May 2024 SMF Challenge: Hanger Swirls!

[AliOop]

@akseattle I wouldn't use anything that is cracking, or easily cracked, but if you have plastic drinking straws that are firm and pliable, those should be fine. Chopsticks work just fine, as well. I've used those, wrapped in plastic packing tape to join them at the corners, and then all the way around to make them thicker. The tape did not come off in the soap at all.

@dmcgee5034 thank you for sharing those tips

 

[AliOop]

To enter the May 2024 SMF Challenge, copy and paste these instructions and the entire list into a new post, adding the next number and your name to the bottom of the list.

Sign-up list:
1. Justsomeguy - it's gonna be nerve wrecking but I'm in. My first venture into multicolored soap
2. Ackosel - I need to get a hanger and learn how to use it. Expecting to enjoy the learning process, submit a very unimpressive entry, and have fun doing it!
3. Relle
4. dmcgee5034 - have hanger, will swirl
5. McKherringFarm
6. akseattle
7. Firefly24
8. SoapM0m - I've been making soap for over 25 years and I've *never* done a challenge! This should be fun!
9. The_Emerald_Chicken
10. Vicki C
11.

 

[akseattle]

I wouldn't use anything that is cracking, or easily cracked, but if you have plastic drinking straws that are firm and pliable, those should be fine. Chopsticks work just fine, as well. I've used those, wrapped in plastic packing tape to join them at the corners, and then all the way around to make them thicker. The tape did not come off in the soap at all.

Well, it's not pretty, but I think my hanger tool will do the job. Sacrificed two Bic pens for the cause I'm surprised that it was really pretty easy to cut through both the coat hanger and the pens! I don't know if it matters but I might put a little packing tape or duct tape on the corners so that the soap doesn't go inside the pen. I think I can re-use this tool. I won't have time to make soap until next weekend, but I'm excited to try out my new tool!
Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[AliOop]

Looks great, @akseattle! I agree, it would be best to add some tape to hold the pens in place, and also to keep soap from going inside them.

 

[CLMP]

I've decided what colors I want to use but having trouble deciding how much soap to make for each color hopefully I can figure it out lol

 

[justsomeguy]

Just finished my entry.
Spectacular failure! Can't wait to see it cut
Lessons learned:
1)when working with multiple batches that go into a single mold, keep them in the same stage a you move through the process. I took the base color all the way to the mold before mixing/blending the other two colors.
2) vary the height of the pour so it sinks in.
3) don't panic
3) don't drag the spatula through the now solid base color

All in all I did have a blast and I learned some new stuff too...

I cut it.
I like it.
Complete miss on what I envisioned though.
I asked some of the vendors at the farmers market today if they preferred the plain single soap or the multicolored one. Single color didn't get a single yay.

I'm fighting the urge to make another batch this month. Good news is I think I'll be making more soaps this way in the (near) future

Edit: someone purchased what I had at the farmers market as a college graduation gift (school colors represented well) even after I Said come back in 8 weeks (they're gonna let it cure for 8 weeks and bring it back if anything goes away)

 

[akseattle]

I cut it.
I like it.
Complete miss on what I envisioned though.

@justsomeguy , I am on the edge of my seat!
Not sure if my soap has ever turned out exactly as I planned. I think the reveal is part of the excitement.

 

[justsomeguy]

@justsomeguy , I am on the edge of my seat!

I didn't get any red.
I didn't get any grey.
I did get tan/yellow though

Not sure if my soap has ever turned out exactly as I planned. I think the reveal is part of the excitement.

I'm learning. I took so many pictures...

 

[Zuleika]

To enter the May 2024 SMF Challenge, copy and paste these instructions and the entire list into a new post, adding the next number and your name to the bottom of the list.

Sign-up list:
1. Justsomeguy - it's gonna be nerve wrecking but I'm in. My first venture into multicolored soap
2. Ackosel - I need to get a hanger and learn how to use it. Expecting to enjoy the learning process, submit a very unimpressive entry, and have fun doing it!
3. Relle
4. dmcgee5034 - have hanger, will swirl
5. McKherringFarm
6. akseattle
7. Firefly24
8. SoapM0m - I've been making soap for over 25 years and I've *never* done a challenge! This should be fun!
9. The_Emerald_Chicken
10. Vicki C
11. Zuleika - Hang myself on this.

I unexpectedly had a pocket of free time over the weekend and made an attempt. Didn't bring my hanger home so had to improvise. Plastic straw with paper straw extenders on the ends. Not quite what I expected but good enough for 1st attempt. I might do attempt 2 if I have time. If not I'll just enter attempt 1.

 

[Zuleika]

Of course I forgot to post my makeshift straw hanger.

 

[ackosel]

Some people are slow learners. I over-blended my batter *again*, and the soap set up too fast. By the time I "swirled" the soap it was so thick I had to hold the mold down while I pulled the hanger up. My guess is that it's full of holes inside. Should be able to cut it tomorrow morning. It'll still turn into soap, so we'll just use it and I get to try again!!! My blue turned into pale green, too, so I'll try to get a darker color like I wanted.

