easy!

And again,

a big thanks to Cathy McGinnis

and

Katie White

for their tutorials and tips!

Thanks for stopping by!

Life it good!

Valerie

Cream Soap

Cream Soap
What is cream soap?

Cream soap is part liquid, part solid 'Soap'.

Cream soaps are great for: 

shaving, plus as a hand and body wash.

Cream soap is a blend of sodium and potassium hydroxides plus oils.  Sodium hydroxide is used to firm and give body to the soap, and Potassium hydroxide is use to make a smooth, shave-like consistency to the soap.

What is needed to make cream soap:
*Stearic acid
*Coconut Oil
*A soft oil such as: Olive, safflower, castor etc.
*Glycerin for emollience
*Boric Acid as a superfat.
*Phenolphthalein for testing of neutrality of the soap.
I am new to making cream soap, so instead of trying my hand at formulating my own recipe, like I always do, I followed a recipe in Catherine Failor's book:  

'Making Cream Soap'.

I recommend this small paper back book to anyone who may just want to try their hand at making cream soap. It has a wealth of information with five recipes to boot!

I have never made liquid soap (someday I may try) but what I read the making of cream soap is similar to making a liquid soap.

The recipe I choose in Catherine's book has:
Stearic Acid, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, and (Calendula infused) Olive Oil.
I also used Boric Acid to superfat instead of more Stearic Acid.
For the liquid I used some Calendula steeped water, and Aloe Vera gel. Calendula and Aloe Vera are very good for your skin. I wanted both in my cream soap.

*Calendula infused water and Olive Oil, plus Aloe was not part of her recipe.

I have to admit that making cream soap was, at times, hard work. It is very difficult to stir at points in the cook. I have Muscular Dystrophy and my arms and hands were challenged beyond their normal limits. With the videos I've watched on YouTube though,

I see it is also challenging for the healthy arms. Sooooo with that said it is definitely a challenge to make cream soap! But worth it!
Here I have pictures of the finished product. Sorry I did not takes pictures as I went along. To have a better idea of what it is like to make cream soap 'Mountain Scentaments' has a great video that helped me tremendously.

The finished cream soap

 After a few days 

  

  

Cream soap needs a cure time for a least week, but

some let it cure (or rot) for 2 or more months.

It will develope a 'sheen' to it. Here you

can see that sheen even after a few days.

Here is a small container with a fragrance in it. The color

definitely changed.

  

I the color would have been very white, but because

I added Calendula infused water and oil, plus

Aloe Vera gel, and fragrance oil the color turned a bit creamy. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Life is good!

Valerie