Comparing Top Soap Molds So You Don't Have To

0:00 Intro
0:56 Mini loaf (4-inch mold)
2:24 Purple Amazon Mold
5:14 Workshop Heritage Standard Mold
6:51 Nurture Soap 5lb Mold
8:27 Brambleberry 5lb Mold
11:49 Soap making montage
12:28 Finished loaf comparison
15:08 Outro
We recently decided to upgrade our soap molds from the purple Amazon molds and wanted to keep the dimensions of the finished bars as close as possible to our previous bar size. That way we didn't need to completely re-do our packaging, labels, and shipping boxes. So we purchased molds from several different suppliers so we could compare them!
Here are direct links to all the molds we used, some of which are affiliate links and are marked as such:
***NurtureSoap Mini loaf mold (best price): nurturesoap.com/products/4-in...
Rustic Escentuals mini loaf mold (the one we used): www.rusticescentuals.com/prod...
***Amazon purple mold: www.amazon.com/dp/B077VKB89R?...
Workshop Heritage Standard Width Mold: www.workshopheritage.com/coll...
***NurtureSoap 5lb Premium mold: nurturesoap.com/collections/c...
***NurtureSoap 5lb basic mold: nurturesoap.com/collections/c...
Brambleberry 5lb mold: www.brambleberry.com/shop-by-...
Brambleberry 5lb mold liner: www.brambleberry.com/shop-by-...
Spoiler: We ended up going for ‪@bramble-berry‬ 's 5lb mold as our final choice and we love them, have been using them for a few months now.
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Pronouns: Raven (she/her) and Cat (she/they)
Our shop: catandravendesigns.com/ (10% of our monthly sales are donated to the Sacramento LGBT Community Center!)
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Our intro art is by Elliot (tambel_art). Check him out here:
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Ingredients in this soap
(items marked with *** are affiliate links. If you purchase through one of these links, we get a small percentage back and it doesn't cost you anything extra. We only use this for products we actually use and enjoy.)
Fragrance oil-
Bite Me
Colorants-
Trial by Fire
Spicy Tomato
Black Iron Oxide
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#catandraven #cpsoap #cpsoapmaking #coldprocesssoap #coldprocess #soapmaking #soapmold #soapmoldcomparison #brambleberry #brambleon #nurturesoap #workshopheritage #rusticescentuals
soap mold review, review, workshop heritage, cold process soap

[@bramble-berry]

We're so glad you like our mold, it's one of favorites to use! It's so satisfying to pull the slider out and just let your soap plop down smoothly.

[@CatandRaven]

So true! It's really improved our efficiency and made Soapmaking a lot easier for us. Love it! Can't wait to be big enough to need to buy more! ~Raven

[@barbyk5463]

Please this mold is really more practical. Could you please give us the large? Thank you

[@AnnikaOakinnA]

......I just wanna wash my hands with an ENTIRE mini-loaf. It's like those giant erasers "for BIG mistakes" that were all the rage when I was in elementary school. But instead of erasing pencil, it erases dirt.

[@CatandRaven]

Omg I love that idea 😆 ~Raven

[@victorvillevixen]

For the Amazon loaf mold ~ They do, indeed, stick. I solved the problem by stretching a long piece of grosgrain ribbon from one end to the other with a 2" overhang. To unmold I simply pull the ribbon up on both sides and it comes out easily with no damage to soap.

[@CatandRaven]

THIS is genius!

[@debravogt7139]

Thank you! I now have 6 small Amazon molds instead of a 5lb mold! Lol! Now I know! 😊

[@CatandRaven]

Lol there ya go! We still have a big ol' stack of the Amazon molds (at the height of using them I think we had 12??). They're still useful for sure.

