# Peacock Swirl Fail!



## MirandaH (Jan 14, 2014)

Well, this is my second fail, after the partial gel in the first batch.  It was supposed to be a peacock swirl in green, white and two shades of pink, but the thing I used to make the lines was too thick, or it took me too long and the better got too thick. :thumbdown: It came out very different from what I had envisioned while filling all those bottles and making all those stripes, but it might end up pretty. I guess I will see when I cut.  It's in the freezer right now.


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## MaitriBB (Jan 14, 2014)

Aw bummer!  I'm sure it will still be pretty


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## MirandaH (Jan 14, 2014)

Considering I have only done one other thing with color before, I will be happy with it no matter what, as long as it all doesn't morph into one color, lol.  With me, you never know!


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## pamielynn (Jan 14, 2014)

Is that a log mold? I find that swirl really hard to do in a log. Not much room to work with. It'll still be nice, though.


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## MirandaH (Jan 14, 2014)

Yes, it is a log mold.  As soon as I put the comb thing in there I knew I was in trouble and at that point, I just said screw it and ran the **** thing through all of it and made a huge mess, lol.


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## judymoody (Jan 14, 2014)

I think it looks nice.  Hardly a "fail".


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## MirandaH (Jan 14, 2014)

judymoody said:


> I think it looks nice.  Hardly a "fail".



Thank you.  It looks like it might end up being pretty, but I am not getting my hopes up that it won't be a disaster on the inside.  I won't be telling anyone how much of a fail this is, but I also can't lie to my fellow soapers...it may not be a total failure, but this is no peacock swirl.


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## MirandaH (Jan 14, 2014)

Woot!  Looks promising.   Still too soft to cut.  Will have to wait until tomorrow.


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## newbie (Jan 14, 2014)

How can you wait?! Come on, just one little slice off the end......


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## MirandaH (Jan 14, 2014)

newbie said:


> How can you wait?! Come on, just one little slice off the end......



HaHa!  It's still super soft.  probably shouldn't have even come out of the mold yet.  Seems like things went really fast this time.  I keep going over and looking at it.  As soon as I think I can cut it I will and will post a pic.


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## Lildlege1 (Jan 14, 2014)

Wow it looks great I love it so not a fail at all!!!!! Can't wait to see a slice lol


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## newbie (Jan 14, 2014)

Gah! How do you do it? I would totally have whacked an end, even if it squished because I can't tolerate any suspense. You'd better post a pic as soon as you cut it! It may not be a peacock swirl, but it looks like it has good potential, no?


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## Tienne (Jan 15, 2014)

Cut it, cut it, cut it!!!


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## ourwolfden (Jan 15, 2014)

Cut it, cut it, cut it!

JKing

Looks great so far.  Looks perfect for Easter with the soft colors.  What is the scent?


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## Trinity (Jan 15, 2014)

Cut it, cut it, cut it ....... couldn't resist    I love the colors can't wait to see the cut


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## MirandaH (Jan 15, 2014)

It is scented with Sweet Pea FO.  It smells so good.  I don't know how I feel about this batch.  I really wanted to get the peacock swirl right, but I don't think I will be trying it again without a slab mold.  I will try to take a picture outside later, but it is raining right now.  The pictures don't show very well what it looks like and the lighting in my house stinks.  But here is what they look like cut.  I can see some places where I didn't get the coloring mixed in as well as I thought and  there is a dark speck of color here and there but it is very infrequent, from what I can see with the cut. This is certainly not a peacock swirl, but it isn't tremendously ugly either.  Not to mention, it seems we are all our own harshest critic.  I totally get now why I see a beautiful bar of soap in the pictures section and the person who made it is upset.  When you are going for one thing and it turns out totally different it is somewhat disappointing, but I am trying to keep the attitude that I never know what to expect because anything can happen.


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## neeners (Jan 15, 2014)

beautiful. I think it's gorgeous!


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## MirandaH (Jan 15, 2014)

Here is one with them all flat and taken on my patio.

Also, for a group of people who do something requiring patience, you guys chanting "Cut it! Cut it!" is not helping me with my lack of patience at all, lol!


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## neeners (Jan 15, 2014)

I have zero patience.  i'm always poking my soap, touching, prodding, and cutting it too soon.  it's almost a good thing I work during the day so my soap has time to rest and set up before I go home and poke it some more.  hahaha.


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## MirandaH (Jan 15, 2014)

neeners said:


> I have zero patience.  i'm always poking my soap, touching, prodding, and cutting it too soon.  it's almost a good thing I work during the day so my soap has time to rest and set up before I go home and poke it some more.  hahaha.



I was the 5 year old who opened their presents at night and rewrapped them by morning because I couldn't wait to see what was under the tree.  I am still that five year old in my head.  I think the only thing that helps me to not cut too soon is that as long as it is still uncut, it could still look great inside.  Once it is cut, then I know if it is a complete failure and I am so worried about complete failure that I don't jump right in right away. :crazy:


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## Twiggy (Jan 15, 2014)

Failure??? They r beautiful!


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## Tienne (Jan 15, 2014)

MirandaH said:


> Here is one with them all flat and taken on my patio.
> 
> Also, for a group of people who do something requiring patience, you guys chanting "Cut it! Cut it!" is not helping me with my lack of patience at all, lol!



Just because soaping requires patience, doesn't mean we have it! 

I think it looks great!  You (and those of us reading this thread) are the only ones who know you wanted a peacock swirl. Not one of the receivers of the soaps need ever know and they'd be none the wiser for it. If you asked everyone on this thread how many times they have made a soap that came out differently than planned and then just pretended that that is how it was supposed to look, I bet at least half of us, if not more, would raise our hand. I know I would!


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## shunt2011 (Jan 15, 2014)

I think they turned out lovely.  Even though they weren't what you had in mind they are pretty and you should be proud.   Doing a peacock swirl in a log is almost impossible plus using a floral could have caused your soap to thicken quicker than you liked.  Don't give up though.  You'll get it done sooner or later.


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## seven (Jan 15, 2014)

agree with others, it might not look like your original plan, but it's still lovely nonetheless! i haven't try peacock yet. not brave enough, lol!


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## Twiggy (Jan 15, 2014)

Tienne said:


> Just because soaping requires patience, doesn't mean we have it!


SOOOO true!


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## newbie (Jan 15, 2014)

It's pretty and soft, like the scent. I'm impressed you would even try for a peacock swirl in a log; I can't imagine attempting that. I bet you will do very well with your slab mold (and I agree about the FO- anything accelerating will be your enemy for a peacock).

While occasionally there is a true fail, most "fails" we talk about make a good soap, just not what we intended. It's hard to suck it up and accept it though, at least for me.


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## MirandaH (Jan 15, 2014)

Thank you everyone!!  I can't believe that I tried it at all, lol.  I figured, it's just running a stick or something thru soap lines, how hard could it be? I really wanted to make it work, but once I got started, it occurred to me that in a log mold, it would only be pretty peacock swirl on the top and after cutting, that isn't much.  And boy was my arm tired after making all those stripes.  I need to order a slab mold.  

Until then, I will be trying to figure out how to get the soap out of all of these squeeze bottles.


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## Lin (Jan 15, 2014)

You can make a slab mold out of cardboard, or coroplast for something more durable. I used a cereal box with the front cut off for my first slab mold, and 'upgraded' to a free usps postal box for a more durable slab mold for my last batch. 
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/Soap/20140114_051934_zpstrvlnxa7.jpg


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## grayceworks (Jan 15, 2014)

They're pretty! And they look like a field of sweet pea vines in bloom.  It reminds me of springtime. Love it!


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