Making swirls

[D.L.Ruth]

So, I really want to be able to add some of those really cool looking swirls that people do in their soap. It was the plan on my last batch but did not work as planned, ended up with just a different colored stripe in the middle of the bar. Not really a big deal as it still looks nice. I THINK I know where I "failed" but just wanted some expert advise.
1. I possibly, probably, most likely stick blended to long and go too heavy of a trace.
2. Possibly too much coconut oil?
It started to firm up pretty quickly as I started to pour it.

Coconut oil - 44.12%
Olive oil - 44.12%
Castor oil - 11.76%

People make it look so easy in videos lol. Any advise?

 

[Ford]

Hi, a lot of people stick blend to emulsion. Then whisk from there. You can always thicken it up, doesn't work the other way.
That's a lot of castor oil and coconut oil. What are you trying to achieve with your recipe?

 

[Barefoot Farm Girl]

So, I really want to be able to add some of those really cool looking swirls that people do in their soap. It was the plan on my last batch but did not work as planned, ended up with just a different colored stripe in the middle of the bar. Not really a big deal as it still looks nice. I THINK I know where I "failed" but just wanted some expert advise.
1. I possibly, probably, most likely stick blended to long and go too heavy of a trace.
2. Possibly too much coconut oil?
It started to firm up pretty quickly as I started to pour it.

Coconut oil - 44.12%
Olive oil - 44.12%
Castor oil - 11.76%

People make it look so easy in videos lol. Any advise?

I learned I am a chronic stick blender abuser. I watched this video that helped me understand the different stages and I’m on the road to recovery lol.

I try to get to emulsion, mix in my scent and color and hand stir with a spoontula from there

 

[AliensrReal]

You only need a few 3 second bursts and bring the mixture to an emulsion.

Your recipe is very unusual as that is a lot of coconut oil and can be very drying to the skin. I’m not sure you need that much castor oil as it may make for a sticky bar. I use up to 15% castor oil but I have about 55% hard oils and no sticky bars once cured.

 

[D.L.Ruth]

Thank you for the tips and video, I believe I also am a stick blender abuser lol, you know just a little more can't possibly hurt... right? I don't remember where the recipe came from, it was in my soap calculator app from a while ago.

 

[dmcgee5034]

What kind of swirl were you trying to do and what was your technique? There are soooo many to try

 

[D.L.Ruth]

What kind of swirl were you trying to do and what was your technique? There are soooo many to try

Something kind of like this but a bit simpler with only two colors

Did the layers then used a hangar to try and go up and down but it appears it was already too thick by the time I got it in the mold.

 

[Barefoot Farm Girl]

Thank you for the tips and video, I believe I also am a stick blender abuser lol, you know just a little more can't possibly hurt... right? I don't remember where the recipe came from, it was in my soap calculator app from a while ago.

I do it every single time…. One more little burst and I’ll stop. Oh, wait, I think it needs one more. Poop. I shouldn’t have done that!

 

[cmzaha]

The very first adjustment I would make is to cut the castor oil down to no higher than 5% castor is an accelerator. I found a difference between using castor at 3% versus 5% when I was experimenting with slow-tracing recipes. Also, your 44% CO makes for a very cleansing bar of soap, many folks cannot tolerate over 20% and some cannot even go that high in their soaps. I remember when I first started selling I used 20% and the only complaint I received from some customers was my soaps were a tad drying, so I further cut down on the CO. If you are not opposed to animal fats I would add in lard which will slow trace. I understand you did not ask for a critique of your recipe but sometimes it all goes together. Frankly, more castor oil does not help with bubbles it supports bubbles. You can cut CO and add in Sorbitol, my personal favorite, or sugar to help with lather/bubbles. Longer cure time also helps with lather. Lard will really slow trace especially mixed with OO.

 

[D.L.Ruth]

The very first adjustment I would make is to cut the castor oil down to no higher than 5% castor is an accelerator. I found a difference between using castor at 3% versus 5% when I was experimenting with slow-tracing recipes. Also, your 44% CO makes for a very cleansing bar of soap, many folks cannot tolerate over 20% and some cannot even go that high in their soaps. I remember when I first started selling I used 20% and the only complaint I received from some customers was my soaps were a tad drying, so I further cut down on the CO. If you are not opposed to animal fats I would add in lard which will slow trace. I understand you did not ask for a critique of your recipe but sometimes it all goes together. Frankly, more castor oil does not help with bubbles it supports bubbles. You can cut CO and add in Sorbitol, my personal favorite, or sugar to help with lather/bubbles. Longer cure time also helps with lather. Lard will really slow trace especially mixed with OO.