[@waynegross2113]

Wow, I have the Workshop Heritage mold in a tall and skinny in 4 sizes. My liners DO NOT buckle in the idle like yours. I use these molds for my standard bars if soap. I bought the 5# Bramble Berry mold for my Essential Oil soaps. I wanted something different looking from my standard bars of soap. I happen to love both molds! They make awesome, clean, shinny bars of soap, they are just beautiful. I also have zero complaints about either. A few years ago my husband made my molds and I lined them with butcher wrap. I loved those because I could get 20 bars that were cut at 1 1/4 inch. I love them and still have them. I changed for production time. I was picky how I lined so this took all sorts of time. Silicone liners are just easier. My only complaint is it costs me 99$ to purchase 1 Bramble Berry mold 201$ for 2 molds. With Workshop Heritage, it doesn't matter how many I order it's 18$ to ship. So I only have 2 BB molds. Thanks for sharing the in depth look at all the top places to buy molds. Really informative! Jill Gross

[@clarewhite3004]

Thank you! I think it might be almost time to buy a 5lb mold or two, but dang, they're expensive.

[@CatandRaven]

Yeah, they are certainly an investment! So worth it though once you're at the point that you can budget it! ~Raven

[@aliciaarroyo6]

Amazing content. Very thought out! 💕

[@elaineburslie1045]

I love the bramble berry mold . I have others too but I had my hubby make my wooden holder so I could have what I needed for me. Love your reviews. Thank you for doing this

[@CatandRaven]

For sure! It was difficult to make a decision when we didn't have the molds there in front of us (hence why we ended up buying so many!) so we figured other people also would have an easier time if they could see them all compared to each other!

[@suzettedawson9280]

Thanks very insightful, really helps with shopping for molds.

[@schellsc]

Time is money! Love this review! 🙌🏾

[@CatandRaven]

Absolutely! We're so glad we got the chance to upgrade our molds recently so we could put that in practice. ~Raven

[@dovedarby]

This was extremely helpful as a comparison!

[@MereofallTrades]

This video was so helpful and informative! Thank you for all the work and time you clearly put into it!

[@CatandRaven]

Thank you! It's rare that I write a script but BOY did I need it for all the details about the molds! ~Raven

[@lyndawest8612]

Excellent well organized video. Great info! Thanks for taking the time to do this informative video

[@CatandRaven]

Yay! I'm so glad it was helpful!

[@64dpr]

Great video, showing the finished loaves helped big time. Thank you

[@CatandRaven]

So glad it helped! Wish we had had something like this when we were hunting for molds. Obviously we went through a lot of them lol ~Raven

[@luna18midnight]

Thank you so much for this video! Really useful and will see again, once it's time to upgrade.

[@CatandRaven]

So glad it's been helpful for other soapmakers!

[@Mrs_Canary]

I like the look of bramble berry and amazon.. taller over wider. This was very helpful

[@LizzyAnna]

Thank you so much for this video. I was just talking to my hubby the other day about what I need to get for soap making hardware. I couldn't decide what molds I want to go with because every one of them is different. Now I have a better idea of what I am looking at.

[@CatandRaven]

Yay! I hope it helps, I tried to pack in all the info I wanted to know when we were looking to upgrade our molds! ~Raven

[@lauren8143]

GOD BLESS YOU! I needed this video, and here it was. Thank you so much for sharing all of this info!

[@CatandRaven]

So glad it's helped folx! We had such a hard time finding something like this and it just seemed like a necessary thing to combine into one! ~Raven

[@da5449]

Thanks for your video 🙂

[@emeraldrainbow6695]

I have used Workshop Heritage molds for 3 years…I LOVE THEM!!

[@CatandRaven]

They're really great! I've been contemplating trying to get some slab molds from them so we can have silicone liners for our slabs and maybe make them a little bigger. ~Raven

[@Kim-yy4ym]

So helpful thank you!

[@32BARCUT]

This video was AWESOME! I'm new to soap making and I've been diving in full force. Can't wait to do my first cold process next week. Wishing you both continued success. Thank you so much for this video!

