Welcome to the July 2024 SMF Soap Challenge: Woodgrain Designs
This month we will be creating soaps using the Woodgrain technique. This can be accomplished by a few different pouring methods, and can be made in either a traditional or tall & skinny loaf mold, or a slab mold. It will be completely up to you how you choose to create your woodgrain design.
SMF Challenge General Rules
To enter, you must have been an active SMF member for at least one month and have a minimum of 50 posts at the time the Challenge is posted. “Fluff” posts written with the sole intention of boosting post numbers do not apply. The only exception to this rule, is that the time and post requirements are removed for (do not apply to) Supporting Members. All eligible members may sign up and submit an entry at any time after the entry thread opens and before it closes.
Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced. Your entry must consist of bars made from a single batch of soap poured into one mold. In other words, your entry cannot include bars from different batches.
The sign-up list will be posted in this thread. Please add your name to the sign-up list if you’d like to participate. You don’t have to enter a soap if you don’t feel happy with what you have made, and you will still be able to vote. Still, we hope you will post about your experiences here in the main Challenge thread, along with non-entry photos (be prepared to be encouraged to keep trying).
In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for the SMF Challenge do so with the intent that they will make every attempt to submit an entry. We do understand that life happens, and that you may end up without an entry. However, signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote goes against the spirit of the challenge and is not allowed.
Throughout the month, we encourage you to use this general Challenge thread (not the Entry thread) to ask for advice, discuss techniques with other members, upload pictures of your non-entry challenge attempts, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
A separate Entry thread will be created towards the end of the month. Please do not post photos anywhere of your entry until the Entry thread is opened. Breaking this rule will disqualify that soap from this Challenge. The Entry thread is for challenge entries only; please don't post any comments there.
Your entry photo must include at least two bars of soap from a single batch. We encourage (but do not require) you to include in your entry post a description and additional photos demonstrating how you made your soap: the process, the technique, the fragrance, any special meaning behind your selected colors or design, etc. This gives voters a better understanding of, and appreciation for, what went into creating your soap. Please post the photo you would like used for the voting survey first.
Entries must be posted to the Entry thread (not to this general Challenge thread) before the closing time on the closing date. Late entries will not be accepted. If you miss the Challenge deadline, please upload pictures of your soap to the general Challenge thread instead. While it won’t be included in the voting, we always love to see anything you have created!
There is no prize attached to this Challenge. However, this is still a competition.
If your entry is deemed non-compliant, you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry if there is time to do so before the Entry thread closes. Otherwise, your entry will be excluded from voting. The challenge mods have the final say as to whether any given soap, photo, or registrant is eligible for entry and voting.
All eligible registrants who have signed up before the Entry thread closes will be eligible to vote, even if they do not submit an entry. A password-protected voting link and password will be sent to eligible registrants only, by private message via SMF conversations. Please check your SMF messages/conversations when the voting begins.
Note: all times listed below are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). It is your responsibility to convert times to your own time zone. You can use World Time Buddy or a similar converter to assist you with that.
* The entry thread will open on July 21st by 11:59 PM GMT.
* The entry thread will close on July 27th at 11:59 PM GMT.
* Voting information will be emailed to all eligible participants shortly thereafter.
* The voting survey will remain open until July 30th at 11:59 PM GMT, or until all votes are in, whichever is sooner.
* The winner will be announced by July 31st by 11:59 PM GMT.
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Specific Rules for this Challenge:
- Your entry must be made from one batch of CP (cold process) soap in a loaf or slab mold. You may use a heating pad, insulation or oven to keep the soap in the mold warm and to facilitate the gelling process.
- You may use any number or colors for creating your soap, and you may choose to use colors that wouldn’t be found in real wood. For example, if you want to make a ‘unicorn/fairy wood’ design and use purple, pink and blue – perfectly fine for this challenge. You are not required to add ‘knots’ to your design, but they are fun to pour and I think add to the overall wood look.
- No embeds or embellishments are allowed, with the exception of a small amount of colorant dispersed in oil which is added to the pouring vessel. In other words, if you want to add a mica in oil to the soap, it cannot be added directly to the mold.
- You can pour your soap to a single bar depth (for horizontal cuts only), or pour to a 2-3 bar depth and split the loaf. It seems that cutting the loaf can be confusing so I have included a pictorial that should help. Please ask if you are still unsure.
- Other techniques for pouring are allowed. Using squeeze bottles to create lines of colors works well, and I have seen some lovely woodgrain soaps made by using the spin swirl technique in a slab mold.
- Your entry photo must show the face of two bars.
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Tips:- The right batter consistency is important. Once you have reached emulsion, split the batter and color, and stir in your fragrance or essential oil. You need the batter to be fluid, but be patient and wait for a light trace.
- A One Pot Wonder pour is the quickest/easiest way to pour a woodgrain design. If you choose to pour this way, set your mold at an angle and pour down the side of the mold for the best results. Start with some of the base color and add the accent colors in different areas by pouring down the sides of the pitcher so the accent colors stay on top. Add more base color and accents as needed. You can also add colors by pouring lines of color instead of pools of color across the top of the base.
- Add knots by wiggling your pouring pitcher back and forth a few times, in one spot while pouring.
- You can divide your colors in any proportions you choose, but I like to have about 40-50% base color and use the rest in 3-4 accent colors.
- Choose a well behaved fragrance or essential oil.
Cutting your soap vertically, as you normally do for a loaf, will result in a One Pot Wonder look. Pretty, but not what we are looking for.
If you have poured your soap into a loaf with a depth of more than a single bar, you can simply split the loaf with a splitter if you have one and then cut the bars to the desired length. Otherwise, you can use a single bar cutter or knife to cut your loaf. Note – the red dot I placed on my soap is always on the top as it sits in the mold.
First cut your soap loaf into ‘chunks’ which are the desired length of the bar. I cut my loaf into 3” long pieces.
Next, place the chunk on the cutter, rotating the soap so that the top of the soap is facing out rather than up. I poured to a depth of two bars, so I made one cut dividing the piece in half.
OR
After cutting the loaf into chunks, turn the soap 90 degrees so the top is still facing up, but the side of the soap is now the ‘front’.
Here are a few pictures and some videos to get you started. Have fun and good luck to all!
by dibbles
by Mobjack Bay
by Twister Soaps
to be continued...
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