Artistic Flare - Soap Swirls and Such

[GiggleGoat]

I've been looking through the forum and noticed that there were some pretty remarkable decorations going on with swirls and funnels and sparkles, etc, etc. I've tried a couple of times, but I'm absolutely hideous at it. I can't get swirls going or they just melt into the main colour of the soap and look all washed out and murky. Can Goat Milk soap be coloured with something other than earth tones? Is there a special tool that I need to be using or that would help? Is there special consideration for Goat Milk Soap and decorating?

 

[flavapor]

When your adding color to the soap in a mold pour in a thin pour, not a glop and pour from high up so it goes down into the soap moving the container your pouring from up and down the mold and alternating colors if theres more than one. I then use a chopstick to swirl it with.

Another easier method to start is to pour your color into two differnent spots in your pot and another color in between them in the same manner as above, then stir it once with a chopstick and pour it into your mold moving up and down the mold but pour it close to the mold so you dont mess up the swirl. This in the pot swirl is a great way to start off.

 

[Hazel]

There are a lot of videos on youtube which show different swirling techniques. :wink:

 

[sudbubblez]

The channel on youtube soaping101 has lots of videos about how to make swirls and other effects. Coloring GM is a little bit to do with the color wheel. There will be a bit of neurtal tan color added to whatever its colored with... probably why most people choose earth tones.

 

[Relle]

I've found the secret is to not overmix ,if doing an ITP swirl stirring once around is enough and when you pour, it will swirl itself.

 

[GiggleGoat]

Thanks for the advice. From what I've noticed on YouTube, the people doing the tutorials have years and years of experience and even though they are good at explaining what they are doing, for me that usually doesn't translate into the best way for someone who is attempting to do it for the first time. There's always little tricks and tactics that are fantastic to learn about, but people with that much experience tend to forget they are using years and years of technique and they may glance over something small but important to a technique. It's always the small things that I screw up, so I like to make sure that I'm not missing something small as I'm trying new things. I'm notorious for not wanting to follow instructions, so I have to force myself to be a bit/a lot retentive when it comes to fine details.

I'm going to try and use a poultry syringe to add swirls to my next batch. Has anyone tried this before?

 

[Stinkydancer]

The syringe would work or plastic squirt bottles are fabulous- just be sure your at a light trace with a non accelerating fragrance.

This statement is not to be rude or anything so please don't anyone take it as such...
All the swirled CP soaps after awhile are all starting to look the same. Nothing is very original about them anymore. I think concentrate on a good recipe. Most of my customers aren't impressed by the swirly stuff- they are more into fragrance and how the soap feels. Just keep that in the back of your mind.

Oooh- with goat milk- soap cold pretty much and stick it in the fridge for a couple of days. TD may help as well. I have seen some insane goat milk creations but you basically shouldn't gel them and soap very cool.

Patience is key with swirling though.
Here is a nice easy tutorial for you:
http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body- ... d-process/

Hopefully it was ok to post this.

 

[GiggleGoat]

No offence taken. That's the type of advice I love. When I look at the racks of soap in my little workshop I get board with the lack of colour. I guess I should keep in mind the person who is getting the soap in the end. They seem to like it, so I guess it can't be all that bad. I have a few recipes that will never change and I think I've got my base recipe down pretty good, but after looking at the recipes on here I know I have years of learning ahead of me.

Gelling - I think I've read to gel or not to gel on 50 different websites so far and the decision seems to be split 50/50. Aside from the colour difference, and maybe burning out the fragrance, what does gelling do as a final result?

 

[Stinkydancer]

No offence taken. That's the type of advice I love. When I look at the racks of soap in my little workshop I get board with the lack of colour. I guess I should keep in mind the person who is getting the soap in the end. They seem to like it, so I guess it can't be all that bad. I have a few recipes that will never change and I think I've got my base recipe down pretty good, but after looking at the recipes on here I know I have years of learning ahead of me.

Gelling - I think I've read to gel or not to gel on 50 different websites so far and the decision seems to be split 50/50. Aside from the colour difference, and maybe burning out the fragrance, what does gelling do as a final result?

Gelled soap can be cut earlier since the heat helps it to saponify faster so it's harder quicker. Gelled soap deepens colors like Mica- the soap is more translucent looking I guess. It's hard to describe. Gelled soap can burn off fragrance more so than non gelled soap though so use your stronger ones.
Gelled milk soaps such as Goat Milk- will almost always be a carmelish tan color.
Non Gelled milk soaps are lighter in color- so it's easier to color them. Also in non gelled soap colors are more true. Though non gelled soap can be zappy for up to 3 days after sometimes longer. It slows down sap but you still get great soap out of it.
It's a matter of preference.

If you want to try out color and swirling- I would omit the milk and try it from there with distilled water. It really isn't too difficult.

Edited to add:
I love the simplicity to your soaps- I don't think they are boring at all. They look natural and inviting to use. I would feel great using that on my skin. I think your doing a great job with it so far.

