SMF March 2021 Soap Challenge - Air Blow Technique aka Dutch Pour Technique aka Wind Blow Technique

[earlene]

Corrected Sign-up List

1. The_Phoenix - I have a feeling my family won't see much of me for the next 26 days.
2. KimW - Thank you for hosting, Earlene! Hope your visit with MIL is pleasant.
3. AMD - hopefully I don't blow this (oh, wait... that's the opposite of what I need to do...)
4. glendam - this sounds intriguing and I need an excuse to make more soap
5. Mobjack Bay - YES, YES, YES!!!
6. bookreader451 - Always willing to try something new.

 

[SPowers]

1. The_Phoenix - I have a feeling my family won't see much of me for the next 26 days.
2. KimW - Thank you for hosting, Earlene! Hope your visit with MIL is pleasant.
3. AMD - hopefully I don't blow this (oh, wait... that's the opposite of what I need to do...)
4. glendam - this sounds intriguing and I need an excuse to make more soap
5. Mobjack Bay - YES, YES, YES!!!
6. bookreader451 - Always willing to try something new.
7. SPowers - I was going to beg off this one til I saw the micas & more video! she's a girl after my own heart and I also liked the straw idea... no more new equipment for me and I know I drop my hairdryer right into the middle of my mold!

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I'll be setting out of this Challenge' I dont have a slab mold, however i'll try this technique for fun on my rectangle mold. I'm looking forward to seeing all your works of soap art. .

 

[KimW]

I'll be setting out of this Challenge' I dont have a slab mold, however i'll try this technique for fun on my rectangle mold. I'm looking forward to seeing all your works of soap art. .

I hope you share pictures of your creation(s) in this thread anyway, Peachy! I'd just love to see what you come up with.

 

[Vicki C]

Oh, I can’t wait to see the entries! Busy month, retiring April 2, grandchild due April 6, and I’ve been away helping my mom post surgery for the past week. I’ll be a happy observer in March.

 

[dibbles]

I'm not sure if I'll be able to play this month, but will sign up if it turns out I can. But, I have blown through a straw to move soap batter around and I want to share a good tip.

Have more than one straw available and keep them in a small jar or something. I tend to get soap batter on my gloves which can transfer to the straw but isn't necessarily very visible. If you want to set the straw down to turn the mold (or whatever), be sure to set it back in the jar with the end you have blown through pointing up. If you are unsure you did this or just laid the straw on your table, take a new straw. It's easier than you might think to be distracted by your beautiful soap and accidentally transfer a tiny amount of batter from a straw to your lips.

 

[bookreader451]

I have a question. I made my base soap and it is CPOPing right now. When I get ready to do the blowing should I unmold it and use the smooth bottom?

My thinking is I would be able to work more easily if it is unmolded and you have the smooth surface.

 

[The_Phoenix]

I have a question. I made my base soap and it is CPOPing right now. When I get ready to do the blowing should I unmold it and use the smooth bottom?

My thinking is I would be able to work more easily if it is unmolded and you have the smooth surface.

I've been thinking the same thing. Using an unmolded soap slab will have a few benefits: unobstructed access to the entire soap top (no mold edges to impede in the flow of the moving soap) and any blowing upon freshly poured soap batter won't disrupt the solid soap base.

I'm going to practice today to get a feel for how the soap moves...or doesn't move.

 

[Tara_H]

I'm going to practice today to get a feel for how the soap moves...or doesn't move.

I've got a good example of 'not moving' from my practice today! Just in case it's useful for anyone else

I did try it with an unmoulded, planed slab, I think having a rim on it would cause weird effects.

 

[bookreader451]

Is anyone changing their recipe for the top? I used my favorite recipe for the base but I am thinking I might want to use a slower moving recipe for the top.

 

[KimW]

Is anyone changing their recipe for the top? I used my favorite recipe for the base but I am thinking I might want to use a slower moving recipe for the top.

Yep - I'm going to use my "fast mover" for the base, because I am NOT a patient soaper, and my "medium mover" recipe for the top.

 

[Peachy Clean Soap]

I hope you share pictures of your creation(s) in this thread anyway, Peachy! I'd just love to see what you come up with.

