stamping your soaps

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kwahlne

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For those of you who use a rubber stamp to emboss your soaps, can you tell me, at what point is the best time to stamp them?

Do you stamp it as soon as you take it out of the mold and cut it? Do you wait longer?

I saw somewhere where it says to take a mallet of some sort to hammer in the stamp...seriously? Can't you just press it in ...?
 
I wait until they the soap feels like almost dried out clay - still empressable, but not sticky soft.

Believe me, you'll get the feel for when after you've tried it at different stages. There's a sweet time when the soap takes an imprint, but doesn't stick to the stamp.

Like most things in life, it just takes some practice. :D
 
mandolyn said:
There's a sweet time when the soap takes an imprint, but doesn't stick to the stamp.

Like most things in life, it just takes some practice. :D

Reminds me of the "sweet spot" on a clutch. :lol: Learning that took time, too.

Digit
 
I use rubber stamps quite often. I have a whole stash of different designs that I boiught at the craft store. I stamp my soap with them as soon as I unmold and cut and have never had a problem with soap sticking to them, but that's probably because I always press my rubber stamps beforehand into either gold dust mica or bronze dust mica and give the stamp a little tap on the side to shake off any excess before stamping. I never have needed to use a rubber mallet with my rubber stamps. I just gently press until I feel I've reached the 'sweet spot' and then I lift the stamp right off the soap. Then I spritz the soap with a fine spray of alcohol. That seems to help set the mica in place.

I have other stamps that I do use a rubber mallet with, but those are not rubber stamps. They are made of some kind of hard substance attached to a long column of wood, and the design on them is recessed instead of being pronounced like the rubber stamps are. I cannot dip my hard stamps in mica because of how they are recessed, so with those, I like to wait until my soap a little bit more firm to prevent sticking, but not so firm that it's hard to get an impression without damaging the soap. HTH! :)


IrishLass
 
Great technique, Irishlass. Thank you. This would be a good topic (thread) in the tutorial section. :D

Digit
 
I was looking at some stamps at Brambleberry a few weeks ago. Are these different than the rubber stamps you get at the craft store?

Do the rubber stamps make an impression or is it like stamping on a bar of soap instead of a piece of paper?
 
Yes, the Brambleberry stamps are different from the rubber stamps you get at the craft store. Brambleberry's are made of some kind of hard material, and the image is recessed instead of pronounced like they are on rubber stamps. That's why they need to be hammered into your soap (ever with gentle care). The rubber stamps just need to be gently pressed onto the surface with your hand (no hammer or mallet needed).

I have 3 of the Brambleberry type stamps and gobs of the rubber stamps from the craft store. You cannnot dip the Brambleberry stamps in mica like you can do with the rubber stamps. When I want to dress up or color the image made on my soap with the Brambleberry stamp, I have to use soap paints and a small brush to paint the imaged that's been stamped onto my soap.

The rubber stamps do make an impression on the surface of the soap providing you get ones that have good, pronounced detail on them that are not too 'busy'. The simplest ones are best.

If you click on the following link, you will see samples of my stamped soaps. All of them were stamped with rubber stamps dipped in mica, except for the bumblebee stamped soaps and the thistle stamped soaps. Those were gently hammered in with with Brambleberry stamps and then painted with soap paints:

http://members.cox.net/ssfkjfalf/AllMySoap/Start.htm


HTH!
IrishLass :)
 
I found a website that makes "deep-etched" custom rubber stamps. Is the "deep etched" necessary, or will regular rubber stamps work fine on the soap? I'm look more to emboss than to stamp with a color.
 
IrishLass said:
I use rubber stamps quite often. I have a whole stash of different designs that I boiught at the craft store. I stamp my soap with them as soon as I unmold and cut and have never had a problem with soap sticking to them, but that's probably because I always press my rubber stamps beforehand into either gold dust mica or bronze dust mica and give the stamp a little tap on the side to shake off any excess before stamping. I never have needed to use a rubber mallet with my rubber stamps. I just gently press until I feel I've reached the 'sweet spot' and then I lift the stamp right off the soap. Then I spritz the soap with a fine spray of alcohol. That seems to help set the mica in place.

