# I'm open for name suggestions



## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

I'm honestly not sure you can appreciate this soap in a photograph. It is almost exactly what I had envisioned. The bottom layer is natural uncolored soap while the top has added TD. The hanger swirl is a maroon that I achieved by mixing ultramarine and brick red oxides with just a tiny streak of neon yellow soap to add a little interest. It's scented with WSP's lavender/chamomile EO/FO blend. Only tweak I'd make is a little more of both colors and I probably need a little thicker wire hanger. Hope you are inspired. Have an awesome day ladies and gents.


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## snappyllama (Nov 6, 2014)

Neat effect! The bottom left looks like an egret.


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## jblaney (Nov 6, 2014)

I thought it looked like a dragon or a dinosaur.   Very cool!


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## KatieShephard (Nov 6, 2014)

They're gorgeous!  They look like a huge ink splot...Jackson Pollack soap


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## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

I love all the Rorschach analysis we do with the swirls on here.  I think the upper right one looks like a scorpion.  Not to be morbid, but overall they look like drops of blood hitting a pool of water.  I may attempt a redo for Easter without the yellow and call it "Love Grew Were the Blood Fell."  Maybe scent it with frankincense and clove.  For the non-Christians among us, it would also make an awesome vampire-themed soap.  ...Just sayin'  My favorite thing about this project, and the real thing that interested me in it is the blending of natural and TD whitened soap.  The darker colors were just "fluff."  I love that subtle difference in the white tones, but I don't think you can see it well in the photo.  The other nice thing is ending up with a soap anywhere CLOSE to what you were aiming for!  Thanks for the feedback.


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## lenarenee (Nov 6, 2014)

On my screen, I see black and yellow, no maroon, so it looks like "busy bees" gathering nectar.

So glad you achieved what you were hoping for!


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## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

lenarenee said:


> On my screen, I see black and yellow, no maroon, so it looks like "busy bees" gathering nectar.
> 
> So glad you achieved what you were hoping for!



Nope, definitely a deep maroon and the photo also doesn't do justice to the variation between the natural and TD white soap.  I definitely see the bees and nectar thing, however.


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## IrishLass (Nov 6, 2014)

Wow! Those are so cool looking! I can definitely see the scorpion in the upper right one, and I must say that I do like the subtle difference going on between the TD and natural parts. Well done!

 IrishLass


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## JustBeachy (Nov 6, 2014)

DWinMadison said:


> I'm honestly not sure you can appreciate this soap in a photograph. It is almost exactly what I had envisioned. The bottom layer is natural uncolored soap while the top has added TD. The hanger swirl is a maroon that I achieved by mixing ultramarine and brick red oxides with just a tiny streak of neon yellow soap to add a little interest. It's scented with WSP's lavender/chamomile EO/FO blend. Only tweak I'd make is a little more of both colors and I probably need a little thicker wire hanger. Hope you are inspired. Have an awesome day ladies and gents.



Nice soaps!  For a thicker hanger trick. Take the hanger apart, slide two straws onto the bottom portion, then put it back together.


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## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

JustBeachy said:


> Nice soaps!  For a thicker hanger trick. Take the hanger apart, slide two straws onto the bottom portion, then put it back together.



Awesome suggestion.  The one I use is a 3/8" steel rod I purchased at Lowe's home store and bent it to the exact size of my mold.  I was thinking of getting a thicker rod but was wondering how I would ever bend it.  I have also wondered how swirling with a flat rod as opposed to a round one would work.


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## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

I'm thinking tiger stripes using the white and natural with a colored swirl like this could turn out great too.  That may be my next project.


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## JustBeachy (Nov 6, 2014)

DWinMadison said:


> Awesome suggestion.  The one I use is a 3/8" steel rod I purchased at Lowe's home store and bent it to the exact size of my mold.  I was thinking of getting a thicker rod but was wondering how I would ever bend it.  I have also wondered how swirling with a flat rod as opposed to a round one would work.



I'm thinking the flat rod might make some interesting swirls. I've sorta gotten away from swirls, but thinking of trying some again. In the past, I experimented with different sizes of "wire" and combs. Never thought of a flat rod. Now you've got me thinking. How about a jig saw blade, with a coarse cut?  Might be too short, but thinking the teeth would add extra drag and texture to the swirl. Hack saw blade might work as a flat bar as well, using the tooth side in the direction of the "cut".