[@CatandRaven]

So glad it helped! It's a little outside our normal videos but when we were looking for mold comparisons, we just couldn't find anything! Wanted to make something to fill that empty spot. Really awesome to hear how many people needed the same thing we did and that we could help! ~Raven

[@EM-vr8ip]

You are lifesavers! Thank you for sharing this video!

[@CatandRaven]

I'm so glad it was helpful!

[@bonnafide2606]

Honestly Raven, you missed your calling. You really have a voice and delivery that is perfect for talk radio or a podcast. I could listen to you all day. 😍 Not to dismiss the content in this episode, though, or the occasional comic relief from Cat 😆. Very informative and I like how you guys made soap in all the molds so we could see the difference.

[@CatandRaven]

haha I've thought about trying to do one of those channels where you read stories before! I like doing that kind of stuff. Just not sure what I would even do with it! ~Raven

[@justaddlivingwater]

Awesome video, thanks I needed to see this, but right now, I'm really want a 5 pound mold, but I really had a hard time with what shape of soap I wanted.. So, I'm using so.e very interesting stuff for molds and online them and came up with a way to use cloth that is water proof.. Then all the extra boxes, I use my drawer whatever or boxes, but I still need a tall skinny mold. I like how that fits better and I have so many other things I need to spend the money on. If my dad was still here, here was a master carpenter and wed be maki2 Rome on me ng a killing.. Bar cutter and beveler, tripod different stuff more important. But I'm glad I know now. A tall skinny thats 16 1\2,"L*3inches w and 41\2 tall.

[@thebeatinstitutemue8966]

Thanks so much! Looking to start my cold process journey and of course I added Bramble Berry 5lb mold to my cart lol. Just wanted to do some research first. I have 4 Amazon loaves now for my MP soaps. I’m glad I can still use those if needed but I definitely need more soap at one time if possible lol.

[@CatandRaven]

I feel ya! The upgrade is really nice, so glad we were able to do that! Hoping to pick up a few more soon :) ~Raven

[@LadyGecko]

I started with the BrambleBerry 10” Silicone Loaf Mold; loved the 3 1/2” width. Which is why I was disappointed, when I went to scale up, that their 5lb mold was only 3” wide. I had looked at Workshop Heritage, but that was a lot of money for an extra two bars. My only other option with them was to go with slabs, but 1) I need a slab cutter and 2) I wasn’t up to that level of production. So I went with Nurture Soap’s Basic 5lb and I love it. Then my BIL made me a bunch of the wooden boxes and I just bought the liners. And I actually like that the liner is just a tab bit smaller than the box, means I don’t spill any batter. Appreciate the review.

[@CatandRaven]

Oooh, getting the boxes made at home and just using the silicone liners is such a great idea! I've been trying off and on to teach myself how to pour my own silicone. I'd love to be able to make my own slab mold including the silicone liner. ~Raven

[@nccrchurchunusual7990]

Good info. Thx! Mine are home made with 1x4' and long screws with wing nuts. I use parchment and the screws loosen or tighten depending on whether I am pouring or get loaves out. I have 3 sizes. Still searching for good cutter.

[@CatandRaven]

Oooh, nice! We use homemade for our slabs with a swinging door to take the slab out. We've got two multi-bar cutters at the moment (the one from Brambleberry and a Goodspeed cutter). They're both good! When we still did a single bar cutter it was one that I made combo'd with a loaf splitter. ~Raven

[@_Marissathom]

Thank you so much for this video I want to upgrade from the standard Amazon mold but was not sure

[@CatandRaven]

So glad it was helpful! When we were looking to upgrade, this was the kind of thing we wanted.

