Next Attempt At Marble Soap

[SpaceCorgi94]

I made the marble soap again, same colours, same recipe, however this time I used a much larger mould and used the flat bottom surface to make the "Face" of the marble texture. Things went a bit better this time! Still not entirely happy. The shapes look more like the album cover to Radiohead's OK Computer than marble but okay I'll take what I can get at this point.

This...

.... looks too much like this.

Either way, I'd like too thank everybody again for the suggestions and advice from the last post I made. I've tried to incorporate as much of it into this batch, hopefully I'll be able to come at Marble textured soap again with a better outcome in the future Rest assured, updates on here will be given!

 

[penelopejane]

How did you do it? Looks like you mixed it too much in the pot.

 

[AliOop]

I think your soap looks great! I had the same experience. I just did my first marble soap attempt, and the face of my soap was a complete fail. I used way too much of the contrast colors. But like yours, the bottom was much closer to marble (except I didn't do it on purpose).

The one bar with all the black shows the top of the soap; all the others are the bottoms. It all looks more like granite than marble, though. Rats - more soap will be made tonight.

 

[SpaceCorgi94]

How did you do it? Looks like you mixed it too much in the pot.

I portioned out 2 seperate cups of the batch into smaller cups for colouring before dropping into the pot and pouring into the mold, pouring more in whenever the pigmented soap ran out. Maybe I need to just gently pour on top of the coloured soap back into the jug? I think next time I'll probably have the batter thicken up a tad more so there's less chance of mixing as it pours too.

So funny... I just did my first marble soap attempt, and the face of my soap was a complete fail. I used way too much of the contrast colors. But like yours, the bottom was much better! The one bar with all the black shows the top of the soap; all the others are the bottoms.

Okay I'm just gonna say it, that flipped over one (5C) is simply gorgeous.

 

[AliOop]

Thank you! That is my favorite bar, too. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like any sample of true marble that I can find.

I followed the exact process you described, plus sometimes I gave it a single stir in the pot. Obviously this technique is waaaaaay harder than it seems, at least for me.

 

[MGM]

The one smack in the middle looks to me like one of those microscopic photographs of dust mites

 

[Zany_in_CO]

The one smack in the middle looks to me like one of those microscopic photographs of dust mites

It does! ICK!

 

[penelopejane]

@AliOop That soap is beautiful. Better than any marble I've seen!

I portioned out 2 seperate cups of the batch into smaller cups for colouring before dropping into the pot and pouring into the mold, pouring more in whenever the pigmented soap ran out. Maybe I need to just gently pour on top of the coloured soap back into the jug? I think next time I'll probably have the batter thicken up a tad more so there's less chance of mixing as it pours too.

I was going to say that I had perfected the technique as I was waiting to unmold it. But NO! My last test attempt was a fail.
It looks more like a drop swirl.
I used 8% of the batter for the colour and I think 6% is a better ratio.
I had one main jug of plain and a small jug with the 8% which I coloured black (I think my AC black is too black).
At medium trace for both I poured part of the black into the plain jug in 3 dots. I did not stir. Then I poured that into a log mold. I repeated until it was finished.
I think maybe a technique somewhere between yours and mine might be good.


This one was poured into a cavity mold. I poured the AC dark grey (2%) and grey (4%) into a jug of white each in 3 dots then stirred it once before I poured it into a cavity mold. I think this is closer to what I want but I think the shape of the mold helped with the swirls created and I am trying to make it in a log mold because I don't want to plane off the top of a cavity mold.

 

[AliOop]

@penelopejane thank you so much! I think yours look amazing. Very marbly. Marblish? Marble-like? Whatever, they look like marble, esp. the second one.

 

[AliOop]

@SpaceCorgi94 I apologize, I didn’t intend to morph your thread into a general marble soap thread. Are you ok with that? Hope you will post pics of your next attempt here, too!

 

[SpaceCorgi94]

@AliOop lol that's fine!! No stress at all. Tbh Marbling is a technique I'd love to learn more about and try again in the future, but I feel like I've done as much as I'm willing to try right now seeing as I have many other techniques I'd love to try! So I'll definitely be coming back to these messages and posts in the future when I try again, they're a wealth of knowledge!

