Making transparent soap for suspending objects, questions...

[everywherewherewhere]

I have a very specific purpose in mind. I am an art student and for a future project I thought of suspending different kinds of paint and various small objects in a clear substance for a series of pieces.

At first I thought my only option for the clear substance would be clear polyester casting resin but then my professor told me about his kids making crystal clear soap bars with a kit which they suspended a small photograph in, so I looked into soap making as a solution.

For size I was thinking in the range of 8" long, 8"wide, 15" tall using a plaster mold. The idea is I'd follow the recipe exactly except when it's ready to be poured I'd pour into a plaster mold I'll make, and drop foreign objects or insert paint with a pipette while it's in there. I think my primary requirement is that I need the mixture to be thick/viscous at this pouring stage so that what I insert will not move around much. I'd like to find a recipe or kit that produces a mixture that is thick enough at this "pour" stage of the recipe. I was hoping those of you with experience could tell me if you've ever made soap that happened to be thick at this stage, and if so what was the recipe? Because I'm a beginner I'd like to start with a kit that will likely meet my requirements before foraying into a DIY recipe. I found some soap bases from this site: http://www.goplanetearth.com/bases_melt_pour_soap.html

These are some of the clear soap bases from the above list, they are each glycerin-based. At the top of the above page is the company's instructions for mixing which probably applies to all of their MP bases, I'd link to it but for some reason it won't open in my browser.


Ultimate Clear Melt & Pour Soap Base
"An ideal base when embedding toys or printed material."

Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Sorbitol, Glycerin, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Myristate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Triethanolamine, Water

Does that mean such "toys" can be suspended or will they likely sink to the bottom?


Suspension Formula Melt & Pour Soap Base
"A semi-clear melt & pour soap base. Additives stay suspended instead of sinking to the bottom of the soap mold! Above photos show cosmetic glitter suspended in the soap base. Ideal for suspending herbal additives."

Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Sorbitol, Glycerin, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Myristate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Triethanolamine, Water, Silica

This may be what I'm looking for, the question is will it hold heavier things than glitter in place?


Questions:
-Will the resulting product last a long time? (Obviously it will not be used). Are there certain recipes that will deteriorate faster or slower?

-Related to above, I've read about different key ingredients for clear soap, one being gelatin, which I hear will break down, then of course glycerin which I think will last, and then this site claims adding a solvent "such as alcohol" to prevent crystals from forming will make soap clear, although it does not have a recipe detailing which solvents or how much is ideal. My question is, is any one of these ingredients more useful for my purposes than the others?

-Is 8x8x15" okay? Are there any kinds of bad reactions that can occur if soap is poured to this size?

-Are plaster molds okay? Plaster absorbs moisture which is why it is great for sculpture casting but will that interfere with the drying/curing process? If it is bad I could make a silicone mold but that would not be ideal for me.

-Is there any substance I should avoid inserting into the poured soap? Plastic? Acrylic paint? Oil paint? Watercolors? Will anything like that cause a bad reaction with the drying process?

-Are all the common ingredients used for soap making (including fragrance oils, scents, other additives) necessary if I'm not making a product to be bathed with?

-Do you know of kits/recipes that are better suited for my purposes, MP or CP?

-Do you know of any soap makers who have done something similar than what I plan? (That is, suspending objects or colors in soap for aesthetic purposes) I actually searched for a long time if any soap makers have tried this, I found the marbled soap of course but other than that all I found was this vendor:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/33 ... tsoap.jpg/



Thank you so much if you read all of this.

 

[Hazel]

I really can't help you because I don't do much MP. The most elaborate MP soap I've done is embedding skulls. However, I think the suspension base would probably be best for what you want to attempt. I suggest you look through Anne-Marie Faiola's tutorials and videos on MP. She's an expert and she also posts links to other sites.

http://www.soapqueen.com/category/bath- ... pour-soap/

http://www.youtube.com/user/soapqueentv

I don't think the size would be a problem since MP soap comes in slabs. But you'll want to line your plaster mold with freezer paper. Otherwise, I don't think you'd be able to get the soap out of the mold.

I can't answer about using plastics, paints, etc. I don't know how they would affect the soap. I have embedded small plastic toys in MP and they seemed to not affect the soap but I don't know how they would hold up for years.

Are all the common ingredients used for soap making (including fragrance oils, scents, other additives) necessary if I'm not making a product to be bathed with?

If you intend to use the MP to bathe with, then you must use additives that are skin safe. If you don't intend to wash with it, then you don't have to use skin safe additives. However, some additives which are not manufactured for soap may fade, discolor or bleed. MP doesn't require a drying or curing period. It just has to have hardened enough to remove it from the mold.

I hope this helps and I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

 

[everywherewherewhere]

Thank you very much Hazel that does help, especially with the freezer paper tip. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and try that suspension base, I'll come back if it works. I'd appreciate any further tips if available but otherwise thank you.

 

[Hazel]

Good luck! I hope it works for you. I'd like to hear how it turns out.

ETA: You may already know this but when you use the freezer paper, you want to have the shiny side in contact with the soap. Leave it sit for awhile after you take it out of the mold before you peel the paper off. This should help leave the sides smoother. Of course, I'm basing this on CP and it may not be necessary for MP but it doesn't hurt just to make sure.

 

[LauraB]

Pouring that sort of volume when it's already hardening and getting your pieces where you want them I suspect would be challenging.

My incllination would be to do a layered pour (liberally spraying each layer with rubbing alcohol before pouring the next). Instead of pouring one big tub and trying to insert objects, I would pour a few inches, then embed that layer of ojects, let it set up a bit before spraying and adding the next layer. There are a number of instructional videos on how to do this - you would just be doing a very sized up version.

Anne-Marie's videos would be a good starting point as Hazel suggested.

What I don't know is whether you would get some lines between the layers - I haven't layered something tall and all the same colour.

I suspect that some paints would bleed colour, you could do some testing to see if yours does. If you did an oxide mix, it would not.

If the mold you are proposing using is porous or not flexible you will have trouble getting your soap out. How about just a big plastic bucket or tupperware-type container?

I don't think it will last long-term as an art piece though. Typically MP is wrapped in a bag or saran to keep the moisture in it.

 

[Hazel]

My incllination would be to do a layered pour (liberally spraying each layer with rubbing alcohol before pouring the next). Instead of pouring one big tub and trying to insert objects, I would pour a few inches, then embed that layer of ojects, let it set up a bit before spraying and adding the next layer. There are a number of instructional videos on how to do this - you would just be doing a very sized up version.

Excellent suggestion! I didn't even think of how hard it would be to pour such a large quanity.