# Has anyone used a regular rubber stamp to stamp their CP?



## lioness (May 26, 2011)

Its probably something that has been covered before or people wouldn't go to all the trouble of ordering them or making them with a different material than the linoleum or rubber stuff for regular stamps right? I was just wondering what happened to the rubber part or was it just that they were too soft to really stamp right. I have never really been interested in the stamping of my soaps but after the nice look of some I have seen on here I really want one now....will the madness ever end.....lol Thanks


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## soapbuddy (May 26, 2011)

For me, rubber stamps aren't hard enough to make an impression in my soaps.


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## cinta (May 26, 2011)

If you un-mould your soap early, while it is still a tiny bit warm & quite soft, ordinary stamps should work. I un-moulded a batch just 8 hours after pouring it once (it had already gone through gel phase), and pressed the top of a small flower shaped brad into the corner of each bar to leave a cute little flower impression. The soap was nice and soft and the brad worked so well, so a stamp would have produced just as nice a result I guess.


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## Hazel (May 26, 2011)

I've tried the regular rubber stamps and they left a very shallow impression. I really couldn't see many of the details. From what I've seen of soap stamps, they seem to produce a deeper impression.


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## lioness (May 26, 2011)

thanks for the info I am going to have to make my own....lol.


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## lsg (May 26, 2011)

I was wondering if one could use unmounted rubber stamps in the bottom of individual soap molds and peel them off the soap when it has hardened.  You can buy whole sheets of unmounted rubber stamps.  Of course each one is a different design.


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## TJ (May 26, 2011)

lsg said:
			
		

> I was wondering if one could use unmounted rubber stamps in the bottom of individual soap molds and peel them off the soap when it has hardened.  You can buy whole sheets of unmounted rubber stamps.  Of course each one is a different design.



Yes you can! I've seen many tutorials using the unmounted stamps. Here is a youtube video by Soap Queen. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52VRkZ_dt5M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52VRkZ_dt5M[/ame]


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## IrishLass (May 27, 2011)

I use rubber stamps on my soaps all the time and they work _great_ (great impressions and great detail), but there are a few tricks to having it come out right. 

First, the stamp's design should be fairly simple and well defined, i.e. not too 'busy' or bogged down with lots of tiny, crowded, complicated details. 

Second, the soap needs to be stamped while the soap is fresh from the mold, or at least still fairly dentable to the touch. I stamp mine as soon as I unmold and cut. At this point I should probably mention that these freshly unmolded soaps that I am stamping right away are _gelled_ soaps. If ungelled, I would wait a little longer until they have firmed up a little bit (but not so long that they become too hard).

Here are some samples of my soaps using rubber stamps (all were stamped with rubber stamps from Michael's craft store except for the bee stamp and the thistle stamp, which are Milky Way soap stamps): 

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


My favorite rubber stamps to use are the sun stamp, the star stamp, the butterfly stamp, the leaf stamp,the lizard stamp, and the dragonfly stamp. Those all work great and are good examples of the kind of stamps that are not too 'busy'. In the pics you will also see a lighthouse stamp (second or third soap down). That is a good example of a stamp that is so 'busy' you can hardly discern what it is.


IrishLass


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## saltydog (May 27, 2011)

Wow, all your soaps are so great, but I especially love that orange one! The color is so pretty and deep.
The pine tree with the snowflakes looks awesome too, very impressive


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## falldowngobump (May 27, 2011)

I have 'stamped' soap with a key chain thing--not sure what the term is.  I found a key chain at walmart, cut the ring off it ,pressed it into the top of the soap, and carefully lifted it up.  Ta Da--super cheap 'soap stamp'.  Here is a picture:


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## paillo (May 27, 2011)

gorgeous soaps! i use mica too, on the stamped image on my soaps, love it! i have a couple from of stamps from Michaels', and they do fine, but i do love the ones i've found online. they're simple rubber stamps with a wooden column, just like the ones from michaels. in fresh soap mine tend to get fuzzy after several stampings, depending on how hard the soap is -- so i just spray a little Pam on the stamp to keep the details fine...


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## SudsyKat (May 27, 2011)

IrishLass and falldowngobump (love the name) - your soaps are very cool. Well done with the cheap stamps!!


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## falldowngobump (May 28, 2011)

I'm all about the cheap--except with the soap ingredients!


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## kelleyaynn (May 28, 2011)

Irishlass,  your soaps are gorgeous!!   What do you dip the stamp in to color the impression?  The soap dishes look great too. They look like you varnished them with something, what did you use?  And where did you get those french fry bag? They are awesome soap packages!


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## cthylla (May 28, 2011)

Irish Lass- the soap tray from Lowe's trim is GENIUS.


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## IrishLass (May 28, 2011)

Gosh, thanks y'all! Although I can't take credit for the wood trim soap dish idea. Somebody on another forum gave a tutorial on how to make them a few years ago, but I agree- it's a genius idea!.   




