L. P. Skeen on sun 12 mar 06
You absolutely do N O T want to be using aluminum cans of any kind when =
making handmade soap. The lye reacts with the aluminum in poisonous =
ways. Either stainless steel or enamelware or glass, but not aluminum.
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Kathy Rhoades=20
Cans like tuna or pet food cans can be recycled and used again and =
again.
L. P. Skeen on sun 12 mar 06
Since soapmaking is way off topic, may I suggest a group called =
Southeast Soapers? It is very low volume, but there are very =
experienced soapmakers who can give you guidance so that you can make =
soap that doesn't HAVE unsaponified lye left over. :) To join, =
sesoapers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com , introduce yerself and ask =
questions! :)
L
----- Original Message -----=20
From: mtigges@NOSPAM.SHAW.CA=20
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG=20
Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 11:25 AM
Subject: Re: soap molds
On Sun, Mar 12, 2006 at 04:51:28AM -0500, Kat wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> I know this isn't really pottery related, but I'm running out of =
luck finding
> inexpensive soap mold making material...it's for a tsunami relief =
project in SW
> Thailand to make soap in the shapes of turtles, only I haven't a =
clue how to
> make a soap mold. I'd like to not have to buy anything like RTV =
rubber or
> liquid vinyl as the budget for the project is quite small, and I =
have to be able to
> find the materials in rural Thailand. Does anyone know if you can =
use plaster
> to make soap molds? Are they reusable? Can anyone think of =
anything else?
>
> Thanks for your time, hope to hear back
> Kat
>
My wife is a soap maker. We combine our efforts and sell pottery and
soap at craft fairs.
I don't believe plaster is a good idea. Getting the soap out of the
mold is an issue. It's not like clay, it doesn't shrink. It won't
just pop out. The mold must be made of something that you can peel
off the soap. For the big blocks of soap from which bars get cut, we
use shower curtain material to line the mold.
For small shapes, like turtles, we use flexible ice cube trays. Of
course we are restricted to the shapes that you can purchase. I've
never seen turtles.
Pretty much the only solution that we have tried is liquid latex.
I fear that you are going to have a hard time doing this in rural
thailand without bringing the molds with you.
If you do use plaster I suspect that the soap will seep into the pores
and make it very difficult to remove (plus I suspect that the
unsaponified lye would eat the plaster quickly). You would have to
line the plaster with plastic cling film. But then of course it
becomes very difficult to get resolution on the detail of the form, =
you
will inevitably have wrinkles in the film that will show in the
finished soap. If your turtle shapes are not very detailed, that may
in fact be ok.
BTW, I will also caution you that making small pieces of soap is
difficult. The reason is that saponification must happen slowly.
Small pieces can cool too quickly stopping the reaction and you end up
with something that isn't soap. This word of caution though only
really applies if you are making (the ironically named) cold process
soap. If you are only melting and pouring, it's irrelevant,
everything should be fine.
Best of luck,
Mark.
=
_________________________________________________________________________=
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Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at =
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Kathy Rhoades on sun 12 mar 06
This is good to know, the book I've used in the past said that aluminum molds worked well. I luckily never used them. thanks for the info!!!!!!
Kathy from PA
"L. P. Skeen" wrote:
You absolutely do N O T want to be using aluminum cans of any kind when making handmade soap. The lye reacts with the aluminum in poisonous ways. Either stainless steel or enamelware or glass, but not aluminum.
----- Original Message -----
From: Kathy Rhoades
Cans like tuna or pet food cans can be recycled and used again and again.
______________________________________________________________________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
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