 

[Nanette]

All these photos of the soaps are beautiful, Imo............I am terrible at design so I appreciate everything I see.

 

[AliOop]

My first marble soap (post #3, above) nailed the colors for Breche de Vendome marble... but not the marble pattern. My second try was just the opposite - got a nice marble effect in the pattern, but some of the tan batter (carob powder) morphed to a pinkish color, so it doesn't look like my sample pic of Avenza marble. Sigh.

Also, once the pour started, the tan batter thickened really fast and wouldn't pour well into the pot for an ITPS. I tried spoon-swirling it but wasn't happy with how it was looking. I really thought it was going to fail, so I did pretty swirls on the top to make myself feel better (first pic). But just like the first time, when I flipped over the slab, behold, something marble-ish appeared (second pic). So I cleaned up a few bars (third pic) and am trying to decide whether this will be my entry.

 

[SPowers]

My first attempt at a salt bar happens to be a marble design. This soap couldn't be used as the clove oil was way too high. I've remade the soap twice more and can't get the lovely marble design I had origianlly.

 

[AliOop]

Beautiful! I did the same thing (in the same mold, no less) on one of my first soaps. It was an amazing marble swirl created using carob powder and activated charcoal that was lightly swirled in the pot. I have never again been able to replicate it!

 

[SPowers]

Beautiful! I did the same thing (in the same mold, no less) on one of my first soaps. It was an amazing marble swirl created using carob powder and activated charcoal that was lightly swirled in the pot. I have never again been able to replicate it!

I'm quite stubborn and will try again but think I won't do another salt soap.

 

[AliOop]

I'm quite stubborn and will try again but think I won't do another salt soap.

I thought that about salt soaps at first, and I put mine in the back of the cabinet and forgot about them. When I pulled them out many months later, they were amazing! You might revisit yours in a bit and see what you think.

As for marble soaps, I'm done making them for the challenge, but will probably make more for personal use. Such an easy, no-stress way to make pretty soap.

 

[SPowers]

I only say no salt soap because I want to try a loaf next time I do the marble effect. I don't want to worry about not cutting it soon enough, etc.
I have 3 batches of salt soap atm - the one I can't use I put in drawers for the scent and the other 2 give me lots to try and they should last a long time so I'll be able to gauge the difference as time goes on.

 

[Jersey Girl]

My first marble soap (post #3, above) nailed the colors for Breche de Vendome marble... but not the marble pattern. My second try was just the opposite - got a nice marble effect in the pattern, but some of the tan batter (carob powder) morphed to a pinkish color, so it doesn't look like my sample pic. Sigh.

Also, once the pour started, the tan batter thickened really fast and wouldn't pour well into the pot for an ITPS. I tried spoon-swirling it but wasn't happy with how it was looking. I really thought it was going to fail, so I did pretty swirls on the top to make myself feel better (first pic). But just like the first time, when I flipped over the slab, behold, something marble-ish appeared (second pic). So I cleaned up a few bars (third pic) and am trying to decide whether this will be my entry.
View attachment 47949View attachment 47950
View attachment 47952

I think these look terrific! Great job!

 

[SPowers]

My first marble soap (post #3, above) nailed the colors for Breche de Vendome marble... but not the marble pattern. My second try was just the opposite - got a nice marble effect in the pattern, but some of the tan batter (carob powder) morphed to a pinkish color, so it doesn't look like my sample pic. Sigh.

Also, once the pour started, the tan batter thickened really fast and wouldn't pour well into the pot for an ITPS. I tried spoon-swirling it but wasn't happy with how it was looking. I really thought it was going to fail, so I did pretty swirls on the top to make myself feel better (first pic). But just like the first time, when I flipped over the slab, behold, something marble-ish appeared (second pic). So I cleaned up a few bars (third pic) and am trying to decide whether this will be my entry.
View attachment 47949View attachment 47950
View attachment 47952

Those are gorgeous!