Homemade PVC Pipe Mold

I just made these this weekend. Thanks to all here who helped me figure out what pieces I needed to buy at Lowes.

I bought a 5' foot long by 3" inch round PVC pipe. Asked them to cut it for me into 4 15" lengths. Bought four of the bottom phalanges in black (they had white but the black were cheaper and made out of the same material). BTW-- the bottom phalanges make the column very stable.

Then I added the plastic cappers. I think they were about 50 cents a piece. The total cost for four new round column soap molds was about $35 or $8.75 a mold.

Picture #1 is 2 of my molds. Picture #2 shows the fitments. The fitments just pop on and off and the whole mold can be easily washed. I also bought some flexible cutting boards at the dollar store I am cutting for liners.

:soap baby dance:They look great!

Thanks Chandlerwicks!

I just noticed something. Look at picture #2 on the pipe. In the center it reads: not for CP. LOL!

Too funny! Hmmmm, wonder what that means? Have to Google!

I use a piece of wax paper and roll it up and let it unwind in the mold. Fold under the bottom to reduce leakage and pour in your soap batter or mp with imbeds and fold down the top. The soap just slides out and there is no seam and the ends you cut off anyway and its very easy to de-mold. HTH

Steve

Steve, no issues with the wax paper? Soggy or the like? I've been using freezer wrap and it's a bit of a pain to cut. Soap comes out of the mold very easily though.

Tracy and Candy, thanks for sharing the pics of that bottom piece. I had DH pick me up some and I really like them. Much more steady than what I was using.

Hey Steve! I was thinking it would be simpler to use wax paper. The liner material I bought looks like no matter how I cut it there will be a crease or line in my soap I don't want. Nice to know the wax paper will work. Might be the easiest answer. Then I can save the liners for any new wood molds I get (hopefully) in the future.

I am really liking these molds and can't wait to try them out. I think I will use them for beer and shaving soaps.

Question: how do you figure how big a batch to make? My molds are 15" tall by 3" wide.

Candy, I'm sure there is a calculation somewhere... I created a cylinder mold in Soapmaker with your dimensions. Worked great from mine. I did it in two sizes, 3" X 13" and 3" x 15". I've read you should pour 2 inches below the top to prevent it from over-flowing. These are the numbers it came up with:

3 x 13 = 1100 grams of oils

3 x 15 = 1263 grams of oils

Summer Bee Meadow also has a soap calculator and resizer. You can enter your recipe and calculate like normal. Once that is calculated, scroll to the bottom and you can see where you can enter a mold size to recalculate the batch size. hth

https://summerbeemeadow.com/content/welcome

Steve, no issues with the wax paper? Soggy or the like?

Remember to use the shiny side (waxed side) against the soap and make sure that there is overlap when you unwind inside the mold. The pressure of the soap weight keeps everything in place and you should be able to get a nice clean roll of soap. I sometimes overfill and soap gets in-between the outside and the liner but even then the liner doesn't fail or get too soggy to do its job. (knock on wood) HTH

Steve

Thanks, Steve!! Will give that a try on my next batch.

Candy, I'm sure there is a calculation somewhere... I created a cylinder mold in Soapmaker with your dimensions. Worked great from mine. I did it in two sizes, 3" X 13" and 3" x 15". I've read you should pour 2 inches below the top to prevent it from over-flowing. These are the numbers it came up with:

3 x 13 = 1100 grams of oils

3 x 15 = 1263 grams of oils

Summer Bee Meadow also has a soap calculator and resizer. You can enter your recipe and calculate like normal. Once that is calculated, scroll to the bottom and you can see where you can enter a mold size to recalculate the batch size. hth

https://summerbeemeadow.com/content/welcome

Thanks! This helps a lot.

I ended up buying a roll of freezer paper. Didn't realize how expensive that stuff is. I can get a roll of wax paper for $1 at the dollar store. But I never used the freezer paper before to line a mold so thought I would try it out and see if I like it better.

You can get a really big roll of wax paper or freezer paper or even parchment paper (I might suggest using that, especially if you're planning to gel or hp your soap... it won't leach any wax into the soap if you're using a hot recipe) at places like sam's club or costco for fairly cheap.

I make a lot of my own molds, so I might have to try this one. It also gives me ideas for doing a vertical rectangle mold, too.

Speaking of ideas for vertical molds, there is a video on how to do swirls in column molds at BB with the soap queen.

Read somewhere else "NO MELT MYLAR" works like a charm in the pipes. Sold at sewing stores, I'll check at Wal-Mart also.

I think Joann's fabric stores carry the mylar.

For now I am going to use wax paper or freezer paper. I like using things that save me money!

The woman that posted about the mylar said she washed it & came out perfect. Me too! I'm going to check it out once I'm back home.