SMF May 2020 Challenge Signup – Diagonal Slice Stripe with Swirl

[szaza]

Awesome, thanks for the clarification @amd ! My mind is at ease now and ready to brainstorm the actual design (I hope). I think you're totally right about contrast being the most important aspect in this design and I see what you mean with thin lines or pointy layers distracting from that. Thanks for taking the time to answer

 

[jcandleattic]

1. Jersey Girl- Always up for a fun challenge. Never tried a stripe yet so now is as good a time as any!
2. dibbles - I see some 'learning opportunities' in my future
3. Bookreader451 - Staying true to my goal and trying another challenge
4. Primrose - always up for a new challenge
5. kafayat.learning is soo much fun
6. MarnieSoapien - I already have an idea or 5
7. jstheidi- I’m going to give this a try, never done stripe so I hope I can pour straight.
8. Arimara- @Mobjack Bay I'm adding her back in unless she posts otherwise.
9. Anstarx- I really need to try layers
10. jcandleattic - I'll give it a try...

 

[Jersey Girl]

@Jersey Girl you might be surprised at how much you can wiggle when cutting the stripe loaf downwards and still get a nice looking line between the two pours.

Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised tomorrow!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@szaza - I'm going to say no to the thin line design as poured from the pot. If you wanted to do multiple thin layers, you could do that. I've had an idea for a rainbow layered (6 layers) side with this design for a while, which would be much thinner layers than 3-4 layers normally poured. I'm also going to say no to the pointy layers design, I think that design will detract from the contrast between the swirled layer and the stripes.

My intention for the statement that your layers do not need to be perfect was I didn't want to discourage (what I consider) normal imperfections in layered soaps. The main points of this challenge are the diagonal cut and the contrast between the two soap pours. If you overdesign the stripe layers, you'll detract from the contrast. That said, if you absolutely must be creative with your layered side, I will allow sculpted layers such as this:
View attachment 45786

And just to clarify what I mean regarding non-perfect layers:
View attachment 45787

Soap layers are allowed to be "not straight" like above as long as one layer does not break completely through the next layer. so if you pour a layer and know it's not straight, want to add a bit of spoon sculpting to the layer before pouring the next, that's ok.

@Mobjack Bay i think you misunderstood the tilted comment.
View attachment 45788
I did not want someone to tilt their mold to pour their striped layers and thus avoid cutting the diagonal loaf. As long as your layers are horizontal, I don't care how you do it. So if you're fortunate enough to have a vertical section mold and want to use that, and then cut and place the layers so that the stripes are horizontal in the final cut that works too.

Yes, I see now that I missed some of the context. thanks for the clarification.

 

[Sonya-m]

1. Jersey Girl- Always up for a fun challenge. Never tried a stripe yet so now is as good a time as any!
2. dibbles - I see some 'learning opportunities' in my future
3. Bookreader451 - Staying true to my goal and trying another challenge
4. Primrose - always up for a new challenge
5. kafayat.learning is soo much fun
6. MarnieSoapien - I already have an idea or 5
7. jstheidi- I’m going to give this a try, never done stripe so I hope I can pour straight.
8. Arimara- @Mobjack Bay I'm adding her back in unless she posts otherwise.
9. Anstarx- I really need to try layers
10. Sonya-m - ooh the possibilities are endless!

 

[Jersey Girl]

@Jersey Girl you might be surprised at how much you can wiggle when cutting the stripe loaf downwards and still get a nice looking line between the two pours.

You we’re absolutely right about the diagonal cut being forgiving. But I need to go back to the drawing board on color choice and a better swirl. I wasn’t going for a rendition of the Irish flag. LOL Gonna give this one more shot.

 

[Sonya-m]

1. Jersey Girl- Always up for a fun challenge. Never tried a stripe yet so now is as good a time as any!
2. dibbles - I see some 'learning opportunities' in my future
3. Bookreader451 - Staying true to my goal and trying another challenge
4. Primrose - always up for a new challenge
5. kafayat.learning is soo much fun
6. MarnieSoapien - I already have an idea or 5
7. jstheidi- I’m going to give this a try, never done stripe so I hope I can pour straight.
8. Arimara- @Mobjack Bay I'm adding her back in unless she posts otherwise.
9. Anstarx- I really need to try layers
10. jcandleattic - I'll give it a try...
11. Sonya-m - oops, copied the wrong post and took space 10 in error

 

[bookreader451]

I have a question about gelling the soap. If I CPOP the striped layer can I CPOP again for the swirl?

 

[amd]

I have a question about gelling the soap. If I CPOP the striped layer can I CPOP again for the swirl?

I've never done a double cpop, but I don't think it would hurt anything. Although cpop might make it difficult to cut the stripe loaf, or the second cpop might make it hard to cut the strip portion. At least my recipe anyways is a lot harder after cpop, so I would be hesitant to do it that way if your soap is pretty hard. (Just thinking if it's hard after one round of cpop, would it be even harder after a second?) If you have a softer recipe I think it would be fine though.

 

[bookreader451]

hmmm wonder if I didn't CPOP the first loaf then CPOP the loaves after I added the swirl.

 

[earlene]

1. Jersey Girl- Always up for a fun challenge. Never tried a stripe yet so now is as good a time as any!
2. dibbles - I see some 'learning opportunities' in my future
3. Bookreader451 - Staying true to my goal and trying another challenge
4. Primrose - always up for a new challenge
5. kafayat.learning is soo much fun
6. MarnieSoapien - I already have an idea or 5
7. jstheidi- I’m going to give this a try, never done stripe so I hope I can pour straight.
8. Arimara- @Mobjack Bay I'm adding her back in unless she posts otherwise.
9. Anstarx- I really need to try layers
10. jcandleattic - I'll give it a try...
11. Sonya-m - oops, copied the wrong post and took space 10 in error
12. earlene - It has been SO long; I have to participate!

