My latest "Ione swirl" attempt

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IrishLass

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An "Ione swirl" is not an official name for a swirl or anything like that, but is just the nickname that I use for the swirling technique done by Ione from Eve's Garden Soaps. She's one of my most favorite soap-makers to watch on YouTube. Her method of hanger swirling creates such lovely, delicate and flowery swirls. I wish all my attempts came out as well as the below batch, which I made just the other night:

IMG_3720IoneSwirlTassieLavender!!!640.JPG



IrishLass :)
 
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That is one of the prettiest soaps I have ever seen. It's truly exquisite!

An "Ione swirl" is not an official name for a swirl or anything like that, but is just the nickname that I use for the swirling technique done by Ione from Eve's Garden Soaps. She's one of my most favorite soap-makers to watch on YouTube. Her method of hanger swirling creates such lovely, delicate and flowery swirls. I wish all my attempts came out as well as the below batch, which I made just the other night:

IMG_3720IoneSwirlTassieLavender!!!640.JPG



IrishLass :)
 
I agree! I never saw a purpose for hanger swirls - until I saw Ione's.

Uh...Ione and Irish Lass hanger swirls, that is.:)

What did you find was the key? She uses a pretty thin hanger; is it trace, hanger movement, what?
 
Thank you! :)

I agree! I never saw a purpose for hanger swirls - until I saw Ione's.

LOL I used to think hanger swirls were pretty cool- until I saw Ione's- at which point I realized that I had been living under a rock and didn't know the half of it. :lol:

What did you find was the key? She uses a pretty thin hanger; is it trace, hanger movement, what?

I've found that all of the above figures in, but I must say that I think there's a lot to be said for using an unadorned hanger in its original triangular shape, which is what I used for this batch.

Once upon a time, I used to be convinced that using an altered '|_|'-shaped hanger fattened up with chopsticks or straws was the only way to make the best hanger swirls, so all of the hangers I used for swirling had been undone and re-bent into that shape and then rigged with chopsticks or straws to make them thicker.....until the day I watched my first Ione video- the one where she makes her Cherry Blossom soap with a triangular, unadorned hanger. After seeing her finished soaps from that batch, I promptly gathered up all my swirling hangers and removed the fattening enhancements, and then I re-bent them back into their original triangular shapes and further tweaked them to fit my molds (none of it an easy feat, mind you), and I've never looked back. lol

I've lately noticed that Ione is now using a re-bent hanger with a '|_|' shape, though still unadorned with fattening enhancements. I'm not exactly sure why she re-bent it, but there's no way on earth anyone is going to talk me into the frustrating task of re-re-bending mine. I worked hard to re-shape them back into triangles and they will forever remain that way, dagnabit. lol

For what it's worth, for this batch I used a very well-behaved FO (Tassie Lavender) and everything was at what ended up to be a long-lasting/stable medium trace when I poured and swirled. My batch was 2.5 lbs, which produces about 7 cups of batter total with a 33% lye concentration, out of which I poured out precisely 3/4 cup of emulsified batter for each of the 4 swirl colors (3 cups total for the swirls, 4 cups for the base color).

The particular hanger swirling motion of Ione's that I used is the same one she uses in her Cherry Blossom video (I mention that because she swirls differently in other videos).

As for the pouring pattern, I first poured half my base color (2 cups worth) into the mold, then I poured in (from on high) 1/2 cup of my blue in a thin, snake-like pattern from end to opposite end (like she does in the video).

Then I poured in 1/2 cup of the purple in a snake-like pattern from side to opposite side along the length of the mold (like she does in her video).

Then I poured in 1/2 c of my white in the same manner that I poured in the blue.

Then I poured in 1/2 c of the magenta in the same pattern as I poured in the purple.

Next, I poured in half of the remaining base batter in the same manner that I poured in the blue and white.

Then I poured each of the rest of the remaining colors in the same patterns as before, making sure to leave a remnant of each behind to drizzle on the top later.