> What do you dip the stamp in to color the impression?



I take a dry basting brush, dip it into a container of mica (gold and bronze are my favorites) and use it to transfer a fine dusting of mica onto a flat plate. Then I press my stamp (dry) into the mica on the plate so that the raised impression on the stamp gets sufficiently colored (flicking off any excess by tapping my finger the side of the stamp), and then I press the stamp onto my fresh soap. I repeat until all my soap is stamped. Once all my bars are stamped, I spray the stamped impression on my soap with a single, fine spritz of alcohol that I keep in a spray bottle. That helps to 'set' the mica somewhat, although next time I just might try how Paillo does it with a bit of Pam to see how it compares (thanks for sharing!   ).



> The soap dishes look great too. They look like you varnished them with something, what did you use?



I went down to Lowe's and bought a spray can of waterproof sealer for wooden decks. After sanding down the dishes I sprayed 2 coats on them (letting dry between each coat).




> And where did you get those french fry bag? They are awesome soap packages!



I got them down at my local Smart & Final. It's a restaurant supply chain located in the western part of the USA that's open to the public (no membership is required). They sell a couple of different sizes and types (i.e. gusetted and non-gusetted). I bought a box of 2,000 bags for only $14.00. They also sell beef tallow, which is awesome because I've previously never been able to find it anywhere but on the internet.


IrishLass


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## kelleyaynn (May 28, 2011)

Thanks, Irishlass!  That was really helpful!


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## PippiL (May 28, 2011)

I bought a rubber stamp today, just to try it out, it worked great....


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## cp chick (May 29, 2011)

lsg said:
			
		

> I was wondering if one could use unmounted rubber stamps in the bottom of individual soap molds and peel them off the soap when it has hardened.  You can buy whole sheets of unmounted rubber stamps.  Of course each one is a different design.



That is what I have been doing with one of my custom-made latex stamps.  I find it helps to adhere the stamp to the mold with plenty of vaseline, otherwise the latex might shift or raise and make an uneven impression.


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## lsg (May 29, 2011)

Wow, thanks for the pictures.  This is really what I was wanting to know.  Thanks also for the tip about using Vaseline to adhere the stamps to the mold.  I have orderd several sheets of unmounted rubber stamps.  I can't wait for them to get here so I can try this out.


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## cp chick (May 29, 2011)

You're welcome.    And you'll have to post some pics once you use some of the stamps.  Happy soaping!


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## new12soap (May 17, 2012)

IrishLass, I can't get your link to work  I want to see the soaps and the lowes thingie too!


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## IrishLass (May 17, 2012)

new12soap said:
			
		

> IrishLass, I can't get your link to work  I want to see the soaps and the lowes thingie too!



It's off-line, I'm sad to say.    It was on web space that came with our Cox package, and it expired around the new year. I'm actually working on a new/improved soap-bragging/blog-type site, but it's a little ways from being finished yet since I only work on it in my spare time.

In any case, this is the shape of the grooved, wooden door trim that I bought at Lowe's to use as my soap dishes:

Door Trim

I just cut into 4" lengths, sanded it down and sealed with wood sealer. 


IrishLass


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## new12soap (May 17, 2012)

Holy cow! wood composite trim as a soap dish? that's brilliant! thanks, but I would still like to see your soaps, too!


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## Yvonne (May 17, 2012)

I pick rubber stamps from dollar store near me and it works fine
Here is the example, of course plastic ones would be better, but for $2 stamp, i think it's ok




Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## jax1962 (May 19, 2012)

you gave me an idea reading through these posts - my daughter loves embossing, i.e. stamping with special ink then sprinkling with embossing powder and gently blowing with a heat gun to melt the embossing powder.

i tried it out on my honey soap and it wasn't too bad - i did it with a rainbow embossing powder and it even stayed on through hand washing 5 or 6 times.

as irishlass said above, you need a fairly simple stamp and a smooth surface but i just thought i'd throw this in the pot since we all seem to have creative things other that soap in common.......


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## Hazel (May 19, 2012)

Is the embossing powder skin safe? You could try mica instead. Here are some examples.


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## jax1962 (May 19, 2012)

wow hazel they are some gorgeous pictures. now i know what to do with my blue mica instead of putting it in a swirl and it morphing into sludgy pink!


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## Hazel (May 19, 2012)

I've seen some even more impressive but I couldn't find the link. I know a member posted a link to her site and she had some gorgeous ones. Unfortunately, I can't remember who it was; otherwise I could probably find her site. I know there were several discussions about stamping, decorating and painting soap but sadly those are gone now. It's sickening that so much info has been lost. I sure hope they can recover it.

eta: I know soap queen did a tutorial on stamping soaps. I think she did it with mica. Anyway, you could probably find lots of links if you google.


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