October 2020 Challenge - Tall and Skinny Shimmy

[Catscankim]

I am confused as to how much to pour before you turn the mold and start pouring on the other side

 

[szaza]

I am confused as to how much to pour before you turn the mold and start pouring on the other side

The straightforward answer is that it depends on the size of your mold and the amount of blobs/wall pours you want to do. The idea is to make equal sized pours, so divide your batch size by the amount of times you want to switch sides and that's the amount you want to pour before switching. Is that a helpful answer or do you have other concerns?

 

[Catscankim]

I am done with this challenge Lol. I tried. Just did my third one and i took a hanger to it. The colors together arent gonna look good with the hanger i dont think.

I started out messing up the color pours. It went downhill from there and i figured i needed to wing it after that. That didnt work.

And im not good with the hanger.

 

[szaza]

I am done with this challenge Lol. I tried. Just did my third one and i took a hanger to it. The colors together arent gonna look good with the hanger i dont think.

I started out messing up the color pours. It went downhill from there and i figured i needed to wing it after that. That didnt work.

And im not good with the hanger.

I'm so sorry this challenge didn't turned out the way you wanted!

 

[Catscankim]

I'm so sorry this challenge didn't turned out the way you wanted!

It was fun though!! Thats why i did it 3 times lol

 

[KimW]

Fifth ( I think) attempt is cut and there is satisfaction and even some glee. Now onto tweaking, because I can't leave well enough alone. LOL

Lessons learned for anyone that isn't already an expert (I'm lookin' at you, Miss Beautiful Bars on the First Try @AliOop ):
1.) Don't freakout or give up if your batter starts to thicken. Just keep pouring, pouring, pouring. (Rawhide! I just...it's early...)
2.) Gently tap and shimmy (with the mold on the counter move the long sides back and forth, as you would a thin cake batter) the mold a few times after all pouring is done. I wasn't tapping my mold for fear of ruining the design, but it appears that's just what I needed to do. The shimmy seems to have enhanced the "bloop bubble" at the end of the pours - does that make sense?
3.) Pour along the side of the mold that is DOWN. Yeah.
4.) The skinnier the mold, the better! Thanks, @szaza !!
5.) Don't be afraid to take your soap out of the oven early. You might just get cake out of the deal. That was some right good cake.
6.) There are no failures, just more laundry soap!

 

[szaza]

Fifth ( I think) attempt is cut and there is satisfaction and even some glee. Now onto tweaking, because I can't leave well enough alone. LOL

Lessons learned for anyone that isn't already an expert (I'm lookin' at you, Miss Beautiful Bars on the First Try @AliOop ):
1.) Don't freakout or give up if your batter starts to thicken. Just keep pouring, pouring, pouring. (Rawhide! I just...it's early...)
2.) Gently tap and shimmy (with the mold on the counter move the long sides back and forth, as you would a thin cake batter) the mold a few times after all pouring is done. I wasn't tapping my mold for fear of ruining the design, but it appears that's just what I needed to do. The shimmy seems to have enhanced the "bloop bubble" at the end of the pours - does that make sense?
3.) Pour along the side of the mold that is DOWN. Yeah.
4.) The skinnier the mold, the better! Thanks, @szaza !!
5.) Don't be afraid to take your soap out of the oven early. You might just get cake out of the deal. That was some right good cake.
6.) There are no failures, just more laundry soap!

I'm glad to hear your hard work payd off!

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I throw my hands up in defeat! The soap I made yesterday has no shimmy Nice layers, but no shimmy. I think I could do it if I had a helper whose job would be to turn the mold.

 

[KimW]

I throw my hands up in defeat! The soap I made yesterday has no shimmy Nice layers, but no shimmy. I think I could do it if I had a helper whose job would be to turn the mold.

But it's SO pretty! Reminds me of a foggy sunrise in the Hollers.
P.S. I found I really don't need to be in such a hurry when turning my mold...just a thought.

 

[szaza]

@MarnieSoapien I wish I could make layers like that

 

[linne1gi]

I definitely messed up one of my tries - the batter thickened up so quickly (probably the fragrance oil), so I ended up plopping the colors into the mold and trying to swirl the best I could.

 

[Jersey Girl]

I have to say...all these “fails” at this technique have turned out pretty darn amazing!

 

[linne1gi]

The straightforward answer is that it depends on the size of your mold and the amount of blobs/wall pours you want to do. The idea is to make equal sized pours, so divide your batch size by the amount of times you want to switch sides and that's the amount you want to pour before switching. Is that a helpful answer or do you have other concerns?

I was taught to divide the total batter by the number of pours (at least 7). So that's how I do a shimmy. Here's an old shimmy of mine. From 2019.

 

[tommysgirl]

View attachment 50721

Love the way this actually turned out

 

[szaza]

@linne1gi that's a pretty darn pretty soap you got there!

I know 7 pours is often used, but I've seen both more and less pours and felt a bit of freedom in the amount of pours could help make the technique less intimidating. Sometimes it can be easier to divide by 5, 6 or 8 instead of 7..

 

[szaza]

The Entry thread is now open! You can upload your entries until October 27, 2020 at 11:59 pm GMT

 

[linne1gi]

@linne1gi that's a pretty darn pretty soap you got there!

I know 7 pours is often used, but I've seen both more and less pours and felt a bit of freedom in the amount of pours could help make the technique less intimidating. Sometimes it can be easier to divide by 5, 6 or 8 instead of 7..

Thanks - just shows how a mistake can still look nice.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I think it looks great!

Thank You'

@Peachy Clean Soap I love your color selection. It looks like you are very close to shimmying, too!

Thank you' awww

Will The Soap Challenge Pictures Be Available For Viewing For Everyone?

 

[KiwiMoose]

Wooo! I'm not in the challenge but I just had to give this a go! Before I even started pouring I had to abort the mission because the batter thickened up like a biaarrtch! Opted for a very gloopy line pour and threw a chopstick in there and swirled it. The colours will look quite good I think, will have to wait for the cut tomorrow to see if it's saleable. I used white sage and lavender FO with lemongrass EO.
I don't think my recipe is ever going to be thin enough for this pour ( due to the soy wax in my recipe) but I have a 45% OO recipe that I use for Ione swirls that I could try it with sometime. Will post pics of the cut tomorrow.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

Wooo! I'm not in the challenge but I just had to give this a go! Before I even started pouring I had to abort the mission because the batter thickened up like a biaarrtch! Opted for a very gloopy line pour and threw a chopstick in there and swirled it. The colours will look quite good I think, will have to wait for the cut tomorrow to see if it's saleable. I used white sage and lavender FO with lemongrass EO.
I don't think my recipe is ever going to be thin enough for this pour ( due to the soy wax in my recipe) but I have a 45% OO recipe that I use for Ione swirls that I could try it with sometime. Will post pics of the cut tomorrow.

Gosh darn it' but glad u were able to save it & have a pretty soap. Looking forward to you pictures.