Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Cutting the Soap


The soap is ready to be cut into bars after it has been in the mold for at least 24 hours. I had my mold custom made by The Soap Saloon in Sacramento. The end is hinged and opens to allow me to slide out the bottom tray. My cuttings tools, which I purchsed on the Internet, are on the counter to the right of the mold.




One tool slices slices the slab into five bricks.




You can see how the piano wire cuts through the brick.








The second tool slices the brick into individual bars. The bars will need to cure for three weeks before they are ready to be cleaned and wrapped with the Campbell label. I also purchased a tool to finish off the sharp edges, but I’ve found that a potato peeler works faster and better. So my edge finishing tool is an aluminum potato peeler that I received as a wedding present in 1968. That and my “goofy” knife, as Ian calls it, are my favorite wedding presents. He, the retired butcher, has teased me about my goofy knife for ten years, then admitted the other day that he uses it. Hmmmmm.

1 comment:

Birdsong said...

I don't know how you manage to get so much done - spinning, knitting AND soap!