I'll take any criticism, still new so always willing to learn.

 

[Ford]

Hi, actually no need for a blender at all. But, I too am a recovered blenderadic.

Start with the trinity recipe. Tweek from there.
33% palm or lard or tallow
33% olive or HO sunflower oil.
30% coconut oil ,you can cut by 10% and add 10% butter of some type. Shea, cocoa?
4% castor oil

Your design...
Your pic is a tiawan swirl I believe. Not attempted myself, but you can search on this. There are also Youtube videos as well.

 

[Shelley D]

I do it every single time…. One more little burst and I’ll stop. Oh, wait, I think it needs one more. Poop. I shouldn’t have done that!

You are not alone! I started with recipes that were mostly olive oil so they were slow to trace (no other additives to accelerate trace), so when I started changing my recipes to include more butters I quickly learned that trace happens much faster now!

 

[Barefoot Farm Girl]

The very first adjustment I would make is to cut the castor oil down to no higher than 5% castor is an accelerator. I found a difference between using castor at 3% versus 5% when I was experimenting with slow-tracing recipes. Also, your 44% CO makes for a very cleansing bar of soap, many folks cannot tolerate over 20% and some cannot even go that high in their soaps. I remember when I first started selling I used 20% and the only complaint I received from some customers was my soaps were a tad drying, so I further cut down on the CO. If you are not opposed to animal fats I would add in lard which will slow trace. I understand you did not ask for a critique of your recipe but sometimes it all goes together. Frankly, more castor oil does not help with bubbles it supports bubbles. You can cut CO and add in Sorbitol, my personal favorite, or sugar to help with lather/bubbles. Longer cure time also helps with lather. Lard will really slow trace especially mixed with OO.

What do you replace the castor oil with? I use olive oil and coconut oil for my liquid oils

 

[AliOop]

Something kind of like this but a bit simpler with only two colorsView attachment 77813

Did the layers then used a hangar to try and go up and down but it appears it was already too thick by the time I got it in the mold.

EDITED TO CORRECT: Although this looks just like my (admittedly not very good) Taiwan Swirl, @dibbles is right - it is a hanger swirl, per this Brambleberry video.

 

[dibbles]

That is a hanger swirl and I was going to advise watching a Bramble Berry YT video. The soap shown is from a Bramble Berry YouTube video, so I see you have already found that. If you post a picture of the soap you made, it might be easier to see what your particular issues are, but from your description it sounds like you just blended too much. What are you using for a hanger tool?

I would definitely reduce the amount of castor oil to 5% or less, and add the difference to the olive oil. I would also reduce the coconut oil to 25% or less. If you aren't opposed to animal fats, you could add lard and have a much slower tracing recipe. Try something like 35-45% lard, 5% castor, 50% liquid oil - all olive or combinations of olive, high oleic sunflower, high oleic safflower, high oleic canola, rice bran and sweet almond. Olive oil has become so expensive I have been replacing part or all of the olive oil in my recipe with high oleic sunflower oil, which I can buy locally.

 

[ewhitake]

I learned I am a chronic stick blender abuser. I watched this video that helped me understand the different stages and I’m on the road to recovery lol.

I try to get to emulsion, mix in my scent and color and hand stir with a spoontula from there

I totally understand what you mean by being a stick blender abuser. I was too until someone in this forum got me to realize the makers I was watching on YouTube are making huge batches. My batches are less than 1300 g and often around 500 g. One pulse of the stick blender, maybe two, is enough to get the batter to emulsion. But it was a very hard lesson to learn because when you watch somebody stick blend in a video it looks so pretty and you want to be pretty too!
Good luck with your recovery!!

 

[MomInWA]

I do it every single time…. One more little burst and I’ll stop. Oh, wait, I think it needs one more. Poop. I shouldn’t have done that!

I do that too! It's too thick, so my swirls aren't swirly enough. One time I made a recipe and thought it was at a thin trace, but then it wasn't emulsified and I had to toss the batch. Wasted, expensive...ouchie. I wish I had more time to play around with recipes.

 

[cmzaha]

Peacock swirls are done in square molds and are fun to do, that is a Taiwan swirl as Ali mentioned. True Peacock You can look up some videos on how to do Peacock swirls, they are fun to do but they do take a couple of special tools and have a learning curve. I used to like to do them but did not like to have to use a square mold. Here is a link to a pic of a peacock swirl. They are fun to do. https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...ave-you-done-today.42556/page-845#post-845648