Forcing Gel

[CathyB]

Hi,

I use honey in my soap, so to mitigate the heat, I soap using cooled lye and oils. The batch worked, but the centre hasn't gelled properly and there is a dark circle.
Can I force gel in my oven once it's cooled?

 

[Yooper]

That's a good question- I don't think so. It's already saponified, and won't gel after it's solid.

 

[CathyB]

Thanks Yooper, I had thought so but hoped it wasn't so!

 

[ChemicalPyros]

Hello CathyB,

While you cannot force a gel, you can use a method called CPOA (Cold Procees, Oven Assisted), where you start your soap the way you usually do, then after pouring you put it in an oven on a temperature between 60 to 80 degrees celsius (it depends on your oil blend and lye concentration, you can determine it by experimentation). You leave it in the oven for 2 to 4 hours (also determined by experimentation). finally you take it out and cool it. take into account that if it needs cutting it should be done soon after cooling or else it will harden a lot.

 

[CathyB]

Thank you for this, but because I used honey, I needed to keep it coolish or it volcanoes!

Regards

CathyB

Hello CathyB,

While you cannot force a gel, you can use a method called CPOA (Cold Procees, Oven Assisted), where you start your soap the way you usually do, then after pouring you put it in an oven on a temperature between 60 to 80 degrees celsius (it depends on your oil blend and lye concentration, you can determine it by experimentation). You leave it in the oven for 2 to 4 hours (also determined by experimentation). finally you take it out and cool it. take into account that if it needs cutting it should be done soon after cooling or else it will harden a lot.

 

[ChemicalPyros]

If the heat is homogeneous and coming from outside l the soap to the inside for a long enough time it will not volcano.

 

[CathyB]

Thank you, that's interesting, so if I soap cool enough (and ensure trace is achieved) and pop it in the oven, it wont volcano even with honey incorporated?

If the heat is homogeneous and coming from outside l the soap to the inside for a long enough time it will not volcano.

 

[ChemicalPyros]

Volcanoing is due to what is called a temperature gradient, the surface is cooler than the middle, so when the honey overheats the middles, the paste will dilate and crack the surface to make room for the new volume, but when the whole soap is heated it will dilate evenly avoiding the volcano effect.
The reason is why most soapmakers use cooling is because a fridge is always easier to buy and use than an oven with a precise temperature control. Also cooling does not require experimentation, you take it and you throw it in a fridge or freezer and hope for the best, with an oven a little bit of experimentation is necessary in order to achieve the best results while eliminating the hope factor.