# Wood burl soap



## newbie (Feb 6, 2015)

Oooo, I'm so pleased with how my soap turned out! Tried a new ITP pour and it looks kind of like a leopard or wood burl or tigerish in some spots. It is rather heavy on the micas and it will be interesting to see how it dries down with cure, but it is so sparkly and shimmery when wet right now. Lathering white though! What a nice start to the weekend! Plus my Nurture order should arrive tomorrow and I got some FO's today. WOOOHOOO!


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## abc (Feb 6, 2015)

Very nice!!


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## Obsidian (Feb 7, 2015)

those are great, so much variety. What is the scent?


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## boyago (Feb 7, 2015)

The woodworker in me was eager to follow the link and I was not at all disappointed.  Those are really great looking.


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## navigator9 (Feb 7, 2015)

Wow, that's not like any ITP swirl I've ever seen. Nice job!


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## newbie (Feb 7, 2015)

Mandarin Myrrh and Orange Peel. I got some better wood burl from a prior soap but it was the top where there was no weight on the soap. I had to pour this one in layers to try to prevent it weighting itself down so it isn't exact but it's not bad. Would have been better if I poured it in about 5 layers but I don't have the patience for that. 
I don't know if you'll look at this again, boyago, but what sort of word working do you do? I love wood. I have a couple boards of curly maple and curly cherry out just for decoration because it's so beautiful.


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## boyago (Feb 7, 2015)

Mostly a garage tinkerer with furniture and things but have also had paid jobs doing home remodeling and HW floors.  Lately I've been salivating over the burly turned bowls on Youtube.  I lost my shop a couple years ago which is probably why I've soaped so much so that stuff is kind of on hold till I get out of school and can afford a bigger and better place.


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## Dorymae (Feb 7, 2015)

Wow that is an awesome swirl!  Just gorgeous, congratulations.


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## jules92207 (Feb 7, 2015)

Oh gorgeous! And I blended those fo's together too from your samples, love the scent combo!


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## Rowan (Feb 7, 2015)

Ooh gorgeous colours, love the wood effect.


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## Cindy2428 (Feb 7, 2015)

Beautiful soap - reminds me of the wood trim in my jeep; beautiful pictures - I love your use of the black; it really frames the other colors.


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 7, 2015)

So this was an itp swirl...it's beautiful! I've never done an itp swirl that turned out like this, nor would I know where to start!


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## newbie (Feb 7, 2015)

I've been trying different methods of ITP- it is remarkably variable. Much more so than I ever would imagine. What more is out there? Who knows!

Boyago, I'm sorry you lost your shop. I love love love burl bowls and burl wood and any sort of figured wood. I have a number of board feet of beautiful maple and cherry but I'm paralyzed about what to do with it because it seems a shame to waste even a sliver. That's why two of the boards are just out on display!


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## CaraBou (Feb 7, 2015)

Super cool newbie; you scored again!


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## biarine (Feb 7, 2015)

Wow remind me of mahogany wood.


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## reinbeau (Feb 7, 2015)

Truly unique soap.  It looks like you also dragged a skewer through it?


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## newbie (Feb 7, 2015)

No, no swirling or pulling anything through at all. Just poured, but I had to pour in three layers. The first bar is cut differently from the others and so it has a different pattern. That might look like I pulled a skewer through but it's the interface of the layers. It looks kind of tweedy to me. I like that look as well but I had to commit to one direction or the other after I cut that first bar and I picked the other. 

Thanks for the nice words! Now I'm stuck trying to think of what I want to make in my new mold from Nurture. Sitting here drawing a complete blank. How stupid is that?


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## doriettefarm (Feb 8, 2015)

You are killing me with those earthy colors newbie!  Why didn't I put some browns in my shopping cart during the Nurture sale last week?  Brown is my favorite color . . . what was I thinking?  Love the burl on pic #2


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## boyago (Feb 8, 2015)

newbie said:


> I've been trying different methods of ITP- it is remarkably variable. Much more so than I ever would imagine. What more is out there? Who knows!
> 
> Boyago, I'm sorry you lost your shop. I love love love burl bowls and burl wood and any sort of figured wood. I have a number of board feet of beautiful maple and cherry but I'm paralyzed about what to do with it because it seems a shame to waste even a sliver. That's why two of the boards are just out on display!



This is the motive behind those clocks that are just a piece of finished wood with a clock drilled into them.  The clock hands are just an excuse to hand the wood on the wall.


