A Learning Lesson with Molds

Guess what I won’t using anytime this decade?

Halloween in bearing down upon us and I thought I would have a great blog this morning of a cute pumpkin inspired soap done in my PVC mold. After having the plunger pounded on, pushed on and almost pulverized, I discovered something I wish I had known earlier. It generally isn’t a good idea to pour more that 10 – 12 inches of soap into PVC tubes. In molds, soap can act like an octopus. It can glom on so tight to the mold that you think it is never going to come out! Cylinder molds are the worst because there is so much surface area of the soap in contact with the mold.

I was told by our experts in technical support that I could be waiting so long for it dehydrate enough for it to release it might as well be 30 YEARS! Let’s just say I am a little distraught. I don’t want to wait 30 years. I don’t want to wait another week! I want my soap now! The unfortunate part is that the only thing I can do is wait. I will have to wait for the soap to dehydrate enough for me to be able to push the soap out. Grr. This really sucks!

So, today I learned two really important things. First, do not pour more than 10-12 inches of soap into a PVC tube mold. Particularly a cylindrical one. Second, do not put projects so close to the due date that if something goes wrong you are left without the finished product. Planning ahead is important. Soap is one item that can only be rushed so much. If you are this close to a holiday, choose a smaller project. There are scrubs, bath salts, bath fizzies, lip balms and lotions galore!

Darn. Talk about a rough morning. It has left me frustrated and disappointed. Tomorrow, I will be sharing the recipe for this fabulous soap but I think I will try it in a different mold. At least until I can reclaim my PVC one. I promise to announce when I finally get this soap out. Then we can determine if it really takes 30 years. 😉

P.S. I will also be making a label to put on my mold so I don’t forget! If you have molds like this, make labels that remind you how much they should hold. Remember what your mold can hold and what it should hold are sometimes very different numbers.