Wooden Soap Molds

Per visitor request, I'm gathering some information on making wooden soap molds. Not everyone can afford to buy fabulous molds - so this should help those of you interested in making your own.

Click Here to see instructions and a diagram from Cindy Williams on what she did to make her first molds.

Wood Suggestions:

Walnut: Strong, resists shrinking and warping and finishes well.
Cherry: Resists warping and shrinking. Reddens when exposed to light, but ages well (obviously with all the nice Cherry furniture there is!!!)
Pine: Resists shrinkage, swelling and warping. Used in house construction, paneling and trim. Also used for furniture, molding and boxes.
I think this would be great for making molds, and is probably not too expensive!

Mold Sizes

Volume ounces are only equal to fluid ounces when we are talking about water. For soap, I'm guestimating a 60% increase in density:

1 lb. mold - approximately 46 cubic inches
2 lb. mold - approximately 92 cubic inches
3 lb. mold - approximately 138 cubic inches
4 lb. mold - approximately 184 cubic inches

We need those figures to figure out how long and wide the mold needs to be.
To do this Divide your mold size in cubic inches by two sides of your mold, and you'll end up with the last dimension (Length, width, height)

I want bars that are approximately 4 inches high, and 3 1/2 inches wide:

Calculation: 184 / 4 / 3.5 = 13.14 (this is the mold length)

This works as long as you have enough soap to completely fill the mold! If not, the soap will end up being less than 4 inches high. The good news is that most people wrap their soaps around the shorter side of the bar, so it won't matter all that much.

Making the Mold:

Sides - 2 peices (13.14 inches long x 4 inches high)
Ends - 2 peices (5 inches long x 4 inches high)
Note: The original end was 3 inches long, but since some of the wood is going to overlap, I added the thickness of the wood (say 3/4 inch) for each overlapping side)
Bottom - (14.64 long x 5 wide)

I would use nails to hammer the peices together - being careful not to split the wood. You can probably use wood screws, or something better - but I don't know that much about hardware to tell you.

  1. To put this together, I would first attach one side peice to one end peice, making sure the side's rough end (where a cut was made) is flush against the end peice.
  2. Next, I would attach the other side peice to the peice you created in step one, so that both side peices are parrallel.
  3. Next, I would attach the other end peice to the peice created in step 2, so it is parrallel to the other end peice, and you made a rectangle shape.
  4. Last, attach the bottom peice to the rectangle to complete the mold.
  5. If you would like a cover for your mold, you can use a piece cut the same size as the bottom peice, or use a peice that is 13.14 inches x 3.5 inches and attach a handle (this should fit snugly inside your mold) and attach a handle so you can get it out.

Tips:

  • Line your mold with freezer paper, or plastic bags so the soap does not get stuck in the mold. Keep your molds out of the oven if you are worried about ruining them or warping the wood. Try Oven Hot Process soapmaking or crockpot soapmaking if you still want to do hot process but not put your molds in the oven.
  • Think about putting a handle on your cover if you make it the size listed above (so it can be inserted into the mold adjusting for how high your soap fills the mold. If you use thick wood for the cover, you could use tiny screws to attatch a handle on top.
  • Think about just cutting an extra bottom peice if you want an easy cover that doesn't fit inside the mold.
  • Make one 4 lb. mold, and use wooden blocks to "re-size" that mold for the batch size you made. Fill the mold half way with blocks to have a 2 lb. mold, or 1/4 of the way for a 3 lb. mold. If you would like to use the same mold for two smaller batches - insert a peice of thin wood between the two batches.

    ADD a Recipe!

 

Affordable Web Design and Maintenance by Hayes Web Design

http://recipes.herbalsoapsbyrj.com | Herbal Soaps and Toiletries by RJ | Aragon, GA