# Using soap dough like polymer clay



## newbie (Jan 6, 2018)

I tried again to use soap like polymer clay. There is a lot of overlap, although I don't think they will ever be completely alike. It takes a long time to do but it's fun to have something new to try.

No, this is not what the February Challenge will be. You could use this for the challenge, but is not the challenge to do caning.


----------



## Kittish (Jan 6, 2018)

Those look neat! Does your soap dough ever harden up? The batch I made to play with a few months back never did, the chunk I have along the back of the sink is still soft enough to easily dent with a finger, after several months.


----------



## Misschief (Jan 6, 2018)

I love them all!


----------



## newbie (Jan 6, 2018)

I just made these and did gel them. They are the same hardness as my regular soaps the day after making them so time will tell! The recipe gets plenty hard so I think it should harden very well.


----------



## dibbles (Jan 6, 2018)

Very cool, newbie. Kittish, I used the Sorcery soap dough recipe for the soap rocks challenge and have left them out on the curing rack since then. They are hard, and I just tried using one today. They are pretty small though, which may have helped them to get hard faster.


----------



## KattChaos (Jan 6, 2018)

Oh my goodness... That is so neat! Do you have the link for the recipe? Or is that something I need to figure out on my own?


----------



## dibbles (Jan 6, 2018)

KattChaos said:


> Oh my goodness... That is so neat! Do you have the link for the recipe? Or is that something I need to figure out on my own?



Check out the Prep for February Challenge thread. There are links to soap dough recipes there.


----------



## newbie (Jan 6, 2018)

I used Bee's recipe from Sorcery Soap but many people use their own recipes and just keep them airtight. After saponification is done, you can handle it at will. 

Bee's recipe is 

20% Castor oil
30% Coconut oil
50% Alrd

water:lye for her recipe is about 2.4:1


----------



## KattChaos (Jan 6, 2018)

Ooo, I can use my Clear MP that I had no idea what to do with! I'm so glad I get to participate this time


----------



## shunt2011 (Jan 6, 2018)

Those are beautiful


----------



## cmzaha (Jan 6, 2018)

I love them all, especially the first one. Wish I still had time to play


----------



## toxikon (Jan 6, 2018)

What a clever idea, wow! So unique looking. I'll have to try it!


----------



## SunRiseArts (Jan 7, 2018)

Very cool. So you made like polymer clay canes?


----------



## newbie (Jan 7, 2018)

Thank you! 

Carolyn, that is one reason I choose not to sell. I feel like it would take away the time to play.

Katt- yes, please!!! M&P dough is fine for the Feb challenge. I would love to get more M&Per's involved but I know not all challenges are suited to it. This one is perfect. 

SunRise- yes, I did them just like clay canes. I watched a bunch of polymer clay cane videos and looked up tutorials and used exactly those techniques. I did not try to run the dough through a pasta machine at all because I was pretty certain I would end up with a mess or would have to use a lot of some sort of starch, so I rolled everything by hand, and I also used a Play-doh Fun Factory, although that was difficult to clean out. I rolled it out between sheets of plastic wrap so I wouldn't have to deal with anything sticking to a surface and having to scrape it off. The plastic wrap peels off nicely. How far you can reduce something and keep the pattern or image is difficult to know. Once I made a complex cane, I decided on approx doubling it from 2 or 3 inches to 6 inches and that worked well. This weekend, I'm trying for further reductions. I tried a short fat cane, about 3 inches across and that did not go well but I know at least part of my problem was that the outer canes were warmer than the inner ones and therefore more squishy. It was dreadful.


----------



## SaltedFig (Jan 7, 2018)

A lot of effort and beautiful canes newbie!

I was curious about your comment on the outside being too warm - do you mean from your hands, or was there some other reason it was warm?


----------



## Soapprentice (Jan 7, 2018)

Wow, they are so pretty newbie...


----------



## SunRiseArts (Jan 7, 2018)

Very cool, I used to make polymer clay canes a lot.  I still have some uncure ones out there, somewhere.  I became really good at it, and made flowers, fruits, etc.  Made many pendants, and pens with them.

I think I am going to try your technique at some point!  Thank you so much for sharing!


----------



## SoapAddict415 (Jan 7, 2018)

Those are soaps? Wow newbie, they're awesome!


----------



## newbie (Jan 7, 2018)

Thank you!

SaltedFig, yes from the warmth of my hands and also, when the dough is being rolled and shaped, it becomes softer. If it is sitting around, waiting for you, it cools and also become stiffer. A big point in the polymer clay videos that I watched was that all the materials should be of the same stiffness. If you have something that is much softer than the others, it will move much more readily than the others. To reduce a cane, everything has to press together evenly so it all stays in place. If something is soft, it provides no resistance and  that will thin out but the other pieces won't.