 

[dibbles]

@bookreader I usually force gel, but I'm not going to with the striped loaf. I added sodium lactate, but I am expecting it might take longer to get it out of the mold. After I make the second part, I will make sure it gels.

The striped loaf part of my first try is in the mold. I don't know how what I did will work, but if this is helpful to anyone I'll share my process. I mixed my oils, added my FO and then split the oils into what I needed for the two colors. I made 5 layers, so 40% of the oils for one color and 60% of the oils for the other. Then I added the mica to each pot so the colors would be consistent from layer to layer. I weighed out the amount of lye solution and oils I needed for each layer as I made the soap. After the first two layers, I did need to briefly warm my oils in the microwave. It seemed to work, we'll see in a day or two. Hopefully in a day because I am notoriously impatient and will likely unmold too soon.

Good luck all!

 

[bookreader451]

I am going to make my layers today. I was planning the same attack and split my oils and mix in the lye solution one layer at a time. I was thinking of using one of my recipes that move faster. I just don't want to lock myself into moving so fast with my swirl. I can usually on get an ITPS with the recipe I am thinking of using but I wanted to use one of Clyde's pours for my swirl.

Wondering if you can use two different recipes hmmmm another conundrum.

 

[dibbles]

I am going to make my layers today. I was planning the same attack and split my oils and mix in the lye solution one layer at a time. I was thinking of using one of my recipes that move faster. I just don't want to lock myself into moving so fast with my swirl. I can usually on get an ITPS with the recipe I am thinking of using but I wanted to use one of Clyde's pours for my swirl.

Wondering if you can use two different recipes hmmmm another conundrum.

I blended to the first signs of very light trace. By the time I got my stick blender and bowls wiped down, the previous layer had set enough to mix and pour the new one. You could try using an accelerating FO and add that right before you pour each layer. That's what I usually do and it works well. I also think you could use two different recipes, but have never tried it. Worst case, it breaks apart and you have triangle shaped soap.

 

[bookreader451]

It seems that my question about CPOP is moot. My layers decided to gel on their own accord..........oh the best laid plans of mice and soapers.

 

[amd]

I am going to make my layers today. I was planning the same attack and split my oils and mix in the lye solution one layer at a time.

For others signed up for the challenge: this is a good method for pouring layers if your batch is large enough. If you're doing a small batch for your striped layer - say 500g - what I would recommend is mixing your batter to just emulsion and coloring and pouring your layers that way. Actually, I'm even a bit hesitant mixing 1000g batch split this way - depending on how many layers you're doing, you may only have 200g oils per batch, which is pretty small. Work in your comfort level, though.

 

[dibbles]

For others signed up for the challenge: this is a good method for pouring layers if your batch is large enough. If you're doing a small batch for your striped layer - say 500g - what I would recommend is mixing your batter to just emulsion and coloring and pouring your layers that way. Actually, I'm even a bit hesitant mixing 1000g batch split this way - depending on how many layers you're doing, you may only have 200g oils per batch, which is pretty small. Work in your comfort level, though.

This is true and a good point. It would be easy to incorrectly measure the small amount of lye solution.

 

[bookreader451]

I took both loaves out of the mold today and I have to say I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. The soap is the colors I wanted and I like my swirl. I did two loaves with the divided stripe. I would try it again but I have 18 bars and that is enough for me.

Two notes:
1. My striped batch gelled on its own. The swirl didn't want to gel so I CPOP after letting it go a couple of hours to see if it would heat up. I did this because I was afraid of a color difference between the gelled and non-gelled parts.

2. I sprayed my diagonal with alcohol before pouring the swirl. Not sure it makes a difference but I had very good adhesion and delineation.

My striped batch was 33 oz of oil and I had no issues dividing it up and adding the lye layer by layer. It took a lot more time, some basic math and careful measuring, but my layers are pretty even.

I would love to make another batch but since I am happy enough with my first attempt I have to stop. I am running out of curing space.

 

[Jstheidi]

I’m glad yall are getting good results with this challenge. My first attempt was horrible! I’ve found out I can NOT pour a straight line to save my soul! But I finished the stripes....I tried to do black and white, I let it harden and then when I un molded it the white was kind of gray, so oh well..Moving forward anyway.....then I tried to cut it...that’s where the damage came in! I can’t even CUT a straight line! LOL but, again I kept on....crammed the “half mess” back in the mold and proceeded to mix the “swirl” I wanted to do pink and orange with white, I think I didn’t mix to trace good enough because when I tried to swirl all my colors, they just mixed together and the final project of the swirl after cutting It, looked like raw steak With ugly grayish or “dirty white“ and black unstraight lines! Im going to try again this next upcoming weekend and see if I can do better, it’s so hard to have the “proper” time for soaping with all my family home sheltered in plus I’m a “essential worker” for the hospital so I’m gone all week. Ugggh, but I really do want to try this again.

 

[dibbles]

One thing that helped me with the diagonal cut - even though my loaf was only 9", I still cut it in half (making 2 x 4.5" loafs). The first one I tried to cut was awful, but the second was much better. I thought that cutting in half would give me 2 tries at a full 9" loaf, or 4 tries if I used my 4" loaf mold (or one try full size and 2 with the small mold).