I have other stamps that I do use a rubber mallet with, but those are not rubber stamps. They are made of some kind of hard substance attached to a long column of wood, and the design on them is recessed instead of being pronounced like the rubber stamps are. I cannot dip my hard stamps in mica because of how they are recessed, so with those, I like to wait until my soap a little bit more firm to prevent sticking, but not so firm that it's hard to get an impression without damaging the soap. HTH! :)


IrishLass

They are gorgeous! Do you mind if I ask where you purchase Gold Dust? I'd love to try with with one of my stamps.

Thanks!
 
brian0523 said:
They are gorgeous! Do you mind if I ask where you purchase Gold Dust? I'd love to try with with one of my stamps.

Thanks!


Thanks! :) I got the gold dust from Oregon Trails Soapers Supply:

http://www.oregontrailsoaps.com/glitters.html

They have 2 different kinds of gold. One is a gold glitter, and one is called 24K Gold Dust. I use their 24K Gold Dust. I also use their Polished Bronze. Both make great impressions on soap. They sell them in 1 oz. containers, which might seem like a small amount, but trust me, it's not. A little bit goes a long, long way. I've had my 1 oz container of 24k Gold Dust for over a year and a half now and I still have about half of the container left, maybe more. And I've used it to stamp a lot of soaps, as well as having added it in some of my soaps for a swirl. Even for that, only very little is needed. HTH! :)



Kwahlne asked:

I found a website that makes "deep-etched" custom rubber stamps. Is the "deep etched" necessary, or will regular rubber stamps work fine on the soap? I'm look more to emboss than to stamp with a color.

That depends on how deep you want to go. I personally try to look for stamps with well defined designs that are etched so that the design is raised up from the surface of the stamp at no less than 1/16th of an inch. More than that is perfectly fine, but don't go less than that.

My plain old rubber stamps from the craft store that one would normally use for stamping on paper are 1/16th of an inch deep, which may seem slight, but they do leave a noticably indented impression on my soap- as long as I stamp right after unmolding when my soap is still on the soft side, that is. If they were any slighter than 1/16th, though, I'm quite sure the impression would not be very noticeable. HTH!


IrishLass
 
IrishLass, those soaps are just beautifull I have looked at them several times just to keep looking at them!! Kathleen
 
digit said:
Have you seen this place? http://www.owossographic.com/freedie.cfm

Several soapers have gotten their logo stamps this way. The reviews have been very positive. I have the order form and specific instructions somewhere if you want them. :wink:

Digit

Wow, that looks really cool. Is it not for mass production or something? I know nothing about professional embossing/debossing. If you have more material you could forward, I would love to read up on it. Thanks!

IrishLass said:
That depends on how deep you want to go. I personally try to look for stamps with well defined designs that are etched so that the design is raised up from the surface of the stamp at no less than 1/16th of an inch. More than that is perfectly fine, but don't go less than that.

My plain old rubber stamps from the craft store that one would normally use for stamping on paper are 1/16th of an inch deep, which may seem slight, but they do leave a noticably indented impression on my soap- as long as I stamp right after unmolding when my soap is still on the soft side, that is. If they were any slighter than 1/16th, though, I'm quite sure the impression would not be very noticeable. HTH!
Great information, thanks! I will be sure that whatever I get, it's at least 1/16th inch deep.

mysoapopera said:
IrishLass, those soaps are just beautifull I have looked at them several times just to keep looking at them!!
I know, I love her soaps too!
 
brian0523 said:
I just purchased my stamp from that site this morning, and got notice it was shipped out already!

Holy Moly! So what kind did you get? Brass, copper, Magnesium? What's the deal with all that stuff? Did you get a custom logo design for your biz?
 
This is the email I received to my question on what to order:

You would need a 1/4" magnesium die
mounted on a wood base for a soap stamp. Your logo should stamp fine,
however you would want the artwork to be in black and white. When ordering
on-line, please use our "photoengraving" order form and check off "other"
for the application.
 

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