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## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

JustBeachy said:


> I'm thinking the flat rod might make some interesting swirls. I've sorta gotten away from swirls, but thinking of trying some again. In the past, I experimented with different sizes of "wire" and combs. Never thought of a flat rod. Now you've got me thinking. How about a jig saw blade, with a coarse cut?  Might be too short, but thinking the teeth would add extra drag and texture to the swirl. Hack saw blade might work as a flat bar as well, using the tooth side in the direction of the "cut".



I like the way you think.  Saw blades.  Brilliant!  Maybe even a thin piece of wood trim attached to sturdy wire for handles.  Hanger swirls are fun because they are so irregular that it's difficult to screw them up.  Sort of like painting modern art vs. a landscape.  People can generally tell if you can't paint a tree.


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## JustBeachy (Nov 6, 2014)

DWinMadison said:


> I like the way you think.  Saw blades.  Brilliant!  Maybe even a thin piece of wood trim attached to sturdy wire for handles.  Hanger swirls are fun because they are so irregular that it's difficult to screw them up.  Sort of like painting modern art vs. a landscape.  People can generally tell if you can't paint a tree.



So true. I'm one of those people that can't draw stick figures with a ruler, but I can swirl soap!! haha

A piece of thin scribe trim might just be a great idea. The wood would give it more drag than the metal.


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## Susie (Nov 6, 2014)

Hidden Dragon

Then the next one could be Crouching Tiger.


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## JustBeachy (Nov 6, 2014)

Susie said:


> Hidden Dragon
> 
> Then the next one could be Crouching Tiger.



Ooohhh that's actually really good.


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## Obsidian (Nov 6, 2014)

I'd call them "into the void"


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## navigator9 (Nov 6, 2014)

I love your swirls! You're inspiring me to think about trying a hanger swirl myself. I'm swirl challenged, and that's one I've never tried. As for what kind of tool you can use to make them, I saw this on someone's blog. It could be bent to fit a number of different sized molds.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051BH0EM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## Susie (Nov 6, 2014)

JustBeachy said:


> Ooohhh that's actually really good.



It is the name of a movie(I think), and the first thing that came to mind when I saw it was dragon.  Then he said he was thinking tiger stripes, soooo.....


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## JustBeachy (Nov 6, 2014)

Susie said:


> It is the name of a movie(I think), and the first thing that came to mind when I saw it was dragon.  Then he said he was thinking tiger stripes, soooo.....



Yeah it was a sorta cheesy, imo, martial arts style movie. When i read your names, then looked at the pics again. It was like...match! haha


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## goji_fries (Nov 6, 2014)

Extremely awesome


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## DWinMadison (Nov 6, 2014)

goji_fries said:


> Extremely awesome



Thanks goji and everyone else. It was seriously easy for the reasons mentioned above. I just got lucky. This was my 2nd batch using lard (see my thread "Get off my a$$ about ....") It certainly does make a really beautiful white soap. I was worried about color drag based on someone else's thread, so I left it in the mold for 18 hours. Almost broke my wire mold, but no drag!!!


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## newbie (Nov 6, 2014)

Spatter Analysis
Petroglyph
Breakdancer (I see breakdancers in there but maybe that's too dated)

Love it. I can see the natural and TD whitened soap and like the look and the maroon and lime in the middle is just right, just a little smack of color.


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## Jstar (Nov 6, 2014)

Oh now these are nice! I like the subtle color difference 

And I def see a Velociraptor in the upper right soap I also love it how we all look for hidden images in the swirls now ..and all the great ideas and suggestions..awesome!


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## PinkCupcake (Nov 7, 2014)

I think it's a Rorschach soap!


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## goji_fries (Nov 7, 2014)

PinkCupcake said:


> I think it's a Rorschach soap!









 As soon as I read your comment it made sense. LOLOLOL. I see a butterfly in the clouds fighting a dragon while eating a hamburger.


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## C_Rose (Nov 7, 2014)

PinkCupcake said:


> I think it's a Rorschach soap!



How perfect! You're right


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## PinkCupcake (Nov 7, 2014)

C_Rose said:


> How perfect! You're right



Oh C Rose, if only you knew how my friends tease me about being right. It's my favorite thing to hear!


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## goji_fries (Nov 7, 2014)

PinkCupcake said:


> Oh C Rose, if only you knew how my friends tease me about being right. It's my favorite thing to hear!








 LOL :wave: Pinkcupcake, a big ball of awesome!

If a magic genie gave you a choice between being wrong in everything you said or hitting every red light for the rest of your life, which would it be? :crazy::grin:


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## Jaccart789 (Nov 7, 2014)

Beautiful!


