# why do some people insulate the molds?



## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

"Now it's time to insulate your soap. Place the lid, a piece of cardboard or heavy duty freezer paper on top of the mold to seal it from the air. Wrap the mold in a few blankets or several towels to help insulate it."

I haven't done this and the website didn't say why you should do this, but just told you to do it.

Any reason why I should?


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

To try to make sure that their soap heats (and gels) uniformly. With GM in your soap, it's not as much of an issue, as it's going to heat up more anyway, but you may sometimes notice a color difference between the bars at the end of a log and the bars in the middle, especially towards the edges of the bar. Other people, not wanting it to gel at all, will even put their soap in the freezer, so it's personal preference.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

I don't insulate or wrap at all. Most of my soap doesn't gel and I don't put it in the freezer or do anything special. I like the look of a non-gelled soap the best. I do get a partial gel on some, but I really don't care. Neither do my customers (nor would they even know what they are looking at). Now mind you, I don't sell to upscale stores or anything. This approach works fine for my market customers as well as two potential wholesale accounts. 

While, overall, I strive for a consistent product, my partial gels are always consistent (always partial gel) and my non-gels are always non-gel. I've never had a full gel, but I've gotten close. Sure, I could put it in the oven for the full effect, but it just isn't that important to me.

And this is why you read things, and a lot of times you'll get good ideas, tips, hints, and other times you don't. So you post here and then someone will give you the real skinny on the topic. LOL! At least that's what I do!!!


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## Dana (Dec 7, 2009)

Thank you for the helpful info. 

So now I'll have to read about why I want my bar to gel, or not.


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## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

Dana said:


> Thank you for the helpful info.
> 
> So now I'll have to read about why I want my bar to gel, or not.


Try gelling and non-gelling yourself. It really is a personal preference kind of thing. You get good soap either way. The same colorants will end up totally different shades with the two ways of doing things. I also think you can unmold quicker because your soap gets harder faster with gel. I prefer to gel.


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## prairie nights (Jan 16, 2009)

Like Heather said, it is a personal preference. I hate gel, lol.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I used to gel everything. Insulate, put in the oven, etc. I did it to avoid that "halo" effect I sometimes got with a partial gel. 

Then one day I didn't gel a soap and it turned out "creamier" looking...more like what I want a milk soap to look like, so from that day on I try my best to keep my soaps from gelling. I use cool oils, scents that don't accelerate....if they do accelerate I mix them with something that does not accelerate...for example, the aloe scent I have makes soap on a stick, and I hate the smell anyway so I mix it with coconut lime verbena and make an "aloe lime verbena" soap that smells better and behaves better too. I also feel that when the soap saponifies at cooler temps, the scents don't burn off as much. 

To keep my soaps from behaving badly, once they are poured I put them on plastic racks that are turned upside down and place fans in the room or even directly on them if possible. I do not stack the molds until they have cooled down and then I alternate the way I stack them so plenty of air can get in and out. 

Some soaps seem to need to gel, such as dragons blood. For this one I accept that it will gel and watch it so it gels evenly and then get it cooling down as fast as possible. It tends to heat up pretty fast and sometimes I get that volcano effect. 

Basically, I babysit my soaps for a couple hours after I make them and watch that they are doing what I want them to do.


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## jdranch (Jan 31, 2010)

I don't like partial gel but because of the winter temps, have been getting it on almost every batch. :/ I think I need to put it in the freezer or force gel. I don't mind either way, just not partial. I find for a lot of mica, you need to gel or your colors are light. Like Anita said, some soap are gonna gel (because of the fo) no matter what- I have even had them do that in the ref. I also use a fan on soaps I know are going to heat up the mold (Cranberry Marmalade, Ozark Forest). They still gel with the fan but don't crack.

I have posted this before- but this is what partial gel looks like...


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## Faye Farms (Sep 14, 2009)

I hate partial gels too. I'm not the fussing and babysitting type. That's why it's easier for me to gel, especially with milk soaps that like to heat up anyways. I'm not the force gel type either. I see no sense in putting soap in the oven. That puts it in the fussing category.  I want to mix up the soap, pour and walk away until I'm ready to cut. Whenever I soap, I soap all my logs at once. I just line my molds up and fill. Having wood molds butted up against each other holds in the heat nicely. Then I put some cardboard on top. In the summer the cardboard is sufficient, in the winter I throw some towels over it too (we keep our house at 65 thru the winter).


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