Note: You Can't 'Paint' on Silicone with Glycerin

[BrewerGeorge]

Bit of a fail last night. I am trying to get a specific surface treatment on the next batch of soap I'm making. I intended to paint the design onto the bottom of the silicone mold with glycerin and pigment, then pour soap over top. So last night I dug around the kid's drawers and the junk drawer looking for a paint brush, couldn't find one and ended up making a "pen" from a cuticle stick, mixed up some glycerin, charcoal, and black mica, and got to work drawing my designs. It looked like it was going to work, but after about 90 seconds, the surface tension of the glycerin and lack of friction of the silicone conspired to draw the lines into individual drops.

Back to the drawing board. Does anyone have any ideas how I might make this work? I'm afraid that oil would do the same thing. Even if it didn't, what would be the consequence of having unsaponified oil on the surface of the soap - even if it was only a few lines on the top and bottom? Actual soap would be ideal, but I can't make that small amount. Maybe making another batch first and stealing a couple tablespoons of batter for this is my best bet. Then let it harden in the mold and pour the new batch over top of it the next day. Anything anybody else can think of would be great.

 

[DeeAnna]

What about cutting a sheet of not-silicone covered stuff -- um, freezer paper maybe?? or one of those thin flexible plastic cutting boards? cant' think of a better idea at the moment -- to fit the bottom of your mold and paint on that?

 

[BrewerGeorge]

What about cutting a sheet of not-silicone covered stuff -- um, freezer paper maybe?? or one of those thin flexible plastic cutting boards? cant' think of a better idea at the moment -- to fit the bottom of your mold and paint on that?

I experimented with freezer paper last night. Still beads up.:headbanging:

 

[Susie]

What about mixing the mica and glycerin with something like kaolin clay? I was thinking corn starch, but you might get rotting paint.

 

[Obsidian]

Why not use water and mica to make a thicker liquid to paint with?
Even if you did find a way to use glycerin, wouldn't the pattern just mess up when you poured the soap?
With water, you could let it dry first to help keep it in place.

If you really need to use glycerin, what about mixing in a little liquid soap to help break surface tension? That might help with beading.

 

[SparksnFlash]

I experimented with freezer paper last night. Still beads up.:headbanging:

What about parchment. And maybe paint with alcohol & color instead of glycerin or oil?

(Just thinking "out loud", never tried this before.)

 

[BrewerGeorge]

...

If you really need to use glycerin, what about mixing in a little liquid soap to help break surface tension? That might help with beading.

Liquid soap! Why didn't I think of that? Liquid soap all by itself would do the job, I think. Paint it on and let it dry back into a paste. It would even wash away faster with use, which is exactly perfect for the look I'm going for. Anybody have any reason liquid soap would be a bad idea?

 

[Izzye]

I've experimented a couple of times with drawing on top of the soap with a syringe full of soap, might work in the bottom of the mould too? Although a disposable icing bag might be an easier idea, I've found it quite hard to control the syringes. If you're making another batch of soap I'd steal a bit of that and line the mould and give it a day to dry before you try and put anything over the top.

 

[penelopejane]

I answered at the same time.^^^

I would have thought the liquid soap would move when you pour the soap batter on, no matter what surface you use.
I have two molds so am able to make a batch of soap and reserve some batter which I use in a fondant mat which I allow to dry before pouring new soap over it. You could easily use batter to paint on the silicon surface.

You can paint mica and oil on after the soap is made. Is that not an option for you? The good thing about this (or using soap batter to decorate the top) is it is much easier than doing it at the bottom of a mold.
Even then it dries a little differently as it soaks in.

 

[SoapAddict415]

Depending on what look you're going for, maybe you could "paint" your design on the wet or fresh soap with a mica & oil mix?

 

[Kittish]

Painting the bottom of your mold with just dry pigment might also work. That avoids the problems with getting a liquid to stick to silicone, and it'll tend to stay put a little better when you pour onto it. As long as you don't lay it on too thick, you shouldn't wind up with dry powder flaking off the top of your soap.

I've done swirls and stuff on top of my soap with pigment mixed into a little bit of oil. Doesn't hurt anything, and the oil soaks into the soap pretty quickly.

