Welcome to the July 2022 SMF Soap Challenge! For this month’s challenge, you will make soaps using the Kiss Pour technique. This technique has it’s roots in fluid acrylic paint pouring and was first introduced to soap makers by Joanne Watkins of Nature’s Potions Handmade Soap.
Please read the general rules and the challenge specific rules below and let’s have some soapy fun!
SMF Challenge General Rules
1. To enter you must have been a SMF member for at least one month and have a minimum of 50 posts at the time the Challenge is posted (sorry but no exceptions on this). Supporting Members can enter immediately, the time and post requirements are removed.
2. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign-up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry. The sign-up list will be posted in this thread.
3. This month’s voting will be password locked. Passwords will be sent by private message (via SMF conversations) to registered participants ONLY, so please check your messages when the voting begins.
4. A separate entry thread will be created and this is where you will post photos of your entry soap. Please do not post photos of your entry until the entry thread is opened. Post pictures of your entry soap only in the challenge entry thread.
Non-entry photos are always welcome and may be posted in the general challenge thread. The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts (other than your entry) where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way.
5. Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced.
6. In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for a SMF Challenge do so with the expectation that they will make every attempt to make a soap for the challenge. Writing about your experience in the challenge is encouraged. By doing so, each participant has a better knowledge of your process when voting. We do understand that sometimes things come up in our lives and interrupt our plans, however, signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote is not in the spirit of the challenges and is not allowed.
7. Please add your name to the sign-up list if you wish to participate (you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have made), but please do post your experiences in the main Challenge thread and be prepared to be encouraged to continue trying.
8. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
* * * *
Specific Rules for this Challenge
1. The challenge this month is to make soap using the Kiss Pour technique.
2. You may use any method you choose to make your soap, but cold process (CP) or cold process-oven process (CPOP) is the method that will work best.
3. You may use any mold you choose, but a slab mold definitely will work the best. If you don’t have a slab mold, a box, drawer or something similar lined with freezer paper or a plastic food storage container are a few options. You can also make a slab mold out of foam core or cardboard.
4. Your soap must be poured simultaneously from two pitchers with the streams of batter flowing together (‘kissing’) before entering the mold as one. If you choose to make a soap with multiple layers, each layer must also be poured from two pitchers simultaneously.
5. You may choose to either pour into one spot in your mold, or you can try a ‘traveling’ kiss pour moving the pitchers as you pour your batter.
6. You may use a skewer to swirl the area where your pour ends if it looks messy to you, but please keep this swirl area to about 1 inch.
Tips:
1. Choose a slow moving recipe and know your fragrance or essential oil. You will need time to separate your batter for coloring and pouring into your pitchers. You want your batter to remain fluid, but not so thin that your colors become muddied when poured. This is the tricky part of this technique.
2. You may use as many colors as you choose. Your colors may mix together as you pour, so keep that in mind when you are planning.
3. Make a little extra batter as you probably won’t want to scrape your pouring pitchers into your mold. Keep a small cavity mold handy for this excess.
4. Add your colors to your pouring pitcher by pouring them down the side to prevent breaking through the layers.
5. Hold your pitchers so that the spouts are very close together and pour slowly. Also keeping your pitchers as close to the mold as possible is optimal.
6. Plane the tops of your soaps to reveal the feathery swirls. If you don’t have a planer, make your soap thick enough to split horizontally to reveal the swirls.
I used three colors to create this soap, and used the same colors in each pitcher. You could also try using completely different colors in each pitcher.
I chose to pour into one spot in my mold
Finished bars
Here are a couple of video links. There are many more available to watch on YouTube:
From Tina's TraumBubbles using only two colors showing a good demonstration of slowly pouring pouring the batter
A long, but very good tutorial by Lisa Cunningham of I Dream in Soap showing different pouring methods in a layered kiss pour soap.
From SNIF Natural Soapmaking
A traveling kiss pour from Tree Marie Soapworks
I hope you decide to give this a try - have fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what you make!
Please read the general rules and the challenge specific rules below and let’s have some soapy fun!
SMF Challenge General Rules
1. To enter you must have been a SMF member for at least one month and have a minimum of 50 posts at the time the Challenge is posted (sorry but no exceptions on this). Supporting Members can enter immediately, the time and post requirements are removed.
2. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign-up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry. The sign-up list will be posted in this thread.
3. This month’s voting will be password locked. Passwords will be sent by private message (via SMF conversations) to registered participants ONLY, so please check your messages when the voting begins.
4. A separate entry thread will be created and this is where you will post photos of your entry soap. Please do not post photos of your entry until the entry thread is opened. Post pictures of your entry soap only in the challenge entry thread.
Non-entry photos are always welcome and may be posted in the general challenge thread. The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts (other than your entry) where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way.
5. Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced.
6. In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for a SMF Challenge do so with the expectation that they will make every attempt to make a soap for the challenge. Writing about your experience in the challenge is encouraged. By doing so, each participant has a better knowledge of your process when voting. We do understand that sometimes things come up in our lives and interrupt our plans, however, signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote is not in the spirit of the challenges and is not allowed.
7. Please add your name to the sign-up list if you wish to participate (you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have made), but please do post your experiences in the main Challenge thread and be prepared to be encouraged to continue trying.
8. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
* * * *
- Competition entries must be uploaded to the separate entry thread before the closing date.
- Note all times listed are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and it is your responsibility to convert times to your own time zone.
- The entry thread will open on July 23 by 11:59pm GMT (Please follow the challenge specific rules as to what you need to enter).
- After the closing date on July 28 at 11:59pm GMT the winning entry will be chosen by a voting survey. Voting will be open until July 30 at 11:59pm GMT and the winner will be announced on July 31. There is no prize attached to this challenge.
- If you fail to make the challenge deadline, you are still welcome to upload pictures of your soap to the general challenge thread, but your entry will not be eligible for voting. We always love to see anything you have created.
- Even though there is no prize, this is still a competition. If your entry is deemed not to fulfill the general rules or the rules specific to the challenge in any way, then you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry. If this is not possible, your entry will not be included in the voting.
- All the challenge mods reserve the right to have the final say on whether a soap is eligible for voting.
Specific Rules for this Challenge
1. The challenge this month is to make soap using the Kiss Pour technique.
2. You may use any method you choose to make your soap, but cold process (CP) or cold process-oven process (CPOP) is the method that will work best.
3. You may use any mold you choose, but a slab mold definitely will work the best. If you don’t have a slab mold, a box, drawer or something similar lined with freezer paper or a plastic food storage container are a few options. You can also make a slab mold out of foam core or cardboard.
4. Your soap must be poured simultaneously from two pitchers with the streams of batter flowing together (‘kissing’) before entering the mold as one. If you choose to make a soap with multiple layers, each layer must also be poured from two pitchers simultaneously.
5. You may choose to either pour into one spot in your mold, or you can try a ‘traveling’ kiss pour moving the pitchers as you pour your batter.
6. You may use a skewer to swirl the area where your pour ends if it looks messy to you, but please keep this swirl area to about 1 inch.
Tips:
1. Choose a slow moving recipe and know your fragrance or essential oil. You will need time to separate your batter for coloring and pouring into your pitchers. You want your batter to remain fluid, but not so thin that your colors become muddied when poured. This is the tricky part of this technique.
2. You may use as many colors as you choose. Your colors may mix together as you pour, so keep that in mind when you are planning.
3. Make a little extra batter as you probably won’t want to scrape your pouring pitchers into your mold. Keep a small cavity mold handy for this excess.
4. Add your colors to your pouring pitcher by pouring them down the side to prevent breaking through the layers.
5. Hold your pitchers so that the spouts are very close together and pour slowly. Also keeping your pitchers as close to the mold as possible is optimal.
6. Plane the tops of your soaps to reveal the feathery swirls. If you don’t have a planer, make your soap thick enough to split horizontally to reveal the swirls.
I used three colors to create this soap, and used the same colors in each pitcher. You could also try using completely different colors in each pitcher.
I chose to pour into one spot in my mold
Finished bars
Here are a couple of video links. There are many more available to watch on YouTube:
From Tina's TraumBubbles using only two colors showing a good demonstration of slowly pouring pouring the batter
A long, but very good tutorial by Lisa Cunningham of I Dream in Soap showing different pouring methods in a layered kiss pour soap.
From SNIF Natural Soapmaking
A traveling kiss pour from Tree Marie Soapworks
I hope you decide to give this a try - have fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what you make!
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