[@lacyhansen7973]

Iam so glad I found this!!!! Upgrading from my 40 amazon molds I have because per release I blow thru 750 bars and need to upgrade. THANK YOU

[@CatandRaven]

Okay, #1, 750 bars??? Dang! Out there killing it, congrats! That's awesome! And so glad this helped! I couldn't find anything like this when we were considering upgrading our molds, so I tried to make it with the info I had been looking for. I'm so glad it's been helpful for folx! ~Raven

[@lacyhansen7973]

@@CatandRaven yeah no, it's exhausting. I do one release a month and have now started all goatsmilk lotion akd sold 100 of those in 2 days 😳 But yes, no this was so helpful!! I was taking measurements and such trying to visualize and this covered everything and more!! THANK YOU

[@CatandRaven]

@@lacyhansen7973 That growth is so awesome! Hope a rhythm settles in and I know having bigger molds helps so so much. ~Raven

[@mistytodd935]

Thank y’all SOOOOOOOOOO much for this video!!! I make wide bars of soap and this helped me so much with which molds to buy!! I love my Bramble Berry molds for my frosted bars but for my low top “basic bars”, it seems the Nurture Soap mold is going to be my best option. I’ve been using my Workshop Heritage 11 lb slab mold with dividers that I made to make my basic bars. So again THANK YOU!!!! So much!! ❤️

[@CatandRaven]

So so glad this video has been helping folks out! I tried really hard to make it what I was looking for when we went to upgrade our molds. Hope your upgrade goes great and you're able to make some awesome bars! ~Raven

[@notjebbush]

I might need to get the chode mold 😂I have the Amazon one shown here and an Amazon version of BB's 10 inch mold, and the problem is that I'm a hobbyist CP soap maker. I don't sell it, don't need to make big batches. The gift ones I make during the holidays are usually novelty shapes, like cupcakes and trees. Every time I have a nifty idea, I end up making like 10 bars that I use 2 of and the rest go into storage.

[@katelillo1932]

Wow, this is so thorough! Good job, guys 😁 this is an awesome comparison! Also, Ra Vin, what happened to your poor little knuckle? Maybe it’s just an optical illusion with the lighting but it looks red ☹️

[@CatandRaven]

I probably banged it on something. My hands are frequently covered in little cuts and bruises because I'm constantly doing stuff with my hands! (Also I am not always super coordinated 😆) ~Raven

[@mary-ruthflores4107]

I would have liked to see you unfold each one, otherwise a great comparison!! Thanks for doing this! Knowing where you are now, which one do you wish you had started with?

[@CatandRaven]

Oh, unmold each one? Oh dang, yeah, I should have included that! If I ever update the video I'll try to include that. ~Raven

[@leilamessina9974]

beautiful! my cat is black and her name is raven lol

[@markgreengard4059]

you steamed the top of the 2 loaves, how did you do that and what tool did you use, great video by the way.

[@bronwynsutton7715]

Thanks for the video! Could you share which cutter you use with your new brambleberry 5 lb molds?

[@CatandRaven]

Oh, sure! Probably should have done that lol. We use the PRO High Top cutter from Goodspeedshop over on Etsy. Here's a link: www.etsy.com/listing/704876638/pro-high-top-18-wire-soap-cutter-metal?ref=yr_purchases ~Raven

[@gelandadunbar1182]

Great comparison, i used to have 4 X 5 pound brambleberry molds but sold them as I was suppose to be moving to the USA and thought I would just buy new when I move which i thought would have been last year but looks look it could still be a while still. How would you compare those molds to the big slab molds that I have seen other soapers use. What would the if any, cons be to a slab mold?

[@CatandRaven]

Oooh, I would love to do a comparison for slab molds! We'll have to save up to be able to purchase those as they are higher cost than the single loaf molds. But that would be great! ~Raven

[@Imokanurnot]

I really liked your review, it's going to help me loads when I get ready to buy my loaf mold. I'm just starting out, so funding is a consideration - but you DO get what you pay for after all. Can you tell me what the approximate size and weight bars the Brambleberry mold produces? Thanks so much!! 💗

[@CatandRaven]

For sure! The Brambleberry molds, when cut with our multibar cutter at 1 and 1/8 inch to account for shrinkage of the bars, weigh about 5 ounces and they're 3 inches wide and 2 3/4 inches tall when using the silicone liner. The height might be a little more or a little less, depending on how high you fill the mold. We tend to go level with the top of the silicone liner and not using the liner will also effect the height and width.

