I was a swirling dervish

[newbie]

I went on a complete swirl tear, especially after getting the Otions soap. I got a Kelsei mold a week or two ago and have been trying it and then tried again yesterday for some good pulls, like that Otion bar. Fail! The swirl is fine, but it's a long way from that fabulous bar. Love the Kelsei mold for pulling the swirls down the side. It certainly makes the bars look more finished.



I was playing around with some left over colors and liked this vortex swirl I got, on the far right. Then I tried it with Pixie Dust FO- first time using that, like a dope- and of course it accelerated trace so my 5 color swirl wasn't quite what I wanted but is still interesting. Must have a lot of florals in there and florals always look mottled when I don't mix them a lot, so they have a bit of a funny look. Oh well. Good enough for me.



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Then I tried Angel FO from the Sage. Mixed with Vanilla stabilizer and used TD but got the bright yellow, as Carebear mentioned in another thread. No controlling that color! Like the smell. I had a little separation in the red-too much mica? I used the same soap batter as the rest of the soap. It pitted a little but the worst was where I squirted alcohol on top and it squirted too strongly-right into the soap. Oops.



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In an effort to duplicate the lovely Otions bar, I used a pink grapefruit and patchouli mix- anything that didn't accelerate trace and discolor- but I clearly still don't know the trick. And any tips with the mold would be helpful. I find the soap starts to gel in the middle and goes outward, but by the time it spreads to the edges, the center get a little too hot and starts to sweat. Do other people have this problem? How do you prevent it?



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And lastly, I made two soaps earlier in the week, a blackberry sage and a lemon.



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I have no idea what I am going to do with all this soap. I have soap issues, clearly.

 

[PrairieCraft]

If that was your first attempt to copy the swirl bar, then you did a great job. That is really close. Maybe the darker colors in the original make it look a little more crisp. Good stuff.

 

[kelleyaynn]

Love the gold flecks in them.

 

[Araseth]

Lovely swirls, especially the last two, very intricate. ^_^

 

[Hazel]

Beautiful! You did an amazing job.

I wish I could tell you how to prevent the middle from over heating. The only thing I can think of is preventing gel but that's probably not an option if you prefer gelled soap.

 

[newbie]

Thanks! I picked up doing the gold flecks/threads from Amanda.

Yes, I prefer gel in general because I seem to get less ash, I have no patience for waiting to see what I've got, and I like to free up my molds. Maybe I need to use cold packs over the center as soon as it's gelled and hope it doesn't affect the rest. Hmmmm.

And I think using some darker colors might be helpful as you suggested, but I don't know how she gets those lines so fine and so well-defined. If at first you don't succeed....

 

[judymoody]

Your swirls look really good!

I wonder if the fineness of the swirls has anything to do with the kinds of oils that are being used? Or the amount of water or level of superfat?

I am still an absolute novice on the swirl front but from watching videos (I think it was KBShimmer?), the soap has to be barely emulsified and you want to keep it there as long as possible. So you're on the right track with using non accelerating fragrance. I wonder if there are other ways to slow trace like using lots of OO or lard?

Just a thought.

 

[cp chick]

Gorgeous! I really love the cream with the green/red swirl. Very rich looking.

 

[calico21]

I have no idea what I am going to do with all this soap. I have soap issues, clearly.[/quote]


You can send me 1 each of your last three bars so I can learn how to swirl like you! Those are beautiful and you have nothing to be envious of, but I do. Heehee

 

[krissy]

i ADORE the red and black one!! how did you get that color of red? i *MUST* have that red!!

really, all of them are great!

 

[soapbuddy]

Great job! You've been busy!

 

[agriffin]

You're doing awesome!!! 8)

All look wonderful!

 

[newbie]

Wow, thanks guys!

Calico, if you PM me, your wish may come true!

I looked at the ingredients on the Otions bar, wondering the same thing about the oils. Palm oil is listed first, then coconut, olive, lye, THEN water and fragrance. It can't possibly be in the order of size, with water less than lye. It could be a high OO bar, which would help and I do just emulsify to give myself the most time possible. I think the pattern is part of it and the size of the strips of colors. They're so distinct and so thin! I'm not sure how to work quickly enough but get such thin lines of color to fill a mold.

I have to admit that I am kind of partial to the yellow one, which was supposed to be white, black, and red but came out yellow, green and red. I did a split with a divider, about 1/3 black and 2/3 white and after removing the divider, I poured a small amount of the red from up high between the two colors and went back and forth, progressively lower so some stayed on top. FOr swirling, I used an approx 1.5 inch wide strip of cardboard cut from a case of pop. Inserted it just above the color line and then turned it in place (more or less) a couple times and the one bar I turned it maybe 4 times or 5. I like the effect!

For the red, I used a LOT of TKBs colorona bordeaux in the batter. I didn't measure (bad experimentation!) how much- I eyeball it- but it was a lot for a small amount of soap. Like I said,I had a little separation just from the red and I don't know if the amount of mica would cause it. I have to say that that particular color is FABULOUS for getting red, but you have to use a lot.

It's so much fun to try new stuff but I have WAY TOO MUCH SOAP!!

 

[BakingNana]

Woot woot!! Fantastic swirls...great job! c. bordeaux has become a favorite of mine. Lots of possibilities with it depending on how much you use.

 

[newbie]

I just ordered more of the C. bordeaux because it's go easy to go through. Have you noticed any problem with the batter or finished soap if you use a lot to get a really rich red, Nana?

 

[cinta]

Amazing! How did you achieve the gold flecked effect? Is it mica? It looks gorgeous

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Newbie, you've done some beautiful, beautiful work. You should be very proud of those soaps. :wink:

 

[Dragonkaz]

Your soap, your colours and your swirls are magickal! Congratulations!

 

[newbie]

Cinta, I picked up using the gold from Amanda Griffin. I've used many colors of mica, not just gold and it gives a great effect. Mix whatever color of mica (I use TKB's) with a small amount of oil. I use OO because it's thinner and pours like I want. I know Amanda likes to use castor oil. Pour it on top of the soap in very fine lines or drops and swirl away. Don't pour too heavily because it will leave tracks or dents in the soap when the oil gets absorbed. I love this technique because there are lots of micas that lose their depth and incredible highlights in soap and this way you can see them, at least on the surface. It's definitely worth a try!

This is one of my more heavy handed soap with mica on the surface.
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I had a lighter hand with this one, but you can see how it tracks into the surface of the soap.

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[Fubble Bath]

Nice! I love the green and yellow ones!