Awwww Thank you' I was thinking of what I'd use for wind? had the bright idea taking soap outside letting the "natural wind blow the design " Organically " but a second latter thought I'd get dirt in my soap!!! lol

 

[earlene]

I have a question. I made my base soap and it is CPOPing right now. When I get ready to do the blowing should I unmold it and use the smooth bottom?

My thinking is I would be able to work more easily if it is unmolded and you have the smooth surface.

I have used the bottom surface for the top in multiple soaps, primarily because the bottom so often looks muddy, and by turning the bottom upward, then the bottom becomes the center-ish when additional layers are added.

So, I say, absolutely if you want to do so. Of course, if the top doesn't have a rough surface, which not all top surfaces do, it really doesn't make much difference.

I've been thinking the same thing. Using an unmolded soap slab will have a few benefits: unobstructed access to the entire soap top (no mold edges to impede in the flow of the moving soap) and any blowing upon freshly poured soap batter won't disrupt the solid soap base.

I'm going to practice today to get a feel for how the soap moves...or doesn't move.

It really depends on how thick the soap for top design is when you pour it. With thicker batter, it would work, but not so much with a very liquid batter.

I prefer to have the mold edges as a wall to catch any accidental blowing of soap beyond the edge. And of course with very thin soap batter containing the soap in the mold is pretty important, especially when it comes to cleaning up the workspace.


@ Tara_H, Love the look of your first attempt! And thanks for sharing your 'kill room' set up. Kudos on your PPE set up. So did you decide not to use the air compressor? I wasn't sure from your narrative. Or was it because of the cold speeding up your batter that you chose the hair dryer.

Also, I'm curious if you tested out the air compressor for how powerfully it would blow a liquid? I still think using anything other than a mini (handheld size) air compressor would be too powerful, but I guess it depends on how powerful yours is as my only reference is the one my husband uses for power-washing & garage stuff.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

slab mold ideas - when I first started making soap, I used the outer box of an old Trivial Pursuit game that I bought at the thrift store as a mini slab mold. I also used the smaller card boxes as mini loaf molds and I still use the gazillion game cards as shims when I need to level a mold. Pretty good value for a $2 purchase. I kept the boxes because I hate to throw things away (yes, it’s a problem) and because they remind me of my early soap making adventures . The cardboard is much stronger than a cereal box and the bottoms are smooth, unlike shipping boxes. I loved that I could fold the lining paper over the inner/smaller part of the box and then slide it into the outer box. Right now I also have some heavy weight cardboard shoe boxes sitting around that look like they would work fine as slab molds.

 

[KimW]

Can the background color be the same color as the base soap?

 

[The_Phoenix]

Can the background color be the same color as the base soap?

To piggyback on @KimW’s question, the rules state that the background can be white, uncolored, or black. Are those the only acceptable background colors allowed to use as the “canvas” on which we start the technique?

 

[glendam]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, corrugated plastic also makes a quick slab mold. I have also used a plastic drawer, and have also made one with legos (I did a plastic liner for it)

 

[Tara_H]

did you decide not to use the air compressor?

In the end I didn't use it because it will only blow very cold air and I wanted the heat from the hairdryer. I'm still planning on trying it today; the pressure can be adjusted and I was practicing with blowing bits of dust around but I can't be sure how it will react with liquid until I try - hopefully the consistency will be better today. I may try a warm water bath to stabilise the temperatures of the small coloured batches when I'm not using them.

 

[The_Phoenix]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it yet, corrugated plastic also makes a quick slab mold. I have also used a plastic drawer, and have also made one with legos (I did a plastic liner for it)

These are so lovely. BTW, I really enjoy watching your videos.

 

[Tara_H]

Has anyone had any luck in replicating the 'cells' that you get in the paint version of this technique? From my reading up it depends on having different surface tension between the liquids in the pour, but I imagine coming in contact with soap batter is going to mess up the obvious options.

Here's today's attempt (will post properly in the photo gallery thread when I have the energy (edit, now posted in excruciating detail!)), I tried using titanium dioxide dispersed in hand sanitiser (70% ethanol, some water and glycerine) and a couple of drops of soap dye straight from the bottle then dragged out with a skewer. The dye is one which I always have trouble dispersing so I hoped it would be somewhat resistant to the batter in this case. I would say it's a mixed level of success. (I started out with the aim to do trees, but ended up with another ocean!)