When that was done, I got out my hanger and did my best imitation of the swirling maneuver Ione does in her Cherry Blossom video, no more, no less. It's always a temptation to want to do more, but I always resist. Less in this case is more.

Lastly, I gently poured in the rest of my main batter and drizzled each of the remaining portions of colored batter on top, and swirled just the top with a chopstick from corner to opposite corner. Then I covered and put it to bed in a slightly warmed but turned off oven to encourage gel, and then I went to bed myself......which is what I'm going to do here in a moment. lol


IrishLass :)
 
Ooooooh! Lovely work, IL!

I really like this kind of swirl. It's feminine without being frou frou -- like subtle lace trim dressing up a classy silk blouse.

Off to look up Ione's videos.....
 
Thank you everybody! :)

I really like this kind of swirl. It's feminine without being frou frou -- like subtle lace trim dressing up a classy silk blouse.

Yes! My son said it reminds him of the delicate, flowery flow of colors one often sees displayed in Chinese artwork.

If you look up Ione's videos, search under Eve's Garden Soap (instead of Ione).


IrishLass :)
 
Wow, IL, that is just lovely, well done!!

I love everything about these soaps. Teh colors, teh pattern, teh swoil, all totally worthy of praise and lot of soap-envy.

*sneaks off to shamelesly raid clothes hangers, ignores suspicious look from hybby whilst carrying 256703867403 said hangers*

(raided from HIS closet
of course, *cough* I certainly can`t spare one... I`m a LADY...)
 
Thank you! :)



LOL I used to think hanger swirls were pretty cool- until I saw Ione's- at which point I realized that I had been living under a rock and didn't know the half of it. :lol:



I've found that all of the above figures in, but I must say that I think there's a lot to be said for using an unadorned hanger in its original triangular shape, which is what I used for this batch.

Once upon a time, I used to be convinced that using an altered '|_|'-shaped hanger fattened up with chopsticks or straws was the only way to make the best hanger swirls, so all of the hangers I used for swirling had been undone and re-bent into that shape and then rigged with chopsticks or straws to make them thicker.....until the day I watched my first Ione video- the one where she makes her Cherry Blossom soap with a triangular, unadorned hanger. After seeing her finished soaps from that batch, I promptly gathered up all my swirling hangers and removed the fattening enhancements, and then I re-bent them back into their original triangular shapes and further tweaked them to fit my molds (none of it an easy feat, mind you), and I've never looked back. lol

I've lately noticed that Ione is now using a re-bent hanger with a '|_|' shape, though still unadorned with fattening enhancements. I'm not exactly sure why she re-bent it, but there's no way on earth anyone is going to talk me into the frustrating task of re-re-bending mine. I worked hard to re-shape them back into triangles and they will forever remain that way, dagnabit. lol

For what it's worth, for this batch I used a very well-behaved FO (Tassie Lavender) and everything was at what ended up to be a long-lasting/stable medium trace when I poured and swirled. My batch was 2.5 lbs, which produces about 7 cups of batter total with a 33% lye concentration, out of which I poured out precisely 3/4 cup of emulsified batter for each of the 4 swirl colors (3 cups total for the swirls, 4 cups for the base color).

The particular hanger swirling motion of Ione's that I used is the same one she uses in her Cherry Blossom video (I mention that because she swirls differently in other videos).

As for the pouring pattern, I first poured half my base color (2 cups worth) into the mold, then I poured in (from on high) 1/2 cup of my blue in a thin, snake-like pattern from end to opposite end (like she does in the video).

Then I poured in 1/2 cup of the purple in a snake-like pattern from side to opposite side along the length of the mold (like she does in her video).

Then I poured in 1/2 c of my white in the same manner that I poured in the blue.

Then I poured in 1/2 c of the magenta in the same pattern as I poured in the purple.

Next, I poured in half of the remaining base batter in the same manner that I poured in the blue and white.

