I plan to use 3" PVC pipe for soap molds. My question is about your soap calculator. Will the water reduction cause the pipes to warp due to too much heat? And how hong should the mixture be left in the PVC to cure before taking out to cut?
PVC piping for soap molds
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 11:56am
#1
PVC piping for soap molds
Fri, 11/11/2011 - 3:45pm
#2
Your PVC shouldn't warp at all.
You can remove the soap from the pipe as soon as it has cooled, which is a "squishy" issue, as you won't know if it's hard enough to remove until it's out of the pipe and if it isn't hard ewnough to have been removed, it's too late... I would leave it overnight before removing it.
Removing your new soap from the pipe is an issue, as it will stick to the inside unless you've 'lined' the inside of the pipe. You can make a neat tube of plasticized oven paper and tape the outside of it to hold it together as you insert it into the pipe before starting your soapmaking. The issue there is to avoid the oven paper wrinkling or creasing so as to avoid leaving creases in the outside of your finished soaps.
Be sure, also, to wrap your ube mold in a doubled towel or some other decent insulation to let it retain its heat of saponification while it's processing overnight.
[BTW - You can post an image of the results here byu starting a new Topic item here in the forum or if you wish, email it to me at steve@summerbeemeadow.com & I'll insert it here for you]
Sat, 11/12/2011 - 10:22am
#3
Steve, when I used the 3-inch PVC pipe, I didn't line mine. What I did do, was tape an ice cream cup lid to the bottom of the pipe. (It was 13-inches tall) When it was time to un-mould, we took a spray paint can and pushed it through the bottom to un-mould the soap. We did have to use two stacked on top of each other. But we would push out an inch and cut the soap, push out another inch, and repeat until it was all out. If any of you do it this way, be sure you put the inside of the lid toward the soap. LOL We learned the hard way. I now have a bar of round soap with the name of the ice cream backwards on it.
TX-Debbie