I want glycerin rivers!

[ScentimentallyYours]

You made beautiful rocks with a folded pegmatite dike! “Pegmatites are igneous deposits that commonly contain large crystals and rather uncommon minerals.”
My DH-the-geologist searched for them in Eastern Washington while working on his thesis in 1980. That center section absolutely nailed it!

Now I’ll need to add to my rock soap collection by making a tribute soap to eastern Washington’s pegmatite dikes.

 

[nframe]

Loe the look of that soap - and they look like glycerin rivers to me. Maybe not as 'rivery' as you wanted?

Thank you. As you said, they are not as 'rivery' as I would like.

 

[DeeAnna]

So another thought came to mind while looking at your photo this morning, @nframe --

I think sometimes the "river" pattern reflects the way the soap batter flows around in the mold.

When I pour batter at emulsion to light trace (very fluid batter), the patterns formed reflect how the batter moves down and flows sideways into the mold. If I did a hanger swirl, the wisps of lighter colored soap trace the movement of the hanger.

I don't normally put soap batter into a mold when it's at a thicker trace, but I'd expect if I did, the pattern that forms might be more of a marbled look than a wispy or lace-like design, reflecting the fact that the batter doesn't flow around as much (or at all) when put into the mold at thicker trace.

 

[dmcgee5034]

That is beautiful soap, @nframe

 

[nframe]

That is beautiful soap, @nframe

Thank you.
I made another batch this morning so I am hoping for a "third time lucky"!

 

[nframe]

So another thought came to mind while looking at your photo this morning, @nframe --

I think sometimes the "river" pattern reflects the way the soap batter flows around in the mold.

When I pour batter at emulsion to light trace (very fluid batter), the patterns formed reflect how the batter moves down and flows sideways into the mold. If I did a hanger swirl, the wisps of lighter colored soap trace the movement of the hanger.

I don't normally put soap batter into a mold when it's at a thicker trace, but I'd expect if I did, the pattern that forms might be more of a marbled look than a wispy or lace-like design, reflecting the fact that the batter doesn't flow around as much (or at all) when put into the mold at thicker trace.

What do you think of my recipe though? Can you suggest any changes?
As I said, I made another batch this morning and added lard so palmitic became 20 and stearic 8. All will be revealed tomorrow!

 

[nframe]

So another thought came to mind while looking at your photo this morning, @nframe --

I think sometimes the "river" pattern reflects the way the soap batter flows around in the mold.

When I pour batter at emulsion to light trace (very fluid batter), the patterns formed reflect how the batter moves down and flows sideways into the mold. If I did a hanger swirl, the wisps of lighter colored soap trace the movement of the hanger.

I don't normally put soap batter into a mold when it's at a thicker trace, but I'd expect if I did, the pattern that forms might be more of a marbled look than a wispy or lace-like design, reflecting the fact that the batter doesn't flow around as much (or at all) when put into the mold at thicker trace.

I hope you are right because the batter was a lot thinner this morning...

 

[KiwiMoose]

So another thought came to mind while looking at your photo this morning, @nframe --

I think sometimes the "river" pattern reflects the way the soap batter flows around in the mold.

When I pour batter at emulsion to light trace (very fluid batter), the patterns formed reflect how the batter moves down and flows sideways into the mold. If I did a hanger swirl, the wisps of lighter colored soap trace the movement of the hanger.

I don't normally put soap batter into a mold when it's at a thicker trace, but I'd expect if I did, the pattern that forms might be more of a marbled look than a wispy or lace-like design, reflecting the fact that the batter doesn't flow around as much (or at all) when put into the mold at thicker trace.

Yes - exactly what I was thinking DeeAnna! So a long sweeping pour might yield a better result.

 

[DeeAnna]

What do you think of my recipe though? Can you suggest any changes?....

No, I'm sorry -- I really don't have any suggestions for you more than what I"ve already shared. I understand the general theory of how and why mottles (rivers) form, but I'm absolutely no expert at getting them to happen -- they're a surprise to me when they happen, just as they are for most other people.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I've been able to achieve glycerin rivers "on demand" a few times by following Auntie Clara's guidance, here (and previous linked articles). "... we need to get the soap to gel and we need to get it to stay in gel phase for an extended period of time and to cool down slowly." I've only used a relatively high palmitic recipe (palm-based) for this soap with palmitic + stearic of 29% (from memory). I start with the batter on the warm side (> 110F, right after adding the lye), keep the molded soap in a warm oven (140F) for 4 hours and then take it out and bundle it up so it can cool slowly. It's a bit of work, but I turn the oven on and off as needed to keep it as close as possible to 140F while the soap is doing its thing.

Here's a close up of extreme crackling in the bottom layer of an older Stormy Seas soap I made. The starting batter was a navy blue color, from mica, possibly with some black mica or AC added. It looks like the mica moved around enough to form/or be pushed into clumps. The dark blue was the only portion of the soap that was full high water (28% lye concentration). I've had more of a flowing river effect in previous versions of this soap, such as this one which used indigo, TD and AC, and wondered if maybe the soap below got a little warmer.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Thank you so much for starting this thread @nframe! The last two batches of soap I made had something strange happen in sections colored with Atomic Orange mica from Nurture. In one soap, the clouds became glycerin rivers, but I had not recognized them as such. In the other soap, the entire section that contained orange shrank inward, making the other sections of the soap look like they puffed out a bit. Again, I think this was the glycerin river effect.

I looked up Atomic Orange ingredients, which includes titanium dioxide, iron oxide, and tin oxide. Those lovely oxides helped create glycerin rivers. Plus, I learned that when combined with mica colored soap, it can create a 3-D effect. (Probably noticeable only to those of us who have our nose pressed up against the soap to check when we are polishing. )

Now I want to figure out how to incorporate GR effects into mountain and rock designs. Again, thank you to all in this thread for glycerin river information. You helped me understand the phenomenon I just observed in my soap.

 

[nframe]

Here it is! Third time still-not-lucky! Obviously there is something going on but as KiwiMoose expressed it so well, it is not 'rivery' enough. It is very far away from the beauties that Auntie Clara produces...

 

[AliOop]

Oh my gosh, I get that the glycerine rivers aren’t the river-y style you wanted, but those are lovely soaps!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Ahhh yes - the glycerin crackle - the glycerin river's cousin.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

Those bars look like enchanted crystals!

 

[nframe]

Thank you all for your comments.