Mud Soap

[Mobjack Bay]

Here is one of my first attempts to make “mud” soap. It’s inspired by mud, not made with mud! This is not far from what you would see if you took a nice clean “core” sample of the bottom of your local bay, estuary or lake and then took an X-ray of it. Coastal geologists do this all the time because the layering patterns tell stories of how the mud got there and what happened once it was in place. Swirling and mixing of the mud is done by small sea or lake creatures, not soap makers! We call it “bioturbation”. I was actually trying to get some nice even layering in between some of the swirled sections, but that part didn’t work out so well! This is soap inspired by my work. It’s the first time I tried a very slow moving recipe which was so slow it was scary. I added AC and kaolin clay for the shades of grey and salt to the mid grey layer to get the mottling. I also added patchouli EO. I took it out a bit early due to being very impatient and it’s still a bit soft.

 

[cmzaha]

Your soap is gorgeous!
Happy Easter Tomorrow

 

[earlene]

Great backstory. Beautiful soap. Good work, MB.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Thank you! My next step is to work on thin layering.

 

[decisions]

That is beautiful!!!

 

[snappyllama]

I love your mud!

 

[Dawni]

Beautiful soaps! I think the uneven layering works.

I used to work in a Geotechnical firm and the soap on the right reminds me very much of the samples the drillers came back with, in shades of tans n browns though, since that was in desert areas.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Thanks all! I feel inspired enough to keep working at it!

I used to work in a Geotechnical firm and the soap on the right reminds me very much of the samples the drillers came back with, in shades of tans n browns though, since that was in desert areas.

Cores from drilling ops would definitely look a lot like this! The brown tones are usually because the fine particles are in an oxidized state due to contact with the air when they were first deposited. Usually marine muds look black or grey, or sometimes green, depending on the kind of clay. We usually see a brown layer right at the very top due to the oxygen in the water causing the minerals to oxidize (think of rust!). The cool thing (to me) is that animals living in the mud “irrigate” the mud, which causes the walls of their tubes and burrow to turn brown. You’re giving me more ideas!!! I went ahead and ordered some brownish Brazilian clay so I can play around with getting those effects. I also want to create the equivalent of “storm” layers, which is when the mud is deposited on the bottom so fast that the animals can’t affect the nice even layers that are created during the storm. To do that I’m going to need to learn how to layer with a slow moving recipe. My layers should be very thin (mm), so I don’t think multiple batches of batter is the best approach. I’m not using FOs, so I can’t use the acceleration trick to force trace. I think that leaves me with warming the mold and brief OP after each layer. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

 

[Dawni]

You’re giving me more ideas!!!

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

Glad to be of service lol I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you come up with

I'd be of no help regarding layering in CP though.. Mine are more frustrations than successes haha but I will definitely let you know if more mud ideas come to mind.