Entry thread - November 2020 SMF challenge - string pull technique

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Primrose

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
Messages
935
Reaction score
1,801
Apologies for the delay. Please post your entry photos here. You have until November 26th, 2020 at 11:59 pm GMT to submit your entry, so there is still plenty of time (please note - the closing date and time is GMT - I use this site Time Zone Converter – Time Difference Calculator to figure out the day and time it corresponds to for my location)

Your Entry picture(s) must include a photo of at least 2 bars of soap plus a photo or description of the "string" you used to create the pattern.

Remember, this thread is for entry photos only. Please post all comments on each others' entries in the general challenge thread.

Good luck!
 
I used twine & a thinner stretchy elastic string off a paper mask. I decided not to try an accent color of yellow fearful I'd mess it up. This was such a fun challenge. Cant wait to see everyone's entries.
 

Attachments

  • A45226C5-F703-4A69-B85E-76CA3B1CD1EE.jpeg
    A45226C5-F703-4A69-B85E-76CA3B1CD1EE.jpeg
    162.8 KB
Last edited:
I like watching acrylic pour videos, and was inspired by string pull feathers. I used regular cotton kitchen twine for my string. A small amount of the colored soap batters were poured in a line onto freezer paper, and I then laid the string in the line of soap. This was fun - thanks @Primrose for the challenge!
feather string pull.jpg
 
Last edited:
Like dibbles I use more than one color. For some reason I thought about iris. I used embroidery floss because I found it easier to work with than the kitchen twine I used in my test. I wanted something really flexible. I experimented with different pulls and layered pulls. I did come up with a couple I liked. I tried the feather too but I liked the depth on the one flower and the curve on the other so I chose these two bars.
4BE022BF-5AC4-4709-BB07-7F489E364A63.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I used two colors as well but by dipping part of the string in the pink batter, Pink is not as bright as I was hoping. I was working with the only string I could find in the house which was 4-1/2 inches lol. I hate to even post the pictures but I signed up for it so here they are. The scent is magnolia so I was going for a theme with a gray base.

Stringpull.jpg
 
After multiple tries, lots of scraping, and much harm to much soap, these are the best I could do. I am only posting this to prove I am a good sport who can laugh at herself!

What I learned: polyester twine (the only string I had in the house) is NOT amenable to this technique. It was too stiff no matter how long I drenched it, and would not ever lay flat on the soap. As soon as I started pulling, it would pop up off the face of the soap.

Also, it's beyond me why all the videos show people pouring soap onto freezer paper and making a mess loading up the string that way. Putting the string right into the cup of soap was a much better option, IMO. But all their soaps look way better than mine, so I don't have much room to talk. 😄

ETA: @gardengeek inspired me to try with a broken necklace chain. The results were slightly better (top pic). I also had a halfway decent butterfly going but broke Rule #1: DON'T FIDDLE. 😭

Nov 2020 challenge 2.JPG


Nov SMF Soap Challenge Pic.JPG
 
Last edited:
I used 2.4mm and 4.0mm stainless steel bead chains for my string pulls. The hardest part for me was trying to avoid ash. I found that the best control over the colors was to drop the batter onto the bar, place the chain around the drops and then pull the chain through the drops
A20201126_131515.jpg
A20201126_131248.jpg
.

20201126_151111.jpg
20201126_151814 (2).jpg


Edited to include a photo with both soaps in one picture. Also included a photo of the bead chains I used.
 
Last edited:
I used 2.4mm and 4.0mm stainless steel bead chains for my string pulls. The hardest part for me was trying to avoid ash. I found that the best control over the colors was to drop the batter onto the bar, place the chain around the drops and then pull the chain through the dropsView attachment 51938View attachment 51939.
I just used a basic string, never thought about adding anything to the string.
 

Attachments

  • 260802FF-D7A8-440B-8CC5-AEFA660B2490.jpeg
    260802FF-D7A8-440B-8CC5-AEFA660B2490.jpeg
    167.2 KB
The most photographed soaps in the world lol. I have very bad picture taking skills. Finally settled on this one...i probably spent more time snapping pics in different settings than the actual string pull.

Anywhoo, i think more white is going to come out later on two of the soaps, but i wanted to make sure i got my entry in. If it changes, i will do my photo shoot over lol.

These were bars i made a few weeks ago and did the string pull last night. I used embroidery thread for the technique. I have used this method a few times, but this is the first time using multiple colors thanks to @dibbles for making us aware there was acrylic painting videos 😆

Another new thing for me was that I cpop them for a few hours to help with ash and to try to bring out the colors a little.
2479D752-8079-433F-827A-5F2725D4F48A.jpeg
 
The entry thread for this month's challenge is now closed. Those eligible to vote will receive their survey link soon; please bear with me as it may be a little while longer as I've recently moved house and job, and have some commitments to attend to tomorrow.
 
Knew I shoulda voted for myself LOL

I would never vote for myself btw. Anyway, congrats everybody. They were all so pretty. My white came out a lot better after they dried more, I will post when I get around to another photo shoot.

Thank you again for hosting this challenge 😍😍
 

Latest posts

Back
Top