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## JustBeachy (Nov 8, 2014)

DWin, you can nix my idea on the hacksaw blade. Didn't work worth a hoot on a soap I made today. haha  Ended up cutting through so well it didn't drag at all. Oh well, There's one idea down. Next brainstorm coming soon, to a soap near you.


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## Susie (Nov 8, 2014)

What about one of those long plastic combs with only every 3rd or 4th tooth left?  You could adhere that to a hanger easily enough.


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## JustBeachy (Nov 8, 2014)

Way to go Susie. Between the three of us coming up with some idea's, we're going to revolutionize the swirling industry. haha

I swear I spent an hour and half today, trying to figure out how to get a blade with big enough teeth, that would bend to fit the mold and not be too thick. Broke a blade for my bow saw trying to bend it. Must have been tempered.   It had some nice teeth though. Thinking of getting the torch after one tomorrow to heat it before I try to bend it. If you don't hear from me for a a while it's cause I burned the house down.


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## jules92207 (Nov 8, 2014)

What a unique soap, I love it!


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## PinkCupcake (Nov 9, 2014)

goji_fries said:


> If a magic genie gave you a choice between being wrong in everything you said or hitting every red light for the rest of your life, which would it be? :crazy::grin:[/quote]
> 
> I would sit happily at every red light, secure in the knowledge that I AM RIGHT!! :D:thumbup:


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## Susie (Nov 9, 2014)

But then you would have Cassandra's problem(while sitting at red lights).


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## JustBeachy (Nov 9, 2014)

Well as promised DWin, here's the failed, hacksaw blade swirl technique. haha. If you look at the top you can see the one spot where it finally pulled, but in one thin little line.  Oh, well. Smells really good and I'm happy with the way the green came out.


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## DWinMadison (Nov 9, 2014)

JustBeachy said:


> Well as promised DWin, here's the failed, hacksaw blade swirl technique. haha. If you look at the top you can see the one spot where it finally pulled, but in one thin little line.  Oh, well. Smells really good and I'm happy with the way the green came out.



Well color me weird, but I really like it. The one on the left looks like a grassy road leading through the snow.  I certainly wouldn't put it on the "walk of shame" ugly soaps thread.


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## newbie (Nov 9, 2014)

IT was a couple years ago (maybe. I've lost track of time.) that someone had a flat bar tool that they used for swirling. They found the right sized length in their garage and put it to good use. I'll try to find the post.


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## newbie (Nov 9, 2014)

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=40276&highlight=aluminum+swirl


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## JustBeachy (Nov 9, 2014)

DWinMadison said:


> Well color me weird, but I really like it. The one on the left looks like a grassy road leading through the snow.  I certainly wouldn't put it on the "walk of shame" ugly soaps thread.



Yeah, I can see that now that you mention it.  But I "swirled" with the blade at 4 different levels coming up from the bottom. Nothin.   haha.


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## JustBeachy (Nov 9, 2014)

newbie said:


> http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=40276&highlight=aluminum+swirl



Nice!  Thanks Newbie.


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## newbie (Nov 9, 2014)

Is that the kind of thing you were trying for? YOu could always take tin snips and make some teeth in a flat blade, if the serrated part was of particular interest.


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## JustBeachy (Nov 9, 2014)

newbie said:


> Is that the kind of thing you were trying for? YOu could always take tin snips and make some teeth in a flat blade, if the serrated part was of particular interest.



Yeah I was thinking along the same lines after I looked at the thread you linked. Use some thinner gauge metal, cut some teeth in it and then offset them. Like on a good tree saw.


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## newbie (Nov 9, 2014)

I wonder if you would then have to cut the loaf differently to see what effect the teeth had. If you cut your teeth along the edge of the blade, that would end up being perpendicular to the cut from the loaf and you may not see its full swirling ability. Or you could cut a couple bars from the loaf the normal way and a couple bars so they are face up and compare. I have no idea if I am making sense in words, but if I could draw a picture....


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## JustBeachy (Nov 10, 2014)

newbie said:


> I wonder if you would then have to cut the loaf differently to see what effect the teeth had. If you cut your teeth along the edge of the blade, that would end up being perpendicular to the cut from the loaf and you may not see its full swirling ability. Or you could cut a couple bars from the loaf the normal way and a couple bars so they are face up and compare. I have no idea if I am making sense in words, but if I could draw a picture....



Well you're either making perfect sense, or we both have warped minds, because I understand exactly what you're saying. I have seen some people cutting the loaf differently, but I'm trying to avoid that. Still formulating some idea's with different sized, "blades" and some different techniques, to allow the swirl to be evident in a typical loaf cut.


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