| Using the right soap making molds to shape your | | | | not use melt and pour soap making molds when |
| finished product should never be overlooked. | | | | creating soap from scratch using the cold process |
| Although the quality of the soap and its skin care | | | | method. Cold process soap is extremely caustic |
| benefits are the priority, creating a unique look | | | | during its initial stages because of the incorporation |
| and feel can help you stand out from the crowd. | | | | of sodium hydroxide. Many molds made for melt |
| There are a variety of options for shaping your | | | | and pour soap making are not formed out of the |
| soap. Which one you choose will mostly depend | | | | proper materials needed to withstand this |
| on your personality, preferences and soap making | | | | chemical. |
| goals. | | | | The second method of shaping your soap is to |
| The first, and definitely most popular soap molding | | | | create a large soap loaf and then cut it into |
| method is using individually pre-shaped soap | | | | traditional bars. This is my personal favorite soap |
| making molds. Individual molds can be purchased in | | | | molding method as it makes the creation of larger |
| all shapes and size and gives you the added | | | | batches much easier. |
| convenience of not having to slice your soap into | | | | You can buy a loaf soap mold from various online |
| bars once your mixture has hardened. | | | | dealers or even your local craft shop. They usually |
| Unfortunately, using pre-shaped soap molds does | | | | reveal their size by displaying how many pounds |
| have a few drawbacks. First of all, pouring your | | | | of soap they can hold. I personally own a 4 pound |
| temporarily liquefied early stage soap into small 4 | | | | mold and absolutely love it, but I've seen them as |
| ounce soap bar molds is rather difficult to say the | | | | large as 12 pounds. |
| least. | | | | The final method is to get creative and make |
| Once you finally have your molds filled, you must | | | | your own. Wonderful soap molds can be created |
| then figure out how to thoroughly insulate each | | | | out of every day household items. In fact, I've |
| one using blankets and towels for proper curing. | | | | seen people shape their soaps using everything |
| Trust me, it's an arduous process to saran wrap | | | | from PVC pipe to large sea shells. If you're on a |
| and insulate each mold individually, especially if you | | | | budget, and really don't want to fork over the |
| created a large batch. | | | | money for a professional soap making mold, then |
| Furthermore, you have to be careful that you do | | | | this is definitely the way to go! |