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## newbie (Feb 8, 2015)

No browns in this, Doriette! Oranges, one gold and the rest is black. I love orange- I used Copper Penny, Passion Orange and 24 Karat gold from TKB and Orange Heaven from Conservatorie. Some of the oranges are mixed and matched from those 4 colors.

I can understand the clocks, but with some woods, no clock is even needed as an excuse!


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## KristaY (Feb 8, 2015)

Wow! Beautiful work! Every time I go back to pics I see something different. Amazing!


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## TeriDk (Feb 14, 2015)

How exactly did you do this ITP swirl?  What do you mean by 3 layers? Did you separate your batch into 3 parts, then do individual ITP swirls or 3 batches of soap?  I hope you will share your technique.  Never seen one like yours before and it is beautiful.  Thank you.


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## newbie (Feb 14, 2015)

I thought about trying to explain what i did but I don't think I can do it well and explain exactly. It would be best shown in a video, so next time I do one, I will film it. I've been working on ITP pours and they can look very different based on just a couple variables so seeing it would be easier than trying to talk about the nitty gritty details.

I measured one batch of soap because that batch fits in the mold and then I separated the oils into three equal sets and the lye water into three equal sets. That way I knew each layer was made of the same thing. I had to do all the blending and coloring for each layer, which is why they look different and fairly distinct in the first bar. After I poured the first layer, I thought I had too much black so I adjusted that amount down for the next one. I mixed colors each time and so the colors are slightly different in each layer. Each layer had to set firmly before the next was poured because to get this look, the soap can't get squashed down by its own weight or the weight of the soap on top. 

I wish I had decent recording stuff. I have filmed from straight above me but that won't work for this one. Maybe I'll see if I can get one of those gorilla tripods, or whatever they are called.


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## TeriDk (Feb 16, 2015)

I get the idea.  Hope you can film as I think your technique is awesomely cool. thanks for the idea.


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## Sonya-m (Feb 16, 2015)

Beautiful soap - can only dream one day mine will be as gorgeous!


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## shunt2011 (Feb 16, 2015)

Those are beautiful!


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## newbie (Feb 16, 2015)

I ordered one of the gorilla tripods so we'll see if I got the one that can handle my camera's weight and I can find a good angle.


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## jules92207 (Feb 17, 2015)

Woo hoo! Video time!!!


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## TVivian (Feb 18, 2015)

It's just SO neat looking!!!


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## newbie (Feb 18, 2015)

I'm thinking of trying a different color combo but I don't know if it will work as well for the effect. No way to know but trying. Now I have to clean up my prior soap mess in the kitchen before I video anything, to save face.


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## jules92207 (Feb 18, 2015)

And make sure the pets are distracted, right? They love to get in the mix.


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## cgpeanut (Feb 18, 2015)

Can't wait to see the video.  I can learn so much easier by watching.  Thanks so much for the technique.


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## newbie (Feb 18, 2015)

Honest to pete, you can't win for losing. I got all set up and had all my soap colored and ready to go in the pan, then my camera wouldn't start. I actually stopped and changed the battery- no go. Then I grabbed my cell phone and tried to continue while I held the camera in one hand and tried to pour with the other but by that time, the soap had set up to far and I couldn't pour it easily. I had to stop the video to get it in the mold. It's not a burl but I think it will look interesting. I then set up to do the second layer, having found that one door on my camera had popped open which was why it didn't work. THen my soap wasn't set up enough. Then for some reason, all my Dixie cups started literally falling apart. The bottom fell off the white, there was no tension at all in the sides of the cups so it was like picking up blobs of batter and if I tried to scrape any soap out, paper started to come with it. Maybe they aren't coated or something. Anyhow, the second layer is completely different to the first and neither was at the trace to get a good burl effect but I'll see if I can cobble something together. It will amusing, if nothing else.


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## jules92207 (Feb 19, 2015)

Oh my gosh newbie...I am laughing already, although with you not at you of course. I can visualize the whole fiasco as it unfolds as it's like most of my attempts at something cool.


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## newbie (Feb 19, 2015)

You can see some of it in the videos. You can see the cups just folding under my grasp and I thought of you Jules, because two of my dogs show up in there although they don't get in the way.


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## jules92207 (Feb 19, 2015)

Lol - I just watched the videos and was laughing at the little clicking of their paws! 

Great job with the video too.


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## Omneya (Feb 5, 2017)

I can't believe that is a ITPS! It is beautifully unique <3
Would love to see a video of that technique for sure


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