SMF February Challenge - Spin Swirl

[LisaAnne]

Had big dreams on this soap, started out with primary colors on the bottom and wanted to slowly transition to secondary colors on top. That part worked, red yellow blue on the bottom and more of orange green and purple on top. I did it by mixing the primary colors but I doubt very much the inside is smooth. I am going to keep trying it until I get it down. I think it could look great if I get it down.

 

[BusyHands]

Had big dreams on this soap, started out with primary colors on the bottom and wanted to slowly transition to secondary colors on top. That part worked, red yellow blue on the bottom and more of orange green and purple on top. I did it by mixing the primary colors but I doubt very much the inside is smooth. I am going to keep trying it until I get it down. I think it could look great if I get it down.

You might be surprised after its cut. I like the purple, orange & green!!

 

[LisaAnne]

You might be surprised after its cut. I like the purple, orange & green!!

Thanks, I hope so. But it got pretty crazy while pouring. I think next time I will lighten it up a bit. I have it envisioned how it should look if it works! if not this time, I'll try again.

 

[BlackDog]

I'll post a pic of my first one. I misread the challenge and didn't realize we needed a mirror image, so I only poured a small batch in one layer.

I like how it turned out though! I did a second batch yesterday that I'm very happy with and I might do a third just because this is a really fun technique. Here's a couple of bars from try #1. Scented with Nurture Black Raspberry Vanilla

 

[BusyHands]

Very Fitting & Lovely!

 

[LisaAnne]

That's very pretty! I doubt my swirls are well defined like yours. Mine is too thick! I don't have a clue on how I'm going to cut it. I like your colors a lot. Goes well with the scent, one of my favorites.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

I attemted a spin for the challenge.
All I got was mud... :sick:

My fault. I was expecting it to set up, but it took a while, and when I thought it was sturdy enough, I started the spin.
And mud here we go.

Will unmold and cut to show the mess. But it will take a while, it was with olive and lard and tiny bit coconut. I covered it so it will gel, at least that will enhance the colors some.

Wonder how it will look on the inside when it was this ugly on the outside. Not expecting any awesome looking mirror image on this one..:?

 

[Misschief]

I attemted a spin for the challenge.
All I got was mud... :sick:

My fault. I was expecting it to set up, but it took a while, and when I thought it was sturdy enough, I started the spin.
And mud here we go.

Will unmold and cut to show the mess. But it will take a while, it was with olive and lard and tiny bit coconut. I covered it so it will gel, at least that will enhance the colors some.

Wonder how it will look on the inside when it was this ugly on the outside. Not expecting any awesome looking mirror image on this one..:?

You might just be surprised.

 

[Muskette]

Don't forget how long low water batter stays fluid! Well, as long as your use the right FO, it will stay fluid for up to a couple hours.

Are you saying that low water would be better than high water for this technique? I'm so interested in this, because everything I've ever read said that if you want more fluid batter for swirling, use more water. Personally, I like to use 35% lye concentration and my batter always thickens up very quickly, despite using all the "tricks" to keep it fluid, such as soaping cool, using a whisk, etc. I realize it could be my recipes or fragrance oils, but I'd love to know more about your method of keeping low water batter fluid.

 

[Sonya-m]

I'll post a pic of my first one. I misread the challenge and didn't realize we needed a mirror image, so I only poured a small batch in one layer.

I like how it turned out though! I did a second batch yesterday that I'm very happy with and I might do a third just because this is a really fun technique. Here's a couple of bars from try #1. Scented with Nurture Black Raspberry Vanilla

That's really lovely.

You could if you wanted to continue to make your smaller batches just slice 1 or 2 bars in half to reveal the swirl and keep the other bars uncut

 

[lionprincess00]

Are you saying that low water would be better than high water for this technique? I'm so interested in this, because everything I've ever read said that if you want more fluid batter for swirling, use more water. Personally, I like to use 35% lye concentration and my batter always thickens up very quickly, despite using all the "tricks" to keep it fluid, such as soaping cool, using a whisk, etc. I realize it could be my recipes or fragrance oils, but I'd love to know more about your method of keeping low water batter fluid.

