Cover soap with Blanket?
by Wing
(Columbia, MD)
I watched a video about soap making the other day and the soap maker cover the soap with a heated blanket for 24 hours after the soap has been made. Is it necessary? Does it make any difference?
Answer:Blankets are used to keep in the heat generated by the chemical reaction (saponification process). This helps to jumpstart the gel phase.
A heated blanket would only be used if you plan to gel the soap and live in a cold climate. I live in British Columbia, Canada and find that in the winter I only need a few wool blankets.
Every soapmaker has to experiment at the beginning to figure out just how much insulation they need to properly gel their soap. Since climates and homes differ, so do the amounts of insulation needed.
Cathy