Then I poured each of the rest of the remaining colors in the same patterns as before, making sure to leave a remnant of each behind to drizzle on the top later.

When that was done, I got out my hanger and did my best imitation of the swirling maneuver Ione does in her Cherry Blossom video, no more, no less. It's always a temptation to want to do more, but I always resist. Less in this case is more.

Lastly, I gently poured in the rest of my main batter and drizzled each of the remaining portions of colored batter on top, and swirled just the top with a chopstick from corner to opposite corner. Then I covered and put it to bed in a slightly warmed but turned off oven to encourage gel, and then I went to bed myself......which is what I'm going to do here in a moment. lol

IrishLass :)

So you've got to have a good drop swirl going on to begin with? Therefore the thin hanger doesn't have a lot of work or moving to do - it just breaks things up into those wispy lines?

I know she's changed her recipe over the years so I knew that wasn't a factor in her hanger swirls. But I can't for the life of me understand how the vertical versus diagonal side wire affected how it swirled.

She can even get a decent swirl when she's got a batter that's thicker than you'd want for a typical hanger swirl.

The beveling tool you have really sets that soap off too! You've posted the link to a store to purchase it, but I haven't splurged yet. Is it difficult to do a very straight line with it (like using a vegetable peeler?)
 
I think you nailed it. I love her swirls too, and yours could have been taken from her videos. Just delightful!

Thank you! I had an excellent teacher for sure. :thumbup:


lenarenee said:
So you've got to have a good drop swirl going on to begin with? Therefore the thin hanger doesn't have a lot of work or moving to do - it just breaks things up into those wispy lines?

Yes- I think that seems to pretty much sum it up. Just this evening, I was studying my bars in depth to see how the order and way in which I poured each color affected the outcome, so that the next time I do this swirl I could go about it in a more 'planned' manner....or at least try my level best to do so. To explain- I'm thinking that if I dropped a green colored swirl into the base first, then next dropped a red colored swirl on top of it (or some other 'flower petal' color), I could hopefully create something that looks like pretty flowers with sepals and stems.

lenarenee said:
I know she's changed her recipe over the years so I knew that wasn't a factor in her hanger swirls. But I can't for the life of me understand how the vertical versus diagonal side wire affected how it swirled.

Temptress! You've just unwittingly piqued my curiosity to the point that I now desire deeply to do what I swore nothing on earth could ever make me do- i.e., re-re-bend a hanger. :lol: Actually, I won't re-re-bend what I've already re-bent- I think I'll just sacrifice a virgin wire hanger from my closet. lol

lenarenee said:
She can even get a decent swirl when she's got a batter that's thicker than you'd want for a typical hanger swirl.

Yes- I've been able to do so as well using her technique with thicker batters, but 2 weeks ago I found out the hard way that there is a point of diminishing returns if the batter is really, really thick. I made an Ione-swirled soap scented with an Orange Blossom F/O that got a wee bit fussy on me. Usually that particular F/O behaves well for me, but it decided to be naughty that day for some reason, and my Ione swirl turned out to be a total bust- it came out as ugly as the one in this thread came out pretty. lol

lenarenee said:
The beveling tool you have really sets that soap off too! You've posted the link to a store to purchase it, but I haven't splurged yet. Is it difficult to do a very straight line with it (like using a vegetable peeler?)

No- it's not difficult at all. As a matter of fact, it's so easy to bevel straight with it that I believe a child could do it with their eyes closed. The thing that makes it so easy is the groove leading up to the blade. I just rest the edge of my soap in the groove (which acts as a stabilizing guide) and push it along towards the blade. Easy peasy.


IrishLass :)
 
Every time I see this thread in the side bar I read LONE swirl, not Ione. So then I wonder "what is a lone swirl?" and click on it AGAIN. Every time! I feel stupid. hahaha!

And that IS some truly gorgeous soap, IrishLass! :)
 
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