A couple of months ago, I purchased this hunk of awesomeness:
For those of you not in the industry, it's a soap cutter. In fact it's a custom soap cutter, made to my specifications. For those of you who ARE in the industry, who don't have a soap cutter of their own, you are probably drooling into your coffee cups right now ... I know I have drooled over these myself for some years!
This has actually been sitting in the cupboard since before the wedding, and I hadn't had a chance to test it out yet. Today is the day.
Here is my slab of soap, fresh from the mould.
I still have to split the logs by hand, but that's ok. It only takes about 10 minutes. You can see my trusty double-handled knife there in the background.
Loaf goes into the cutter.
Pull the handle down through the soap.
Ta-da! Soaps all cut in one fell swoop. You can see it also cuts the little end pieces off.
Cutting these logs would normally take at least half an hour ... now all these can be done in 5 minutes. Not bad!
DRAWBACKS?
1. The wires leave some slight striations on the soap, normally my bars would be much smoother.
2. I was hoping I wouldn't have to bevel the edges of the bars, which can be time-consuming. However you can see that there has been some drag, so the bottom of each bar needs to be bevelled.
These minor problems could be chalked up to the recipe ... I didn't discount the water because I'm using a floral scent that can be tricky. It will be interesting to see how the next batch goes through. Anyhow, once these babies are bevelled they look pretty damn fine! Overall I'm very happy with it :)
thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteahhhhhh you are soooo right.... I AM drooling in my coffee! What a fantastic time saver! I can picture the smug grin on your face as you pulled that handle down! Good for you! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteErin,I have a tank and I find that with less water you will get less drag which as you know equals a much smoother bar. Also, if you can allow the log to sit for a couple of days and get a bit more hard-you might avoid having to bevel.I find taking my soap from the mold and allowing the air to get to it a bit(a day for two)helps with the cut-also make sure your wires are as tight as you think you can go-this helps too. hth.
ReplyDeleteOooo, I have one, too! I love it! I couldn't wait to use mine right away. In fact, as soon as I got the shipping notice, I made a batch of soap just so I would have something to cut when it arrived! :D To minimize the striations try pushing the handles down in a smooth motion without stopping. And the little bits at the bottom are always there. It seems to be the wire that pushes the soap out a bit at the bottom. I just shave that off with a veggie peeler. Enjoy your cutter!
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo!!! Isn't it wonderful?? Mine does the same thing, by the way. Leaves a few lines in the soap on the sides, and a bit of soap along the edges. I bevel my soaps anyway, so that part doesn't bug me. The time saved compensates in every way, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice guys! I think less water would work better too.
ReplyDeleteVery cool, I've been contemplating one of these but wasn't sure whether to get mine from For Crafts Sake or from Soapequipment.com where you got yours. How did you decided to get this particular one. A bit of a disappointment about the drag and edge on the bottom as that is what my cutter does now (mine is from soaphutch) and I thought another cutter would fix the problem. Looks like drag can be fixed by discouting water but I don't like the bottom edge part as I deal with that now. It's the time it takes that is getting to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your cutter experience with us.
Michelle
Michelle I decided on this one because I had the option to trim off the ends when they made it for me, the other type didn't have that option. I actually put another batch of soap through the cutter this afternoon and got much less of the drag at the bottom of the soap ... it's definitely less water that helps.
ReplyDeleteGreat.............I am running round the tank for a year now..........I have to order it soon....
ReplyDeleteregards from Germany
Andrea
Thanks, I agree not having the end parts would be ideal. Did you get the one of the sizes offered without the ends or was it completely custom? Just wondering about which route to go myself? Does yours cut 12 bars as well?
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Marvellous!
ReplyDeleteI go green with envy!
Thanks for sharing your experience with this great soapcutter.
Do they deliver to Germany, too?
Michelle - it was completely custom. It cuts 13 bars plus trims the ends.
ReplyDeletePostpanamamaxi - they probably would ship to Germany, you can check their website www.soapequipment.com
Totally love it. I must get one. Drool +1.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the website!
ReplyDeleteI have the same model cutter and love it. I usually cut soap 2-5 days after making it. I usually run my fingers along the edges of the bars after I cut them if this happens. Enjoy your cutter :)
ReplyDelete