I've been thinking about this design idea for years, and finally had time on Friday to give it a go. So many things went wrong. I used a lavender sage EO/FO blend because it doesn't immediately accelerate too much, but sets up quickly. I split off the oils needed for the black and white layers. I poured the first layer and used scrapers made from dollar store cutting mats. All went according to plan...until I realized I had miscalculated the amount of oils I had poured off for the black layer. Since my remaining batch oils were already colored white, I had to mix another small batch of oils for the black layer. It didn't take too long, but obviously the first layer sat there for awhile. I poured the black layer and it was taking a frustratingly long time to set up enough to scrape. In my hurried state I had grabbed a bottle of lavender/peppermint EO instead of the lavender/sage blend. So that resulted in an even longer wait before I could scrape and pour the final layer. I tucked the soap into the heating pads and blankets. When I checked on the soap it was starting to overheat, so I uncovered it.
When I cut the soap, there were what I assume to be steric swirls and quite a few air bubbles (I have to stop being in denial about the state of my stick blender). There is a thin line between the black and white layers on the right side. While there are other thin swirls throughout the black and to some extent on the left side, only the right side has a line running completely from top to bottom. This is the layer that was poured first. Interesting. The recipe had a palmitic number of 18 and a stearic number of 9, a lye concentration of 35% and 2%SF. The only differences between layers is using a different fragrance in the black layer and the pouring temps. I didn't take any temperatures while making this batch, but since it was a solid color I soaped a little warmer than normal - I'm going to guess around 100F. I heated the oils for each 'mini batch' before adding the lye solution.
So, I got this one done. I might give it another try, but not for awhile. I need to figure out something that will make a better scraper. I don't like that the white parts aren't a mirror image. Anyway, I thought some of you might find this of interest.
When I cut the soap, there were what I assume to be steric swirls and quite a few air bubbles (I have to stop being in denial about the state of my stick blender). There is a thin line between the black and white layers on the right side. While there are other thin swirls throughout the black and to some extent on the left side, only the right side has a line running completely from top to bottom. This is the layer that was poured first. Interesting. The recipe had a palmitic number of 18 and a stearic number of 9, a lye concentration of 35% and 2%SF. The only differences between layers is using a different fragrance in the black layer and the pouring temps. I didn't take any temperatures while making this batch, but since it was a solid color I soaped a little warmer than normal - I'm going to guess around 100F. I heated the oils for each 'mini batch' before adding the lye solution.
So, I got this one done. I might give it another try, but not for awhile. I need to figure out something that will make a better scraper. I don't like that the white parts aren't a mirror image. Anyway, I thought some of you might find this of interest.
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). Is there a reverse figure in that one, too? Or the soap just reminded him of this picture?
