Planning First Swirl (CP)

[Arlo]

I'm a beginner, having made 4 batches of plain soap although one with the texture of ground dried orange peel, one with lavender oil (but not enough). Now I'm ready to attempt a swirl. I'm planning a very small loaf (680 g oil) as my first attempt. I bought a few micas and clays. Here are some questions:
- Can I mix up more of a mica or clay than I need and keep it in a small container for a future batch?
- The design I'm planning is 1/2 of base soap having ground dried orange, and then to swirl in: 1/4 orange mica, 1/4 cream color (either mica or clay - see my other question) (no dried orange rind in those)
- I was told the orange oil I plan on using might affect the color of the base soap. Is that true?
- I have both a champagne mica and a white kaolin clay. Which am I better off using for the 1/4 cream color?
- I've watched several videos on swirling methods but so far have not concluded which is best for a beginner. Any thoughts?
- I'm paying attention to tips I see to not accelerate trace what with the various things I need to add: texture, fragrance, colorant.
I don't do well with winging things on the fly so I want to plan this well. Thanks for any input.

 

[penelopejane]

I’d add the FO up front (get one that doesn’t discolour or accelerate and use at a rate of 5% of oils) take it just to emulsion and divide your batter ready for colouring. Then I’d do an in the pot swirl adding the colour portions in three places to the pot and either stirring once or not at all if it’s still fluid enough.

I don’t premix clays as they dry out a bit. I’d mix it then SB it in a tiny bit. For an in the pot swirl you need pretty thin batter. Mica might mix in enough with handstirring alone.

 

[dibbles]

If you are using orange essential oil, that is one that behaves very nicely and shouldn’t give you any trouble. It may give you a yellowish color in your soap. It won’t matter for your orange color, but might in the part you want to remain a cream color. You can leave that portion unscented. I would use the clay for the cream part. Unlike penelopejane, I do mix my clay ahead of time with some of the batch water. I also premix my mica in oil.

I agree with PJ that an ITP swirl is a good first time technique. Good luck !

 

[szaza]

Oeh.. first swirl, that's exciting!
Assuming you mean orange essential oil, it's well behaved indeed and can give your soap a slight orange tinge when used in high percentages (are you planning on using any other essential oils or fragrance oils?), I think in your case, it will just enhance the colors you're using.
Oh and I totally agree on adding the fragrance to the mixed and melted oils before adding the lye
Slow tracing recipes in general have a bit more soft oils (butters accelerate trace, I think most soapers use lard for swirl soaps but I don't use it).
Working at lower temps helps a lot as well (let your oils and lye solution cool down to room temp before mixing, but make sure your oils are still liquid!)
One very important thing is not to SB too much, so short pulses alternated with mixing by hand. Once your batter is emulsified (it's a homogeneous substance, no oils floating to the top) you can split your batter to add colorants. You don't need to wait for trace
Enjoy your first swirled soap and let us know how it goes!

 

[Arlo]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I made the soap yesterday and will send an update soon. In the meantime, I have what might be a major problem (I hope not...) so I will start a new post for that in the hope that I get more replies.