Thread: Soap Dishes

Originally Posted by Bear

The method of grating with a cheese grater works wonders. It is fine enough that you can push it into the bowl/container of your choice and firm it down. Outstanding results. Use the back of a spoon to smooth down and it looks as if it was perfectly melted in there. Again, outstanding results.

Try it with a Williams Mug soap ($1) and see what you think. You can't go wrong. Works wonders.

PM me if you need link to how this works...

+1 on grating. I don't even Double Boiler things that CAN be melted...

Originally Posted by Bear

The method of grating with a cheese grater works wonders. It is fine enough that you can push it into the bowl/container of your choice and firm it down. Outstanding results. Use the back of a spoon to smooth down and it looks as if it was perfectly melted in there. Again, outstanding results.

Try it with a Williams Mug soap ($1) and see what you think. You can't go wrong. Works wonders.

PM me if you need link to how this works...

Hey Bear, I use the grating method on all my soaps, but I thought it was kind of a funny coincidence you mentioned Williams Mug Soap as I tried that a few days back when I was grating some others and had some trouble. I grated my Tabac and D.R. Harris soaps with no problem, but when I tried VDH it was so soft that it grated, but then stuck to the inside of the grate and I had to dig it out even after freezing it first. Then Williams was so...I don't know how to put it, but when I grated Williams I could not for the life of me get it to press and form into the bowl, it just stuck to my fingers and no matter how hard I pressed it just stayed these grated strands and would not pess together. Was I doing something wrong or was this a really old puck of Williams?

Originally Posted by thewatermark

I have like 4 of those and they do a decent job. However they smell like lacquer for days and days. they look great though

LMAO! I've had the exact same experience. Makes me wonder if they get an order for dark or light, quickly wipe it down with stain and lacquer,staple it in it's bag and card, label it and toss it into the mailbox there in lancaster LOL

Cody,

If you're looking for a soap dish with a lid try a Corningware Ramekin dish that is used for serving soups and desserts. Some even come with lids.

I actually ended up going with the clear glass sugar bowls with lids, they were a great deal and look good. Only problem I had at all with them was when I decided to try grating my Williams Mug Soap into one of them and it turned out terribly; the Williams wouldn't compress or pack into the bowl, it just stuck to my hands, other than that though it went great and I've got some good looking containers now. I'll probably check out some of the mama bear containers too. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

if your looking for wood, here is another place to try online
Shave Shop
they have 2 types of wood bowls for sale

Originally Posted by fccexpert

Milled soap have by definition been melted (rebatched) at least once, that is what is ment by milled soap. The process is:

Mill (i.e. grind, grate)
Heat to soften (usually with a small amount of water to prevent scorching)
Place in molds and allow to harden

Triple milled soaps have gone through this 3 times (so much for the statement that you cannot melt a milled soap).

If the soap contains any volatile essential oils, these may be lost in the process. Some dies may degrade changing the color of died soaps.

You need to keep the temperature low, hence the use of water baths for heating (max temperature 212 deg F, the soap will not get that hot).

Never use a microwave, soaps, especially superfatted soaps, will absorbe microwaves directly and will almost certainly overheat.

I dont understand what re-molding the soap (3 times) does for the soap. The heat isnt high enough to force a chemical reaction and nothing is being added to cause a new reaction. I would think this type of treatment would produce more harm than good to the product.

Just seems like more work for little to no benefit, with the obvious threat of ruining the product during each melting. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe there is some logic to this method of production that I am unaware of.

I dont know very much about soap & soap production and I am open about it.

Originally Posted by Whiskers

I dont understand what re-molding the soap (3 times) does for the soap. The heat isnt high enough to force a chemical reaction and nothing is being added to cause a new reaction. I would think this type of treatment would produce more harm than good to the product.

Just seems like more work for little to no benefit, with the obvious threat of ruining the product during each melting. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe there is some logic to this method of production that I am unaware of.

I dont know very much about soap & soap production and I am open about it.

I don't make soap myself (which would probably be the best source for this answer), but I believe the reason behind triple milling is to more evenly distribute and blend the ingredients resulting in a more consistent reliable soap. I don't believe that melting soap ruins it if the temperature is slowly raised and well controlled with plenty around it to absorb heat resulting in the slow spread of the heat, but from what I understand the biggest risk of melting a soap (not microwaving) is the flash point of the essential oils in it. When you come too close or exceed the flash point of the essential oil you can degrade or completely destroy whatever scent was added to the soap. I think that most milled soaps have the scent added during the last milling after the soap is already melted to avoid this. Again though, I'm not a soap maker so I don't know how accurate this is.