Asking for ideas for a bold swirl technique

I have been trying different types of decorative soap swirls in the past year or two, and have gotten reasonably good at my hanger swirls (Irish Lass' Ione Swirl), pencil lines, various in-the-pot swirls, and such. I tried the "cell pour" technique in a recent SMF challenge and that went surprisingly well.

I have a FO that I think will appeal more to men, and I'd like to learn a new technique that suits this fragrance -- bolder than the feathery Ione Swirl, but one that still has intriguing variations in texture and/or color. I'm a little at a loss for ideas, however.

Any suggestions? If you have a photo or a link to a tutorial, I'd be grateful.

Watching closely.

How about a tiger stripe? They are fun to do, and I think work well for masculine scents. The Petra Swirl that was a SMF challenge awhile back is also good. Drop Swirls can be really nice [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6HTP-Dpeck[/ame] or a Clyde Slide [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl04ycqKomw[/ame]

Or a spin swirl?

I think tiger stripes in blues, greys and white are stunning in a men's soap.

I've done some Clyde type swirls, and the finely layered stripes are just not tripping my trigger. But I suspect that's less about the technique and more my choice of colors. I don't think I'm using a color way that's bold enough.

What's the technique in the Sweet Sugared Apples soap -- that's intriguing! Is that the drop swirl pattern? Or?

And I'll check into the Tiger Stripe and Petra Swirl ideas....

DeeAnna said:

I've done some Clyde type swirls, and the finely layered stripes are just not tripping my trigger. But I suspect that's less about the technique and more my choice of colors. I don't think I'm using a color way that's bold enough.

What's the technique in the Sweet Sugared Apples soap -- that's intriguing! Is that the drop swirl pattern? Or?

And I'll check into the Tiger Stripe and Petra Swirl ideas....

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The Sweet Sugared Apples soap is a drop swirl. Kevin Devine and Clyde from Vibrant Soap also use drop swirls frequently. Depending on the batter consistency, they can look very different.

I've bee trying to do exactly this lately DeeAnna. I think a drop swirl is what I want but I'm finding I have to be bold (heavy handed) with the amount of the dropped part and also include random thin splodges rather than straight lines (which end up as small squashed unimpressive ovals in the soap). Yet to find the perfect YouTube.

I would also suggest a tiger stripe, maybe in black and white or in blues and grey/black.

Black and White:
https://youtu.be/0ET1q8wVAe

Oh dear. Just watched the SMF Petra swirl videos and the Sugared apple drop swirl video. Both would work really well for my soap. It's going to be tough to decide. And I haven't even gotten to the tiger swirl yet.

I'm glad I asked for help -- these are superb suggestions. Thank you!

I checked out the tiger swirl idea, and the pattern I want to try is the drop swirl. I want to go for that blocky bold look that the Sweet Sugared Apple soap has. Thanks, Dibbles!

I get what you mean, PenelopeJane, about there being a LOT of variations on the drop swirl.

Clyde Yoshida did his version in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdLXRPHulos Rather than pour the colored soap in straight lines along the length of the mold, Clyde poured the colored soap in a narrow squiggly (splodgy?) pattern. I think that created more variation from bar to bar. His soap was quite thin when he poured it and there was a large proportion of the white base soap compared with the colored portions. His drop swirl is a lot softer and more feathery than the Sweet Sugared Apple pattern.

I like it, but it's too femme for what I have in mind. I'll have to remember to let the soap get a bit thicker than emulsion, use relatively equal portions of the colors, and pour thicker ropes of each color to get less feather and more boldness.

I hope tomorrow I can get some time to do this. Hmmmmmm.......!

I saw this, by GHSoap, and thought of you and your man bar, DeeAnna.

DeeAnna said:

I checked out the tiger swirl idea, and the pattern I want to try is the drop swirl. I want to go for that blocky bold look that the Sweet Sugared Apple soap has. Thanks, Dibbles!

I'll have to remember to let the soap get a bit thicker than emulsion, use relatively equal portions of the colors, and pour thicker ropes of each color to get less feather and more boldness.

I hope tomorrow I can get some time to do this. Hmmmmmm.......!

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Post pictures when you make it Good luck!!

dibbles said:

Post pictures when you make it Good luck!!

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I definitely will! I really was hoping to make soap today, but I'm also knee deep into seriously cleaning the house -- a project I truly dislike doing. But we will have a houseful of friends visiting over Labor Day, and that's reason enough to get 'er done. And the house will look nice for winter. But I resent giving up my soaping plans for a dust rag and mop. <sigh>

newbie said:

I saw this, by GHSoap, and thought of you and your man bar, DeeAnna.

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Oh, gosh, that's pretty -- thanks for sharing, Newbie! Such a bold pattern and a color combo that I really like. This would be a natural for a discoloring FO. Hmmm....

newbie said:

I saw this, by GHSoap, and thought of you and your man bar, DeeAnna.

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Oh Newbie,
That is perfect for me. Is that a funnel pour do you think?

Would it be possible to get the same effect with a standard pour in a loaf mold?

penelopejane said:

Oh Newbie,
That is perfect for me. Is that a funnel pour do you think?

Would it be possible to get the same effect with a standard pour in a loaf mold?

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No, that is a drop swirl in a loaf.

Looks like it was a bit thicker so as to not cause alot of fall thru

kchaystack said:

No, that is a drop swirl in a loaf.

Looks like it was a bit thicker so as to not cause alot of fall thru

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Thanks kchaystack. So medium trace or do you think even thicker?
I'd like to make the curved blue bits on the left bar retain their shape.

If using medium and thicker batter, but also want color swirls from top to bottom of soap, to either pour mold halfway with base, drop swirl, add more base carefully, them drop swirl more. OR, drop swirl the color from very high up. Otherwise the thick base batter prevents the color from going very deep into the mold. (hope that explanation made sense)

Well I do not know what you consider medium. I would want it about like honey at room temp. The higher you pour from the more break thru you get

Looking at the soap Newbie shared, the darkest shade looks like it's black to me. But I can also see navy blue looking sharp too. Which color would you use?

And what little I can offer -- I agree that the drop swirl will work well if the batter is honey thick to thin gravy. I don't know that I'd want it any thicker to start so I have some insurance of a pourable batter at the end. I have good luck pouring about half the base batter, drop pouring the accent colors into that, pouring more base, and then drop pouring the rest.

I have a hard time judging how high to drop pour the accent colors when I've poured all the base batter into the mold and then poured the accent colors. They either sink to the bottom or puddle near the top, leaving large bare spots of plain base color. It's all about practice judging the thickness of the batter and knowing how to pour, however, so maybe I'll challenge myself to trying this again.

DeeAnna said:

It's all about practice judging the thickness of the batter and knowing how to pour, however, so maybe I'll challenge myself to trying this again.

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I just tried it. Perfect emulsion then the FO kicked in. Obviously an accelerating one!!!!!! Have one more batch to go with that scent then never again. :evil:

Back to the drawing board...

I use a modified Taiwan swirl for my unscented bars (pictured here) and my men's bars (same but with mostly grey batter and a white swirl). It always turns out great and looks really impressive to people even though it's literally the easiest.
I use 3 parts one color and 1 part another color - I have some great plastic dividers from Etsy that fit in my basket mold. I offset the odd-colored portion so it's not in the middle and proceed to swirl!