Deliberate bubbles?

[Picklekin]

Hello Soapers,

A friend of mine has requested a Cherry Bakewell themed soap (My first request, super happy!).

I've come up with a design to look like this (excuse poor design skills!):

Now I was wondered how it would look if, for the sponge layer, I deliberately allowed bubbles in the batter?

Has anyone tried this, or have a different idea? I already feel this is pretty challenging for me so I don't want to add a load of embeds! Maybe something to add spots?

 

[lsg]

I once made a beer soap that had bubbles in the soap.

 

[MellonFriend]

Hello Soapers,

A friend of mine has requested a Cherry Bakewell themed soap (My first request, super happy!).

I've come up with a design to look like this (excuse poor design skills!):
View attachment 67415
Now I was wondered how it would look if, for the sponge layer, I deliberately allowed bubbles in the batter?

Has anyone tried this, or have a different idea? I already feel this is pretty challenging for me so I don't want to add a load of embeds! Maybe something to add spots?

Poor design skills? What are you talking about!?

I'm not 100% sure what it would look like, but I'm pretty sure the bubbles might be pretty small. Sometimes air bubbles also end up looking like white spots in soap. I think it's worth a shot though if you are willing to potentially end up with something you weren't intending.

Hopefully some more people with some intentional air bubble knowledge will chime in for you.

 

[nebetmiw]

To get that you will have to beat air into it. Another suggestion is make bubble embeds.

 

[earlene]

You could include deliberate bubbles, then after the cut highlight them by hand-painting with some black mica (I would not use Activated Charcoal for hand-painting soap.) Pour a little rubbing alcohol into a small dish or saucer to dip a tiny pointy-tip paintbrush & when brush is wetted, dip into another dish with black mica, then paint around the outer edges of the cut soap. When you cut the slices, the bubbles will create little craters.

Another method you can use to either make the holes after the cut (with or without introducing bubbles prior to the pour) or make the holes a bit bigger, is to use a tiny little scooping knife or leather crafting tool to dig out a little circle, then handpaint around the outer edges of the soap.

Surface handpainted mica will wash away with first use, and may also smear during handling, so be prepared for that and you may want to run that by your customer/friend. They may not care, but then again they may.

The mica line between layers is easy enough, just make sure not to create a thick mica line as the layers can come apart it the line is too thick.

Another possibilty is to use a tall column mold in that shape, which I expect you may not be able to easily find, and pour as a column. But to do the layers, you'd need dividers that you'd probably have to make yourself to fit the mold & your design. But the spots could be made using plastic straws that you don't fill until the rest of the soap sets up, then remove the plastic straws & pour in more batter, perhaps slightly darker to give the impression of dots rather than darker circles surrounded by a rim. Creating an outer rim for the dots would probably be more complex than you really want to go, though. I probably wouldn't do it myself, simply because it would be so fussy.

 

[dibbles]

I think it could be done with soap dough and a clay extruder with different sized circles. I would make the soap dough embeds either a little lighter or a little darker than your base color so they would be more visible, or dusting them with mica. This does involve buying more equipment if you don't already have an extruder though. I've never bought one because I don't think I'd use it very often, but there have been times I would have liked to have one.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Why not make life easier and instead make them into little cupcake molds? just do two colours - the 'natural' colour to fill up the bottom third, white for the rest, and pre-make some little soap dough balls in red to add to the top?

 

[Picklekin]

Some really great ideas here, thank you!

I love @KiwiMoose's cupcake idea... Although I'm worried they might look TOO edible (not that I'm selling but we aren't allowed to make edible looking soap here in the UK... because they think we are idiots...)

I will mull over the options

 

[MellonFriend]

Some really great ideas here, thank you!

I love @KiwiMoose's cupcake idea... Although I'm worried they might look TOO edible (not that I'm selling but we aren't allowed to make edible looking soap here in the UK... because they think we are idiots...)

I will mull over the options

You're not even allowed to make it? Not even if it's for your own use?

 

[Picklekin]

I think the rules are just for selling, but they also include giving away... However I'm not getting them assessed so I'm already being naughty giving them away...

As I'm aiming for this to one day be my side hussle I'm trying to keep the rules in my head..but I could always bend them in this case, they WOULD look adorable!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I think the rules are just for selling, but they also include giving away... However I'm not getting them assessed so I'm already being naughty giving them away...

As I'm aiming for this to one day be my side hussle I'm trying to keep the rules in my head..but I could always bend them in this case, they WOULD look adorable!

I reckon! Do it! If you get caught, tell them the dumb Kiwi made you do it
I remember when I moved to the UK back in 2002 and thought everything was very 'rule heavy' around health and safety stuff. They didn't seem to allow for the fact that some people actually had brains. I was there for ten years and put up with silly things like not being able to change the toner in the photocopier if I was pregnant, etc.
Flash forward to my return to NZ in 2012 and lo and behold if we hadn't started doing the same thing here. It's almost as if you have to fit in a report if you find a pair of scissors in your own office drawer! lol. Be careful - they are sharp - you might cut yourself!
I HOPE we never have to fill in assessments for our soap though. It's just red tape gone too far.

 

[MellonFriend]

I think the rules are just for selling, but they also include giving away... However I'm not getting them assessed so I'm already being naughty giving them away...

As I'm aiming for this to one day be my side hussle I'm trying to keep the rules in my head..but I could always bend them in this case, they WOULD look adorable!

Well that's a relief. I was about to feel very oppressed for you.