You're fo must be 100% behaving. Yo can not go by the description. The descriptions will say behaves, but they mean in full water. Through trial and error, newbie and I have found the best behaving fos that work in low water. These particular fos not only slow trace, they can almost stall it. You can have an hr or 2 with emulsion only. It's a little known secret we are so happy to have stubled upon, and we love sharing what we've learned. Adding brown micas, TD IF mixed in water, and AC can speed trace back. Adding TD in water or extra water period, after sbing your low water batter to emulsion, will cause a faster more rapid trace to develop in that extra water portion...much more rapid than in higher water you add TD/water to. I blend my TD in 1, maybe 2 tsp tops of water. Like less than a capful from the distilled gallon jug. It's so little it doesnt affect my trace much, and it's actually enough to dissolve the TD.

 

[BlackDog]

That's really lovely.

You could if you wanted to continue to make your smaller batches just slice 1 or 2 bars in half to reveal the swirl and keep the other bars uncut

Yeah, I tried that with one, but I didn't like the inside as well as I liked the outside, and I didn't want to be cutting all my bars up. Solution: make more soap!

 

[newbie]

Yep, low water (1.4:1 ratio of water to lye) is amazing when used with the right fragrance. You have to be certain to SB only to emulsion and not to trace. Even if you blend to mostly emulsed (a little bit of oil on the surface) and then separate and color, you will still be blending each color all the way. If you have that little bit of oil on the top and add minimal water mixed with TD, you can usually have it behave fine. If you blend all the way to trace, then separate and add TD, it tends not to work. I split early and color, then use a mini-blender (the famous Badger works great http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BROV02/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20) to blend them to trace, which can seriously test your patience as I've had it stay completely fluid for two hours. I also think the colors stay sharper/more defined from each other.

Some FO's that work:

BB's Champagne, Kumquat, Patchoulis, Amber, Orange Peel plus Amber, White TEa and Ginger, I think Blackberry Sage

Oregon Trails Mysore Sandalwood

Candle Science's Fruit Slices

WSP's Love Spell (most Love SPell's are slow to trace so you may be lucky with most suppliers), black raspberry vanilla
Neroli Shea blossom bb
Mysore sandalwood ot
Probably but not certain lavender cedar bb
Fresh snow bb
Lavender forest bb
Black vetyver coffee daystar
Lychee red tea bb
Green Irish tweed ot
Milk sugar kisses daystar
Blend of lavender 40/42, eucalyptus,patchouli and cedar eo's
Blend of rosemary, lavender, litsea, patchouli and cedarwood eo's
Blend of Ginger patchouli bb, Orange peel bb, and patchouli eo, leading me to believe they're all probably safe alone in low water
Blend of rosemary,cedarwood, and frankincense eo's
Blend of rosemary eo, cedarwood eo, mysore sandalwood fo OT, and juniper berry eo
Blend of juniper berry fo, vetyver fo bb, cedarwood eo
Patchouli passion fb
Lavender sage fb
Cedarwood/juniper berry fo by fb
Sultana, fb, I *think* may be a tad accelerated fo because I don't fully remember. Think started slow and then went fast at the sweet point.
BlackBerry sage bb
Toffee sugar crunch daystar
Blend cedarwood lavender 42/40 and 10xorange eo's
Blend cedarwood, lavender 42/40, 10xorange and litsea, patchouli eo's
Blend pomegranate black currant bb and velvet peppercorn mad oils leading me to believe they're both work fairly well alone
Almond creme rustic escentuals
Sweetgrass bb
Blend mysore sandalwood ot, velvet peppercorn MO, cedarwood eo and sweetgrass bb
Blend pomegranate black currant bb and earl grey MO, leading me to believe they're both work alone well
Silver mountain water ot

 

[Muskette]

Wow, thank you newbie and lionprincess for this information! I'm fascinated by this... and I do have several of those behaving FOs, so I can try it out. And I'll add my little contribution, BB's Yuzu behaves nicely. It's the only FO that I've used in my low water soap that took a loooong time to trace. Thanks again!!

 

[newbie]

I should add that LP tends to add her FO's just before pouring (hers is the more condensed list) and that gives you more leeway. I like to add my FO to the oils which means they are sitting there for much longer and a few of them may not work as well when added early. I'm thinking specifically of Lychee Red Tea which I think accelerates a little and may not work in the way I do it.

Patch FO's and EOs work as well.

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Can we still sign up for this??

 

[Saponista]

Yes you can sweetbubbletreat

 

[SweetBubbleTreat]

Please add me to the list...I'm on my phone and not sure how to do it. Thank you!!

 

[DeeAnna]

Other FOs for low water --

Blackberry vanilla, NG (Natures Garden)
Sweetgrass, NG
Green Tea, NG

 

[LisaAnne]

This wasn't supposed to be an imitation of a soap that I've already seen. But, it was still fun to do.