SMF September 2019 Challenge - Linear Swirl

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THIS FIRST (and ALL Rules - scroll down to see the challenge specific rules)

SMF Challenge General Rules

1. To enter you must have a minimum of 50 posts and been a member for a month (sorry but no exceptions on this).

2. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign-up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry.

3. This month’s voting will be password locked. Passwords will be sent by private message (conversation) to registered participants ONLY. So please check your PM's (conversations) when the voting begins.

4. Soap must be made specifically for the challenge. You may not enter a "pre-made" soap. No posting your entry photos until the entry thread is made. Non-entry photos are very welcome and may be posted in this thread.

5. You are allowed to change your entry photo up until the entry thread closes. So, if you decide after you post your entry you want another try, and you like the second better, you can change it up until the deadline.

6. Please add your name to the sign-up list if you wish to participate by making a soap(however, you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have produced). ___________________________________________________________________

The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts, where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members.

Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please try to keep your comments polite.

Competition entries must be uploaded to the separate entry thread before the closing date.

The Entry thread will open on September 24 CST (Please follow the challenge specific rules as to what you need to enter).

The Entry thread will close on September 28 at 11:59 pm CST and the winning entry will be chosen using Survey Monkey. The voting survey will remain open until September 30 at 11:59 pm CST and the winner announced on October 1. There is no prize attached to this challenge.

If you fail to make the challenge deadline, you are still welcome to upload your soap onto the challenge thread, but your entry will not be eligible for voting. We would love to see anything you have produced.

Even though there is no prize, this is still a competition. If your entry is deemed not to fulfill the general rules or the rules specific to the challenge in any way, then you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry. If this is not possible then your entry will not be included in the voting.

All the challenge mods reserve the right to have the final say on whether a soap is eligible for voting.
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The Challenge

My apologies for getting this challenge out late - I'll be honest to admitting that I completely forgot that it was my turn to host. As such, I don't have tutorials for doing the challenge method - but it has been one on my to do list for a very long time so I will be playing along! I will share tutorials in the thread as I find them - thank you so much for your patience and understanding!

Your challenge this month will be to create a linear swirl soap. A linear swirl layers the soap in a linear pattern. In a slab mold, this creates a nice linear pattern on the top of the soap, however, in a loaf mold it becomes small stripes of color on the bar. The challenge is open to slab molds or loaf molds.

Taiwan, serpentine, and peacock swirls are modifications on the linear swirl by using a chopstick to change the direction of the swirls in various patterns, while the modifications are not required for the challenge, you may enter a modified design. You may NOT use dividers for pouring your challenge, please keep that in mind if doing a Taiwan swirl.

The size of the linear pattern will depend on the amount of soap you pour for each line, less soap per pour gives thinner lines (more soap = thicker lines). (source for the majority of this text)

Remember, you must make a soap specifically for the challenge. You may not enter a soap you made prior to it.
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Here are a few examples I have found on the internet:






Have fun!!!

 

If you would like to participate, please copy and paste the list, adding your name and corresponding number.

Sign up list

1.

 

Sign up list

1. szaza - hmmm.. to hp or not to hp?

 

I am coming down with something and I was up until 1:30am helping Gaius complete his summer reading project, so I'm feeling very brain-dead today. I'm not following the explanation of this challenge. How does the blue and white soap fit the challenge? It sounds like I can do any kind of swirl, as long as I pour it in lines first?

 

The blue and white soap looks to me like it was poured into a slab mold with the blue linear lines and a solid portion of white and then run through as large Taiwan swirl.

As long as it is one of the modified swirls suggested (Taiwan, serpentine, and peacock), yes. So no hanger swirl or spin swirl. Although I confess that I'm not sure what a serpentine swirl looks like. I'm thinking it looks like this:

 

I'm very curious how this would work in a loaf mold, would you make the stipes parallel to the cut (in the direction of the short side of the mold) or perpendicular to the cut (parallel to the long side of the mold)? And if you want to swirl this kind of design in a loaf mold, wouldn't you need a hanger to create something similar to a taiwan swirl? Or am I overthinking this? I don't even know if I'm making any sense.. I just never saw a linear swirl in a loaf mold, so I'm intrigued and now I want to try it!

 

I have a soapy friend who has done the linear technique in a loaf mold, hopefully she can find the picture for me to share. What she did was lay lines of soap (not layers, but side by side lines) along the length of the loaf mold in alternating colors and alternate "stacking". She did not swirl hers. If you wanted to do a Taiwan, you would use a dowel rod, heavy chopstick or skewer into the depth of the soap to swirl, it would be interesting to experiment with the cut to see how it would look by cutting in different directions.

I have soap to make this week that I have no set design for, so I'll be trying this out and posting as I go as well. I *might* be pushing the limits of a hostess by doing a challenge with a technique that I have never done before. I also tried to leave it intentionally broad with few limitations to allow people to use the molds and tools that they have available.

Edited to remove a photo that after further research was not the correct method.

 

Cool! I'm curious how that one looks! I imagine a sort of dotted appearance? It would be great if you'd have a pic, but otherwise we'll just have to repeat what she did to find out for ourselves

 

2. dibbles - I’ll worry about what we can do later. I’m in.

Someone please fix the list. I’ve had too much wine to deal with it.

 

Sign up list

1. szaza - hmmm.. to hp or not to hp?
2. dibbles - I’ll worry about what we can do later. I’m in.

 

I'm jealous

 

Sign up list

1. szaza - hmmm.. to hp or not to hp?
2. dibbles - I’ll worry about what we can do later. I’m in.
3. MarnieSoapien - This looks like fun!

 

Sign up list

1. szaza - hmmm.. to hp or not to hp?
2. dibbles - I’ll worry about what we can do later. I’m in.
3. MarnieSoapien - This looks like fun!
4. SYT - I'll give it a go!

 

Sign up list

1. szaza - hmmm.. to hp or not to hp?
2. dibbles - I’ll worry about what we can do later. I’m in.
3. MarnieSoapien - This looks like fun!
4. SYT - I'll give it a go!
5. Mobjack Bay - I’m clueless, but I can’t resist!

 

Sign up list

1. szaza - hmmm.. to hp or not to hp?
2. dibbles - I’ll worry about what we can do later. I’m in.
3. MarnieSoapien - This looks like fun!
4. SYT - I'll give it a go!
5. Mobjack Bay - I’m clueless, but I can’t resist!
6. steffamarie - I simply adore swirls like this. Can't wait!

 

Well, I just stumbled across the YouTube for the blue and white soap. Different!

 

Thank you for sharing the video. I wonder what you do with the cuttings.

 

@amd I have noticed that many of the “linear pour then swirled” type soaps made in slab molds are created on top of a solid or ITP swirl base. For this competition, do you want the linear pour part to reach all the way through to the bottom? What about the swirling? Does it need to extend all the way through the soap? For example, would it be acceptable to create a soap in a slab mold where the bottom half is solid or ITP swirl and the top half is a swirled linear pour? Thanks!

 

Note the blue and white soap in the opening post is a half solid color and half linear swirl. Just to clarify for everyone, if you choose to do a solid portion in your design that is acceptable as long as the solid portion is not more than half of the bar design. So no very thin layers of linear swirl or only design done on top of soap.

 

Thanks for the clarification!