First attempt at a loaf mold n hanger swirl

[gigisiguenza]

So I soaked the indigo and used the water for the lye solution for the blue portion of my batch. The color is not as dark as I wanted but we will see. I wanted a deep rich denim blue but I suspect it will turn out a medium to light blue. I'm cool with that if the spinach powder yields the medium leaf green I hope it does because I think the combo will look very pretty together.

I was going to use the slab mold, but decided to try my first loaf mold instead. I wasn't sure which type of pour I wanted to do, so I poured my white base first, then did the drop pour in stripes layers of black green blue. When it was almost all done, I used the last of the black for a thin top layer, then poured the green down the center, and the blue down the center of that. Then I did a hanger close together to create internal swirls, Then did a Taiwan on top so the top will look pretty. I used bergamot and white ginger and it smells so good LOL. Thankfully there was no acceleration and hopefully no discoloration.

I used the same recipe I did for the last swirl batch, but I upped the lard a little and subbed RBO for a portion of the OO so there would be as much white base as possible. I stuck it in the fridge to keep cool for a little while before I set it up to do its thing til tomorrow. I figured the high amount of hard oils will help it set up quicker and make a nice hard bar.

All in all, I think it will look nice, but there's no way to tell til it's cut lol. I hope it comes out pretty. I'll be disappointed with the indigo if it comes pale, but it was an experiment, so can't be too disappointed

Here's the pics. I wish I had a cam to record, it would be so much easier than my phone cam hahaha.

ETA I sure am glad I got the buckets at home depot cuz I didn't realize how much volume a loaf mold holds sheesh LOL

 

[Saponomancer]

I dont know about the middle but the tops looking excellent even before the colour morphing settles out

 

[gigisiguenza]

DragonGirl - Ty .. I'm hoping that the hanger created the same kind of swirls through the layers on the inside too. I'm kinda liking the mystery factor involved in the loaf mold. You plan it, pour it, and pray like hell it did what you intended LOL

 

[Jstar]

Ooooo Gigi..that looks super cool..I bet its gonna be awesome when you cut it..thats my fave part...the cutting Christmas morning everytime!

 

[gigisiguenza]

Jstar - Ty and I'm so excited to cut it and see what's inside!

 

[Saponista]

Looking good! I like the colours

 

[Seawolfe]

Ooooh I cant wait to see the cut pics!!

 

[skayc1]

looking forward to seeing the cut pics as well!

 

[navigator9]

Nice job! Those swirls are gorgeous.

 

[gigisiguenza]

Ty everyone I just checked to see if it was ready to cut but it will have to wait till I get home from work because its still too soft Will post pics when I get home at 4am and cut it. It should be set up well by then

ETA btw the indigo is not turning blue at all. Very disappointed in it. Guess that experiment was a fail. But the pale sage color it turned is gorgeous, so it's not a fail for the soap LOL.

 

[gigisiguenza]

Here's the pics so far to show the indigo color turned sage green



I wonder if gelling would have effected the indigo and changed it to blue? Hmmmm. Maybe not. It was an experiment with steeping and straining the indigo before adding the lye, so maybe it was that. Gonna have to set up some tiny indigo experiments now LOL.

What else produces blue... woad?

 

[Obsidian]

I've never got a good blue from indigo, no matter how much or what technique. I did get a sort of weird blue/greyish/purplish once but it wasn't attractive. I've not used woad yet but its on my to do list.

Your indigo may change color yet, I had alkanet take almost two weeks to turn its final color.

 

[gigisiguenza]

Obsidian - well that would be interesting to see if it does change over time. I'm going to order some woad this week to try it

Obsidian - well that would be interesting to see if it does change over time. I'm going to order some woad this week to try it

Obsidian - well I'll be damned if that indigo isn't morphing into a light blue! I didn't expect it to at all, but it is. Check out the cut pics. I just cut it when I got home from work at 4 this morning

 

[Obsidian]

Thats cool, who knows what it will end up looking like. Nice swirls, the green and black look really nice.

 

[gigisiguenza]

The pattern is definitely not what I intended or envisioned, but it's kinda pretty. I will rethink the layering/pouring order next time.

Obsidian - thanks. I'm less than fully impressed with the way it turned out lol. But, I do like green and black combo. I'm planning on a 2nd attempt at this swirl later this week and I think I will pass on the indigo and just try the green black n white. I think my mistakes on this attempt were accidentally pouring all my white first (leaving none to use to separate layers in the pour), and doing a drop pour rather than over the back of my spatula to create thin layers. Will be trying again, so we will see

 

[Saponomancer]

The green and black does look good! Even if it wasn't the blue you were hoping for

 

[Mommy]

That looks amazing! The pour pictures left me in SUCH suspense! I'm glad I read this after the cut pictures were posted as well.

 

[Jstar]

Those came out great! And in the 3rd cut pic it almost makes a butterfly

 

[gigisiguenza]

Ty folks

 

[gigisiguenza]

Jstar - Ty I didn't much like them when I first cut them. I think because they didn't look anything like I had envisioned I was disappointed so didn't find them very attractive. But they're growing on me the more I look at them LOL. I can see where I need to change my pour technique to get the effect I was trying to get, but I can also see the butterflies too and it makes me want to try it again in different colors.