Slab mold swirling

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dixiedragon

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I got a slab mold and I was so excited to swirl in it! I made a batch of soap, colored 1 part with copper mica (TKB trading), one part with gold mica (BB) and left the rest plain. I poured the soap into the middle of the tray, alternating between my 3 containers (copper, gold and plain) so there were rings of soap. Then I dragged a fork through it.

The top is beautifully swirled. The bottom (the part on the bottom of the mold) is plain. It's like the plain soap was heavier than the mica soap and it pushed the mica soap up.

Any experience with this? Tried it twice, same result. The very middle bar has some mica on the bottom, but the rest have no mica on the bottom.
 
Did you pour the plain soap first? I've had this same thing happen and I think at least part of the issue is that the first soap poured is going to stick to the surface of the mold as it gets pushed out by the other colors, leaving a layer on the bottom. I noticed the sides of soaps often look very different from what's inside as well and I think it's because of this issue of "catching", for lack of a better word, and then stretching along the solid surface of the mold. How thick it was when you pour will have an effect as well, in terms of how difficult it is for the other colors to penetrate thicker batter but even if I pour really thin, there will be a blurring, smearing effect on the bottom and sides.

If you slice a thin layer off the bottom of the bar, can you see your other colors?
 
Did you pour the plain soap first? I've had this same thing happen and I think at least part of the issue is that the first soap poured is going to stick to the surface of the mold as it gets pushed out by the other colors, leaving a layer on the bottom. I noticed the sides of soaps often look very different from what's inside as well and I think it's because of this issue of "catching", for lack of a better word, and then stretching along the solid surface of the mold. How thick it was when you pour will have an effect as well, in terms of how difficult it is for the other colors to penetrate thicker batter but even if I pour really thin, there will be a blurring, smearing effect on the bottom and sides.

If you slice a thin layer off the bottom of the bar, can you see your other colors?


Ok seriously I've been having the same issue and after reading this I'm thinking Doh! Why didn't I think of adding the color to the bottom :lol:
 
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