[@Imokanurnot]

@@CatandRaven Thank you so much for replying, I'm now pretty well set on purchasing my mold from Brambleberry thanks to the information you've given me, and I just had to subscribe. I don't want to be a pain, but I was wondering where you would suggest purchasing a multibar cutter ('cuz I was stupid and forgot to ask in the first comment). Thank you so much again for sharing such helpful information, so many other soaping channels are so "secretive" in so many areas, and many don't respond to questions. I appreciate you!💗

[@mariacosti5224]

Can you do a Video on on the big slab molds, for when you want to venture into making multiple bars

[@CatandRaven]

I would love to! It would be a pretty large cost to buy multiple slab molds but hopefully we can some time!

[@kevinpitts3548]

After rebranding, I am looking to simplify everything. I want to start backwards and start with the packaging. I would like to find a mold and kraft box. I might have to make a mold to fit the kraft box or customize a kraft box. Just wondering if you have ran into a mold that fits a box without customizing either?

[@CatandRaven]

Ooh, good question! So we used to use the Amazon molds and they fit really well in these boxes from Paper Mart: www.papermart.com/p/clear-window-soap-boxes/121810 Nice simple little kraft boxes that are easy to put together. Most of the other available soap molds don't really fit in boxes of that size. The Brambleberry 5lb mold will fit if you don't fill the mold all the way to the top and you put them into the box sideways. I'm hoping to make another video similar to this one talking about packaging soon as we just got our own custom boxes, so we have some thoughts on that entire thing now. ~Raven

[@thechristensenfam7563]

I am trying to decide between the amazon mold and the workshop heritage mold for melt and pour. Which one would you recommend for starting an Etsy shop? Do the edges come out more even on the workshop heritage or are they both about the same?

[@CatandRaven]

I'd say for edges, they're both about the same. It might be easier to cut them with the Workshop Heritage because the bars are wider though! ~Raven

[@rosebrame9508]

A word of caution.... 👀 Don't put the Amazon wooden portion in the dishwasher.... 🤣

[@CatandRaven]

😂😂 True!

[@rosebrame9508]

@@CatandRaven it came out all pretty and clean, but totally melted the glue, and it is now in two pieces and I tape it together.... really easy to unmold though. 🤣

[@CatandRaven]

@@rosebrame9508 LOL I bet!

[@pookarah]

Two questions, one: have you seen I Dream in soap? I'd love to see what you guys would do with their cat imbed or bird imbed molds Two: nurture soap is your nope company now, right?

[@CatandRaven]

I have seen a little of I Dream in Soap and their designs are so complex! And Nurture Soap is all good in our books! We primarily order fragrances from Candlescience, Nurture Soap, and Wholesale Supplies Plus. We no longer purchase from Nature's Garden. ~Raven

[@truemoonmagic4497]

@@CatandRaven Love your video I actually have all of these molds too and I predominantly use workshop heritage and nurture molds...just curious as to why you don't buy from Natures Garden anymore? did I miss something in the video?

[@rebb4352]

@@CatandRaven what's wrong with nature's garden?

[@xyzxyz23513]

How to order

[@lftypjk1]

would have loved to know the inside dimensions of the molds...

[@CatandRaven]

Hey Pam! Links to the molds are in the description and their retailers list the inside dimensions there!

[@user-us5ny7mp8g]

Pls where can I get this type of mold

[@CatandRaven]

We've got links to all the different molds I the description! ❤️

[@mehtarelingolien]

I'm deaf. Captions would be nice. DOWNVOTE!

[@CatandRaven]

Thanks for letting us know! I know the automatic captions are not always accurate so I'll work on getting this one captioned asap! ~Raven

[@CatandRaven]

Alrighty, update! I just uploaded the captions so they should be available soon!