A case in point: I made this very large flower cane but didn't let it sit. I started reducing it but the outer green leaves were still too soft, so they thinned but the flower inside wouldn't move, as I had made it first and it had been sitting for a while. For half of it, I stopped and just embedded it but you can see the difference in the leaves from front to back (that is about an inch thick) and how parts of the flower stayed large and other parts started to thin. The other part took the brunt of my peevishness. I just manhandled it until it was down to 3/4-1 inch and now I have no flower at all, just abstract colors.

SunRise, February would be the perfect time!!!


----------



## Misschief (Jan 7, 2018)

My soap dough is made... sort of. The black isn't black enough, the blue is way too blue, the red is more like fluorescent pink. I think I'll make another batch and leave it uncoloured.


----------



## SaltedFig (Jan 7, 2018)

newbie,

Thank-you for that very detailed explanation!

I tend to put my soap clay away when it gets sticky (which works pretty quickly), rather than adding cornflour or any starch. I hadn't really noticed it getting softer, but I did notice it's gets brittle when it's sticky.

The brittleness and stickiness are corrected by resting the dough. So softness is controlled by temperature ... that's good to know, I might play with temperatures a bit too  Thanks!

PS. Adding to the notes on cane work:
Reducing canes starts from the center of the cane and requires even, gently pressure around the cane, working outwards to the ends.
Repeat the reduction in many, small steps to reduce the cane to the desired size.
Working from the center of the cane outwards, in small incremental steps, reduces distortion in the pattern.

Wow, those are bright!

Will be some nice, big amounts by the time you add more white.

Can't wait to see what you make with them 



Misschief said:


> My soap dough is made... sort of. The black isn't black enough, the blue is way too blue, the red is more like fluorescent pink. I think I'll make another batch and leave it uncoloured.


----------



## CaraBou (Jan 8, 2018)

Cool soaps newbie! I knew you were up to something when you weren't posting (besides traveling the world).

Two things about the recipe below: 

1. Took me a while to figure out what Alrd was. Apparently I have my own dyslexia not recognizing Lard. I had to go back to Bee's post! I am tired, I did not get my normal work break during the holidays.

2. As for water:lye, have folks had good luck with that ratio? Her recipe is date June 2006, so just wondering if it has stuck.



newbie said:


> Bee's recipe is
> 
> 20% Castor oil
> 30% Coconut oil
> ...


----------



## CaraBou (Jan 10, 2018)

^^Oops, my post above says 2006 when it should be 2016.


----------



## Roselyne (Jan 13, 2018)

CaraBou said:


> Cool soaps newbie! I knew you were up to something when you weren't posting (besides traveling the world).
> 
> Two things about the recipe below:
> 
> ...



 I've made all my soap dough with that recipe and its perfect, made it in September and still workable now. Once allowed to suit our and dry,  it's musty like any other soap. 
The things you can do with soap always amazes me.


----------



## Misschief (Jan 13, 2018)

I played a bit with mine last night, just to get a feel for it. My dough is a little moist so I think I can let it sit out for a little bit but I did manage to make this...


----------



## SaltedFig (Jan 13, 2018)

A blue rose! (Or at least it looks a bit blue on my screen ...)

Mischief, that is so pretty - aren't flowers just the easiest and the hardest at the same time?!

(A trick for petal placement, as you work outwards, put the centre of your next petal over the gap of the previous layer, so the gaps never line up.).


----------



## Misschief (Jan 13, 2018)

SaltedFig said:


> A blue rose! (Or at least it looks a bit blue on my screen ...)
> 
> Mischief, that is so pretty - aren't flowers just the easiest and the hardest at the same time?!
> 
> (A trick for petal placement, as you work outwards, put the centre of your next petal over the gap of the previous layer, so the gaps never line up.).



Thank you, SF. It IS a pale blue. I used a Wilton Easy Blooms cut out tool. The idea is to cut out two rows of "petals", lay them over each other slightly offset and then roll them up together. It was easy but not so easy. The two layers didn't stick together and slid on each other. But, hey, it was a first attempt. I'm not expecting perfection.... yet.


----------



## Roselyne (Jan 17, 2018)

Tô make roses, i found the best way for me  was without a cutter, I came across this tutorial 
https://youtu.be/TeYyoyRWiE8,  really help and it's actually quicker and prettier than what I was doing before.


----------



## CaraBou (Jan 23, 2018)

Great tips Roselyne, thanks for sharing.  Welcome to the Forum - sorry I missed your introduction. Keep posting so you can make the February challenge!



