“Stormy Sea” soap

[Mobjack Bay]

The result of another learning experience this weekend! The colorant is jagua from BB. It’s not the blue I was hoping for, perhaps because of the color of my oils. I’m definitely excited about what happened in the darkest layer at the bottom! Anyone here have experience with using indigo? I’ve read Amy Warden’s account of here experiments and have been thinking about giving it a try.

Also, this is the first batch of soap I’ve made that did not have noticeable ash on the top. YAY!

 

[earlene]

I like what happened in the bottom layer. How did you achieve that fabulous look?

I've used indigo. In the amount I used and how I added it, it was more grey than blue, although I did name the soap 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' to commemorate the movie. My notes were insufficient as to how I added it, but I am fairly certain I did NOT mix it in the lye water. I need to re-visit indigo one of these days and try the different methods of using it as a colorant and keep better notes.

This photo shows my ghost swirls with indigo on the left:

I see on the BB website, they suggest using 1 tsp ppo for all types of soap, but don't say how to mix it in. How much did you use?

Here are some helpful articles about how to use indigo in soap:

https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com...how-to-use-indigo-to-color-cold-process-soap/

http://www.saffireblue.ca/shop/recipes-formulary/tips-tricks/making-soap-blue-using-indigo

https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/snow-soap-indigo-cambrian-blue-clay/

Here is an SMF thread which mentions 3 methods of mixing indigo: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/indigo-root-powder.68583/

https://kapiamera.blog/2015/12/17/sweet-heart-soap/

And her video using the oil-dispersion method in a later soap:


A video showing the water dispersion method:


A video showing the dry powder added to soap batter method:


A video showing another dispersion method:


So there are apparently many ways it can be added and I have a lot of experimenting ahead of me if I am going to try them all.

 

[Dawni]

The blue also depends on your jagua and/or indigo. What kind it is I mean. I am collecting pics and data for a post on it soon, but so far I've used two kinds of indigo, with both not resulting in blue soap lol

I have one more try before I post about it....

Never tried jagua. When mixed with henna, for body art, they both fade so I'm curious how long your soap stays blue-ish.

I do like your soap though, you're right, the bottom layer especially looks like choppy seas

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Thanks for all the great info @earlene. I want to try ghost swirls at some point. The jagua was dispersed in water and I hand blended it into the batter for the lower layer. For the dispersion, I took the water out of the total water recipe (33% lye concentration). I used 4 teaspoons of water from about 9 oz of water. I made my base recipe (2 lbs oil) which included a tsp of white clay and EOs, which I then split into 5 equal portions. Since I added more dispersed jagua (2 tsp) to the batter for the bottom layer, the water content for that layer was the highest. It was noticeably thinner. When I was done I put the soap in a 170 F oven, shut the oven off after 15 min, covered the mold with a towel and left it overnight. Could my features be glycerin rivers? If so, I think it’s surprising given my starting lye concentration. Or maybe I did not fully mix the jagua in during my hand stirring? If that was the case I wouldn’t expect the feature to be so consistent through the entire layer. I’m going to try get the same effect in a bigger batch the next time I make soap. I will take better notes!

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

The result of another learning experience this weekend! The colorant is jagua from BB. It’s not the blue I was hoping for, perhaps because of the color of my oils. I’m definitely excited about what happened in the darkest layer at the bottom! Anyone here have experience with using indigo? I’ve read Amy Warden’s account of here experiments and have been thinking about giving it a try.

Oh wow that is pretty spectacular!!!!!

 

[dibbles]

That is some pretty soap! The bottom layer could have glycerin rivers since it had more water added than the rest of the batch, but it doesn't really look like glycerin rivers to me. But, it's very attractive whatever it is.

 

[earlene]

Thanks for all the great info @earlene. I want to try ghost swirls at some point. The jagua was dispersed in water and I hand blended it into the batter for the lower layer. For the dispersion, I took the water out of the total water recipe (33% lye concentration). I used 4 teaspoons of water from about 9 oz of water. I made my base recipe (2 lbs oil) which included a tsp of white clay and EOs, which I then split into 5 equal portions. Since I added more dispersed jagua (2 tsp) to the batter for the bottom layer, the water content for that layer was the highest. It was noticeably thinner. When I was done I put the soap in a 170 F oven, shut the oven off after 15 min, covered the mold with a towel and left it overnight. Could my features be glycerin rivers? If so, I think it’s surprising given my starting lye concentration. Or maybe I did not fully mix the jagua in during my hand stirring? If that was the case I wouldn’t expect the feature to be so consistent through the entire layer. I’m going to try get the same effect in a bigger batch the next time I make soap. I will take better notes!

Are those white areas in the bottom at all crackly? From the photo you attached I don't see crackles, but my eyes are getting quite old these days. When my doc decides they're bad enough to do cataract surgery, I am hoping to miraculously see as well as I did as a youth (better, actually if my dad's results were any indication), but until then, I just get to miss some stuff.

From what I see now, though, I'd say it's more likely the hand stirring thing you suggested. But even so, with more water in the bottom layer, as dibbles mentions, and the 170 degree oven, it may have heated up enough to force rivers.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

After taking a closer look today, I’m leaning more towards glycerin rivers even though I’ve never seen one in person. The battery for my camera is dead, so all I have to take pics is my phone. Hopefully the shadowing here makes it easier to see the texture. The darkest layer has texture that follows the pattern and there’s also a dip line in the soap all along the boundary between that darkest layer and the next one. All of the other layers are essentially smooth except for those nasty bubbles and very faint drag lines that must be from my wire cutter.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@earlene I’m cleaning up the chaos that is my soapmaking space and just realized that I ordered indigo about a month ago. I was going to stick with orange wax soap this long weekend, but oh the temptation

 

[earlene]

@earlene I’m cleaning up the chaos that is my soapmaking space and just realized that I ordered indigo about a month ago. I was going to stick with orange wax soap this long weekend, but oh the temptation

Well have fun with it, whichever path you choose!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I couldn’t resist the call of the indigo. I opted to try for glycerine rivers in the bluest layers using info I gleaned from Auntie Clara and DeeAnna on their websites and a Kevin Dunn post at Wholesale Suppliers Plus. I used Auntie Clara’s high and low water recipes and tried to swirl some of the low water soap into the high water soap based on a soap on DeeAnna’s website. Now I’m trying to keep my oven at 140 F for 4 hours based on what Kevin Dunn and his students did in their experiments. Only time will tell. I’m going to keep my mind off the soap by cleaning. Not sure if that will work

The INCI for the indigo powder I bought from Nuture is “Baphicacanthus Cusia (Nees) Bremek Powder” which is the same as what they are offering at Bramble Berry. Why is it not Indigofera tinctoria? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigofera_tinctoria

It looks like Amy Warden may have used both types of indigo for the experiment she reported on the Great Cakes Soapworks website. I mixed by powder with oil and it looked a little on the grayer side.