 

[judymoody]

I also like your soaps!

As has been indicated in earlier posts, I'd start with a simple ITP (in the pot) swirl and take it from there.

I can do decent swirls - not amazingly artistic ones, but good enough. I find I enjoy the relaxed pace and process of a natural looking soap that looks wholesome and inviting. I tend to gravitate towards them if I see them at a market or fair.

 

[GiggleGoat]

Thanks so much for all you advice and suggestions! I think I'll just try and find my niche naturally. I know what I like and I know what I don't like and I guess that I'll just have to see if people gravitate towards simple and understated. Well, simple as far as looks goes I guess ... making soap is lots of fun but far from what I would call simple, yet. Hopefully it never gets easy. I'm making a batch tomorrow that I will be making two colours, I'll take a pic and let you witness the potential disaster ... it's just a test batch for a new recipe that I usually give away to friends and family. Let's see what I learn tomorrow!

 

[youreapima2]

Thanks so much for all you advice and suggestions! I think I'll just try and find my niche naturally. I know what I like and I know what I don't like and I guess that I'll just have to see if people gravitate towards simple and understated. Well, simple as far as looks goes I guess ... making soap is lots of fun but far from what I would call simple, yet. Hopefully it never gets easy. I'm making a batch tomorrow that I will be making two colours, I'll take a pic and let you witness the potential disaster ... it's just a test batch for a new recipe that I usually give away to friends and family. Let's see what I learn tomorrow!

#1 thing It's best to use colors and f/o that you know won't seize your batch.
You want to work with very thin or thin batch to do ITP (in the pot) swirl. It's really not hard to do. Trying 1-2 colors first and then gradually increasing colors is a great idea. I myself don't do instructions well either. I started with 1 color and titanium dioxide as the base (to make bars white), and progressed from there. I am up to doing 7 colors in a soap now with confidence. I have only been making soap for a little over a year.

 

[GiggleGoat]

I couldn't even imagine trying 7 colours. Right now I just want to highlight the scents using a layer or two of colour. It seems to be a part of soap making that people find easy, but I just can't seems to get a grip on it. Most likely because I'm impatient.

 

[semplice]

I like the look of your bars as well.

Have you been making soap long?

 

[Lynnz]

Swirls stand out with nice bold contrasts I personally love a creamy background with a red oxide swirl so choose a swirl colour that will pop :0) I recently changed the molds I use and I am not happy with the swirls I am achieving in the new mold so it really is a play and learn game. Also I find if the trace is too think then the swirls are very whispy I like a more chunky swirl look so tend to let my soap thicken a little more than some may do so.
I was a diehard non geller for many years and only recently changed my tune and now gell 98% of the soap I make biggest reason for the turn was an ashing issue that sets in every winter here in Queensland and I know other soapers in the area that find the same thing. Once I started gelling I have very few issues with the ash which makes me a happy soaper

 

[GiggleGoat]

I at a crossroads with gelling. The soap in the picture is my attempt at adding two colours. I think it looks pretty neat and although I don't want a soap that looks to symmetrical and balanced, I would like it a bit cleaner looking.

The two scents are chocolate and peppermint and this is my 7th beer batch since reading the thread on beer soap about 3 days ago. I know that beer soap is the direction I'll be taking my soap from now on, so I'm redoing my inventory and handing out all my other soaps to lucky friends and family.

Anyway, I threw the soap in the fridge after I poured the mold and it completed gelled anyway. How it retained the layer I'll never know. I could just imagine how hot it would have gotten if I didn't start cooling it right away.

 

[semplice]

I like the way it looks. I want to take a bite out of it.

 

[GiggleGoat]

There's a woman on you tube who apparently always tastes her soap. I was thinking of start that after my last 2 batches ... I then came to my senses. They do look edible though!

 

[youreapima2]

They look very nice. They look like Fudge marble. Chocolate and peppermint? YUMMY

 

[GiggleGoat]

@semplice Thanks! I've been making soap for a few years now, but only to relieve stress. I've never really paid attention to how in-depth soap making can get until this year. I've been trying to learn what oils do and how different ingredient react to each other. I was a chef for 10 years and it gets pretty stressful at times, so making soap became the way I relaxed on my day off after I caught up with my family.

I just started to incorporate beer into my soap as well. I LOVE how it turns out. I am trying to polish up on the history of soap and how it relates to other beauty methods of that era. I'm fascinated with Egypt and how it was one of the first cultures to create soap, which happens to be the first culture to create beer, which happens to be one of the first cultures to use goat milk for beauty methods and not just eating and drinking. Yes, olive oil plays a big part as well. I should have started this 10 years ago.

So, I want to combine all of that history including those ingredients into one soap. I can't be happier with the results so far. There's obviously a looooong way to go, there always is, but the path getting there is pretty fun.

If anyone knows some interesting books on the history of soap I'm all ears!