 

[AliOop]

Some people are slow learners. I over-blended my batter *again*, and the soap set up too fast. By the time I "swirled" the soap it was so thick I had to hold the mold down while I pulled the hanger up. My guess is that it's full of holes inside. Should be able to cut it tomorrow morning. It'll still turn into soap, so we'll just use it and I get to try again!!! My blue turned into pale green, too, so I'll try to get a darker color like I wanted.

Great learning experience, and thank you for sharing it. Any chance that your FO also sped up trace?

@KiwiMoose has shared a great trick for accelerating FOs. She adds a bit of citrus EO to the FO, and that slows down trace. Because the citrus EO fades so quickly, the cured bars only smell like the regular FO. Brilliant, isn’t she?

 

[ackosel]

Great learning experience, and thank you for sharing it. Any chance that your FO also sped up trace?

@KiwiMoose has shared a great trick for accelerating FOs. She adds a bit of citrus EO to the FO, and that slows down trace. Because the citrus EO fades so quickly, the cured bars only smell like the regular FO. Brilliant, isn’t she?

I don't think the fragrance sped up trace. I used lavender, sage & rosemary essential oils. I've made this blend before without a problem, but I also added extra water last time to slow it down. I'll try that again, and use a different recipe with lard instead of tallow. I'm almost positive my problem was either over-blending or the recipe. The nice thing about this is, I can keep trying and trying and trying and still use the failed attempts!

I'm only making 1# batches in a 4" mold so my husband doesn't have to get a second job to support my swirling habit.

Yes, KiwiMoose is so kind to share her experience and expertise. She's definitely one I look up to, as well as you, AliOop and the others of you who are so kind and helpful to us beginners! Thank you all so much. You're all brilliant!!!

 

[AliOop]

We all had a lot of folks help us along the way, so we love paying it forward and watching new soapmakers blossom.

Those 1-lb batches are perfect for testing. They do require a lot less stickblending tho! Try a 2-second blast with the SB and then just hand-blend for a bit.

 

[Tammyfarms]

To enter the May 2024 SMF Challenge, copy and paste these instructions and the entire list into a new post, adding the next number and your name to the bottom of the list.

Sign-up list:
1. Justsomeguy - it's gonna be nerve wrecking but I'm in. My first venture into multicolored soap
2. Ackosel - I need to get a hanger and learn how to use it. Expecting to enjoy the learning process, submit a very unimpressive entry, and have fun doing it!
3. Relle
4. dmcgee5034 - have hanger, will swirl
5. McKherringFarm
6. akseattle
7. Firefly24
8. SoapM0m - I've been making soap for over 25 years and I've *never* done a challenge! This should be fun!
9. The_Emerald_Chicken
10. Vicki C
11. Zuleika - Hang myself on this.
12. Tammyfarms - starting to plan the design. This is the most time consuming part for me.
13.

 

[justsomeguy]

Some people are slow learners. I over-blended my batter *again*, and the soap set up too fast. By the time I "swirled" the soap it was so thick I had to hold the mold down while I pulled the hanger up. My guess is that it's full of holes inside. Should be able to cut it tomorrow morning. It'll still turn into soap, so we'll just use it and I get to try again!!! My blue turned into pale green, too, so I'll try to get a darker color like I wanted.

We are not alone!

 

[CLMP]

I think I figured out what I'm going to do and how much soap to make for each color.. I feel like the woman in the story of the Bible where her oils never run out lol. I bought so much stuff a year and a half a go when I first started soap making that every time I think I'm out of stuff I figure out how to make another soap batch with what I have left lol .

 

[akseattle]

2. Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced. Your entry must consist of bars made from a single batch of soap poured at one time. In other words, your entry cannot include bars from different batches.

@AliOop , To clarify, does using a "single batch of soap poured at one time" mean that I cannot make two pots of batter in one evening, using a different recipe for each pot, even if all the soap batter goes into the same mold for ONE design made in the ONE mold in the same evening?

Or, does it only mean I can't make a loaf one day with a design, make another loaf a different day, and then submit a bar from each loaf as my entry? So, you only get one entry?

 

[AliOop]

Or, does it only mean I can't make a loaf one day with a design, make another loaf a different day, and then submit a bar from each loaf as my entry? So, you only get one entry?

^^ This. You cannot submit bars from different batches - even if they are made on the same day. In other words, the bars that you submit must have been poured from the same batch of soap batter into the same soap mold at the same time.

It's not a problem to make two different recipes as long as they are poured at the same time into one mold. A ghost swirl mix would be a good example of this (as long as you also swirled it with the hanger tool).

 

[akseattle]

In other words, the bars that you submit must have been poured from the same batch of soap batter into the same soap mold at the same time.

@AliOop , in other words, I CANNOT have two pots of oil that use different recipes, even if I pour them into the same mold to produce only one loaf?