Roselyne said:


> I've made all my soap dough with that recipe and its perfect, made it in September and still workable now. Once allowed to suit our and dry,  it's musty like any other soap.
> The things you can do with soap always amazes me.





Roselyne said:


> Tô make roses, i found the best way for me  was without a cutter, I came across this tutorial
> https://youtu.be/TeYyoyRWiE8,  really help and it's actually quicker and prettier than what I was doing before.


----------



## Roselyne (Jan 24, 2018)

Thanks CaraBou, I'm trying to qualify, then if I do I'll have to get to time to make the soap, guessing a few trials will be needed


----------



## Misschief (Jan 24, 2018)

Make your soap dough now. I did a couple of batches, giving me time to play with it and incubate ideas. And... keep chatting!


----------



## CaraBou (Jan 27, 2018)

Misschief said:


> Make your soap dough now. I did a couple of batches, giving me time to play with it and incubate ideas. And... keep chatting!



Good idea, I need the help!

My dough is pretty hard after being sealed for a week. It's my regular recipe (half lard, 20% CO, yadayada) with a water ratio of 2.4. I suspect my house is too cold - the ceilings are so high that the downstairs always stays cool.  Do you guys think a higher water ratio would make it softer?  I'm tempted to bump up to 2.75 or even 3.  

I could warm the dough right before I actually work with it, but more water seems like it might give me a better starting point.

What do you think - bad idea or good?


----------



## earlene (Jan 27, 2018)

I wonder the same thing, *CaraBou*.  I used some leftover soap batter from the Jan. challenge and thought it was too hard, too.  But using some of it and warming it up in my hands seems to be making it more pliable.  So maybe try that.  Mine was 33% lye concentration and my house is also normally cold.  That's how I prefer my house, so turning up the heat isn't something I would do just to make soap more pliable.   Have you divided the dough up into smaller pieces so when you work with it, it's more like a 1 inch or less square?  That seems to help get it pliable faster, too.

But I also plan on making a batch with full water to see how that works out.

Today I went ahead and practiced making some little things with the soap dough and I think it's working out okay.  We shall see as time goes along, as right now it's just to get used to using it.


----------



## CaraBou (Jan 27, 2018)

earlene said:


> Have you divided the dough up into smaller pieces so when you work with it, it's more like a 1 inch or less square?  That seems to help get it pliable faster, too.



Yes, and that does help. But I'm not planning to cane or make stand alone figures. My design idea - rules allowing - would require more hefty pieces. 

I'm going to try higher water - and more soft oils, too. This is good chance to change things up!


----------



## Misschief (Jan 27, 2018)

CaraBou said:


> Good idea, I need the help!
> 
> My dough is pretty hard after being sealed for a week. It's my regular recipe (half lard, 20% CO, yadayada) with a water ratio of 2.4. I suspect my house is too cold - the ceilings are so high that the downstairs always stays cool.  Do you guys think a higher water ratio would make it softer?  I'm tempted to bump up to 2.75 or even 3.
> 
> ...



I've made a couple of batches now. One batch is a little harder than the other but I'm finding that it softens up nicely as I knead it. I have the opposite problem with the first batch; it's too soft and sticky. I'm not sure how to counter it.


----------



## dibbles (Jan 28, 2018)

Misschief said:


> I've made a couple of batches now. One batch is a little harder than the other but I'm finding that it softens up nicely as I knead it. I have the opposite problem with the first batch; it's too soft and sticky. I'm not sure how to counter it.



If it's super sticky, try letting it sit exposed to the air for a few hours, but keep checking on it to be sure it isn't drying out too much. If it's just a little sticky, you can LIGHTLY dust it with corn starch. Tamping the dough and work surface with a cloth (muslin) bag with corn starch in it seems to work. Possibly a panty hose make shift bag would work too. Or just sprinkle a tiny bit on your soap dough and knead it in.


----------



## Misschief (Jan 28, 2018)

dibbles said:


> If it's super sticky, try letting it sit exposed to the air for a few hours, but keep checking on it to be sure it isn't drying out too much. If it's just a little sticky, you can LIGHTLY dust it with corn starch. Tamping the dough and work surface with a cloth (muslin) bag with corn starch in it seems to work. Possibly a panty hose make shift bag would work too. Or just sprinkle a tiny bit on your soap dough and knead it in.



I think I will have to leave it out for a bit. I've been using cornstarch in a Wilton thingy (not sure what it's called) and it works well but that first batch is still sticking like crazy. Makes it difficult to do thin pieces (like rose petals).

I did use some to make rimmed soap, though. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I just made two small bars out of leftovers from another batch. I like being able to do that.


----------



## lyschelw (Feb 22, 2018)

Wow, I love those!  It is amazing what you can do with soap dough!


----------

