Making "large" CP embeds for CP soap

[Jill B Blasius]

Has anyone tried anything like this:

I want to make a batch of CP soap for embeds, flat on a cookie sheet, about an inch deep. Cut it with cookie cutter shape (moose) when it is just set (few hours? 6 hrs? next day?).

Then make another batch of CP soap, stack up the moose on top of each other in a line (like you would for soap clay shapes) and set those into the "new" batch of soap. (Poor in 1/2 of the batch, set the embed in, then fill with the rest).

Will it work? Will the moose and the bar separate later on when used? I'm already anticipating it will be hard to cut due to the fact the moose in the middle will be harder than the actual bar.

Didn't want to waste soap testing it if anyone already knows it a major fail....

 

[ResolvableOwl]

I think I know what you are aiming at. A few remarks:

• Getting a soap batter perfectly level on a cookie sheet might be tricky, dependent on how flat the surface is on which the sheet sits (use a spirit level when in doubt). Any slope could make the stack of CP moose bend over. You might get around this when you cut out in alternating orientation.
• CP soap batter not sticking to CP embeds is a real thing, I've had it before and it's a pain (and the cutting itself was not the worst part). Keep the embed batch moist and block it from going into cure might help. BUT that brings me to my next point:
• why make a CP soap and let it harden up at all? i. e. why don't you make the moose from soap clay, and stack the soap clay? You wouldn't have cavities between and/or wouldn't need perfectly flat pour for the first batch. You wouldn't have to come up with what to do with the negative moose (the residuals from round 1), but just recycle the soap clay.
  You know best how complex your moose contour is. Maybe a pre-drying of the stacked clay moose (lying horizontally) might be advisable.
• Entry Thread for July 2020 SMF Challenge: Welded Soap ← That is what I imagined what you're aiming for. You might find some insight from the melded-soap technique (SMF challenge and the accompanying thread).

ETA

(Poor in 1/2 of the batch, set the embed in, then fill with the rest).

Sorry, I read this only now. In my imagination, you were stacking the moose on top of each other, and then place it vertically into an upright column mould (square, rectuangular or circular). When you're planning to do it in a loaf mould, above points apply in a different way accordingly.

 

[szaza]

Cool idea! I'd definitely recommend forcing both the moose and surrounding batter through gel phase together so they stick better (but even then, my welded soap falls apart when I use it).
I think the bottom layer will need to be pretty firm to support such a heavy embed, so it would be useful to work with an accelerating fragrance that you add at trace and only right before pouring to the part that you want to pour. I'm wondering if a soap with sculpted layers might work better (depending on the design, a moose might be tricky). Here's an example.

 

[earlene]

I have done similar things with embeds I made, filling up most of a slab mold with various and sundry embeds to use them up. Not as a uniform stack or anything as organized as that.

When the embeds are really dried out from a long cure, they don't want to stick as well, so I learned to keep embeds wrapped in plastic wrap (Saran wrap or other kitchen wrap for keep food fresh) until ready to use. That alone makes a huge difference in keeping the end product to adhere. But for me the real clincher was the CPOP of the end-product soap. As discussed in the SMF soap challenge that RO mentioned above: SMF July 2020 Challenge - Welded Soap

PS: If your embeds are new enough, and you make the finished soap quite soon, it is more likely to stick very well, especially if you use the same recipe, and CPOP to ensure gel. But I've had success even when the embeds and new soap are a different formula.

 

[dibbles]

Here is a video made by Ophelia's Soapery that is similar to what I think you are asking.

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

Has anyone tried anything like this:

I want to make a batch of CP soap for embeds, flat on a cookie sheet, about an inch deep. Cut it with cookie cutter shape (moose) when it is just set (few hours? 6 hrs? next day?).

Then make another batch of CP soap, stack up the moose on top of each other in a line (like you would for soap clay shapes) and set those into the "new" batch of soap. (Poor in 1/2 of the batch, set the embed in, then fill with the rest).

Will it work? Will the moose and the bar separate later on when used? I'm already anticipating it will be hard to cut due to the fact the moose in the middle will be harder than the actual bar.

Didn't want to waste soap testing it if anyone already knows it a major fail....

Yes this works. I made my chicken and egg soap this way. I cut out chickens and eggs with a cookie cutter and then wet them and stuck them together in a column and then put them in a column mold and poured the soap in the column to cover the embeds.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Yes this works. I made my chicken and egg soap this way. I cut out chickens and eggs with a cookie cutter and then wet them and stuck them together in a column and then put them in a column mold and poured the soap in the column to cover the embeds.

Yeah - but which came first???

Seriously though @Jill B Blasius anything with a moose has gotta be good right?

 

[ResolvableOwl]

@CatahoulaBubble What did happen to the remainings of the black/orange soap after you had cut out the eggs and chicken?

Yeah - but which came first???

Stupid question. The rooster, of course . Poor rooster has no feet and couldn't run/roll away when cruel @CatahoulaBubble came in with the evil intention to bury them into soap batter.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

@Jill B Blasius Thanks for asking about this. I was thinking of doing something similar and wondering if it would work. Please keep us posted how this turns out.

Plus I'd love to see your finished soaps. Moose are my "spirit animals." I collect them and must have more than 60 mooses in various forms scattered about my house and garden!

 

[KiwiMoose]

@Jill B Blasius Thanks for asking about this. I was thinking of doing something similar and wondering if it would work. Please keep us posted how this turns out.

Plus I'd love to see your finished soaps. Moose are my "spirit animals." I collect them and must have more than 60 mooses in various forms scattered about my house and garden!

Well, yer caint have me!

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I have been thinking of doing this for a while! Basically a custom soap cane embed.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

Well, yer caint have me!

Perhaps not, but can you tell me how you came to choose that name? Didn't know there were mooses in New Zealand!

 

[KiwiMoose]

Perhaps not, but can you tell me how you came to choose that name? Didn't know there were mooses in New Zealand!

Haha - it's been my nickname since i was a child. Dad always called me 'The Moose'.

 

[Feelin' Soapy]

Haha - it's been my nickname since i was a child. Dad always called me 'The Moose'.

In my book, that's quite the compliment!

 

[CatahoulaBubble]

@CatahoulaBubble What did happen to the remainings of the black/orange soap after you had cut out the eggs and chicken?


Stupid question. The rooster, of course . Poor rooster has no feet and couldn't run/roll away when cruel @CatahoulaBubble came in with the evil intention to bury them into soap batter.

I wrapped some of it and turned it into soap dough and the rest I just tossed in my soap scrap box to be chopped up and used in confetti soap later.