 

[dibbles]

Putting mica in oil on the top works well, and the oil absorbs into the soap, as Kittish said. Why do you want it on the bottom? Other than soap that has set, I think it would be pretty difficult to pour batter over the design and not mess it up. Another thought, if you have a ton of patience, would be to use your impression mat and put mica in all the little details.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

...

You can paint mica and oil on after the soap is made. Is that not an option for you? The good thing about this (or using soap batter to decorate the top) is it is much easier than doing it at the bottom of a mold.
Even then it dries a little differently as it soaks in.

Putting mica in oil on the top works well, and the oil absorbs into the soap, as Kittish said. Why do you want it on the bottom? Other than soap that has set, I think it would be pretty difficult to pour batter over the design and not mess it up. Another thought, if you have a ton of patience, would be to use your impression mat and put mica in all the little details.

I'm using a 1501 mold like a slab for this one. Three cuts across the length for four cubes, then cut in half horizontally so the original top and bottom will both end up being "bottoms" of the final soaps. Accordingly, I want the same treatment on the original top and bottom, and I'm going to use the smooth side of a fondant mat to make the top as silicone-smooth as possible.

The idea for the design is to evoke the outside of a geode. Like the pic below, but in gray and black. I wouldn't be that detailed, of course. My original thought was that the glycerin would wash away pretty quickly leaving behind black-lined grooves. I'm wondering if the liquid soap (soap paste?) would do the same thing.

I suppose that if all else fails, I can carve the lines into the back and paint on the black afterward, but that would not be my first choice. That kind of treatment washes off completely after first use, right?

 

[dibbles]

I'm using a 1501 mold like a slab for this one. Three cuts across the length for four cubes, then cut in half horizontally so the original top and bottom will both end up being "bottoms" of the final soaps. Accordingly, I want the same treatment on the original top and bottom, and I'm going to use the smooth side of a fondant mat to make the top as silicone-smooth as possible.

The idea for the design is to evoke the outside of a geode. Like the pic below, but in gray and black. I wouldn't be that detailed, of course. My original thought was that the glycerin would wash away pretty quickly leaving behind black-lined grooves. I'm wondering if the liquid soap (soap paste?) would do the same thing.

I suppose that if all else fails, I can carve the lines into the back and paint on the black afterward, but that would not be my first choice. That kind of treatment washes off completely after first use, right?

Ah, I understand now. What if you made your soap batch and used squirt bottles to lay the design on the bottom and top, and not swirling but manipulating the lines a bit to get the effect you want. Mica in oil (and probably glycerin although I've never tried that, will wash off, if not with the first use, pretty quickly. If you didn't want a totally smooth surface, soap dough used in some way might be an option.

 

[Kittish]

This has pigment in oil (ultramarine blue in this case) swirled on top. You can sort of see in this pic how the oil soaking in left a bit of texture on the top. You can definitely feel the texture. It would probably work well to get the look you want on the actual top, but I don't know how it'd work on the bottom. Have you thought about trying soap dough to make your surface features?

The darker bits of blue inside are where I poured thin lines of pigment in oil as I was pouring the soap. There are no voids inside the soap, though.

ETA: Ha! Dibbles beat me to the soap dough suggestion. Great minds and all, I guess.

 

[jcandleattic]

Hmm, have you tried maybe some 91-99% rubbing alcohol with mica? That would have been my first thought, that way the mica(paint) stays where you want it, but the alcohol evaporates out.

 

[soapmaker]

I answered at the same time.^^^

I would have thought the liquid soap would move when you pour the soap batter on, no matter what surface you use.
I have two molds so am able to make a batch of soap and reserve some batter which I use in a fondant mat which I allow to dry before pouring new soap over it. You could easily use batter to paint on the silicon surface.

You can paint mica and oil on after the soap is made. Is that not an option for you? The good thing about this (or using soap batter to decorate the top) is it is much easier than doing it at the bottom of a mold.
Even then it dries a little differently as it soaks in.

Yes, I was wondering why the bottom and not the top? If you pour at a thinner trace and it is flat, the top could just as well be the bottom, and the bottom the top....if you know what I mean. Sorry, I didn't see the rest of the posts.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Well, she's in the mold. The drawings look incredibly childish, but we'll see how it looks tomorrow.

 

[soapmaker]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this!

 

[BrewerGeorge]

We're going to give it another day. I didn't cpop this one at I usually do and while I unmolded it is too soft to cut, and a little zappy still.