Teach Soap

I'm making a 5 lb block of soap but now I don't know how to cut it. I have a 5lb plastic mold and want to make 4 oz bars. Which is 80 ounce or I guess 20 4 ounce bars? How do I know how to cut them?

Kayla

_________________
@!BuG!@

I think you could take the length of the soap block and divide it by 20. That should give you the width to cut individual bars to end up with 20 of them.

I'm not sure they'll end up being exactly 4 oz though. As the soap dries it will lose the water weight. It doesn't make a drastic difference, but cutting precisely 20 equal sized bars might actually leave you with 3.9something bars. You might have already known that, but I thought I'd bring it up just in case.

_________________
"Effective questioning brings insight which fuels curiosity which cultivates wisdom"

What is the length and the width? How high are you planning to pour?

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

My 5# log mold is 18 inches long. If I completely fill the mold and cut 1inch slices, my bars cure out to about 4.2 ounces.

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

What are you going to cut with? If I was going to cut the loaf into equal pieces then I would cut in half, so 2 of 10 bars. Then I would cut each in half again giving me 4 of 5 bars each. From each of those I would have a template made to give me equal size of all the bars. But in truth it is easier to say that then to do it. If you are going to do "big production" you may want to look into a slicer - like the tank! I am only a hobby soap maker... I use a cheese slicer, but my bars are quite uniform.

_________________
Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Instead of doing 5lbs I just used my 9bar mold. But I was planning on using a pastry cutter. We use to use it for pasta making but now its just sitting there. I'm thinking about measuring it and taking equal slices and see how it goes. If I ever sell them I'd definitely get a slicer.

_________________
@!BuG!@

If you dont care to invest in a tank type cutter right now, you can always use a cutter like the one here: http://www.soap-making-resource.com/soap-cutter.html it is quite a bit less expensive and it will help you to create a more uniform cut.

_________________
Remember, it's not just that we weather the storm, but how we dance in the rain.

Tammy

You can also get a cheese board from bed bath and beyond, or linens and things, for under $15. Use some tape to mark off the width you want your bars, line the end of the log up with that and use the cheese wire to cut the soap!

I have one, but there is also nice marble one for $10!

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist