SMF November 2019 Challenge ENTRY thread - Spin Swirl

[earlene]

This is the Entry Thread for the to the November 2019 SMF Challenge - Spin Swirl Soap.

This thread is limited to challenge entries only. Please post all comments in the original challenge thread (https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/smf-november-2019-challenge-spin-swirl.77002/). Thank you.


Please post your entry soaps photos here. You may enter a group of soaps in one photo, or choose a minimum of two soaps for your entry photo, but choose one entry photo, please. You are welcome and encouraged t0 include any details you would like to share regarding the creation of your entry, such as technique, design inspiration, fragrance, recipe notes, etc.

If you choose to post multiple photos please indicate which one you would like to be used in the voting survey. In the absence of such indication, one of the photos will be chosen as the entry photo from the selection you have posted.

The entry thread and challenge sign up will remain open until November 27, 2019 at 11:59 pm CST. A link and the password for voting at Survey Monkey will then be sent to all members who signed up for the Challenge. Voting will be open from November 28, 2019 through November 30, 2019) and the winner announced on December 1, 2019. There is no prize attached to this challenge.

Good luck everyone!



The November 2019 SMF Challenge is Spin Swirl Soap.

 

[Kiti Williams]

This was the first and only try with this method. I SB the batter to just a wee bit over emulsion, then split the batter into 4 4 cup measures for the colorants. I used red, yellow and blue, with the 4th just plain batter. I got a low sided box from my local craft store, and lined it with press and seal, then freezer paper. My batter was very thin, so I got nice swirls on the top, but the cut shows the colors blobbing. No scents in this, as most of my soaps are not scented. I got very nice movement that looks almost like the chop stick swirls of the other challenges. I did almost drop the slab mold, so the lines got abit out from the middle.

 

[szaza]

Although it was a pain to make with lots of things going wrong (I've ranted enough about it in the other thread) this soap turned out a lot better than I'd dare hope, mainly because the batter stayed fluid the entire time, which is amazing since it took so long to mix all the colorants and get everything in the mold(s) 2 teaspoons at a time.
Since black, grey and white wasn't an option, I decided to go for the other extreme.. Here's my 11 color rainbow spin swirl

For those wanting more technical details..

Colorants used were:
-pink clay
-pink clay + paprika infusion
-paprika infusion
-paprika infusion + annatto infusion
-annatto infusion
-annatto infusion + spirulina powder in oil
-spirulina powder in oil
-spirulina + indigo powder in oil
-indigo powder in oil
-alkanet infusion + indigo powder in oil
-alkanet infusion
(I wanted to add alkanet+pink clay but ran out of alkanet infusion)
I forced gel in the oven. There's another mold filled during the same pour that didn't gel and it's still soft (and full of ash)

Scent is a blend of lavandin, litsea and mint, which is rather subtle (read boring) but I ran out of most EO's so had to make do with what I had.

 

[DKing]

This was my one and only attempt in a pseudo slab mold....a box I got at the dollar store. I did not get the squeeze bottles I had wanted to use, so used some measuring cups, which worked well enough. I mixed up my batter until emulsion then added my EO's, which were a mix of litsea, mint and lemon (we had the same general idea, szaza!) which smells AMAZING!! Then I split it into its individual measuring cups with fairly equal portions of a deep pink, purple, and orange/peach micas plus a portion left natural....I used a smaller amount that I mixed with some charcoal and a little clay as I wanted it to be minimal and be more like a grout for the other colours rather than a main feature. The batter started to thicken a little towards the end, but not bad so I was able to get a decent swirl going. Popped it in the oven for a bit to force gel, then cut it up the next morning. All was going pretty well until this point, as I decided to take pictures. TERRIBLE lighting in the house on that day, plus my phone camera seems to be washing the colour badly lately. Decided to take the soap out on my back deck to try and find better lighting.....tripped and all the soap hit the deck, which happens to have some dirt, fur and pine needles on it. My only option was to try and salvage it by cutting of the dents and debris. Would have gone fine if I had a planer, but nope, just a fillet knife to try and cut a nice thin shave off each one. Well lets just say my hand isn't as steady as I hoped. They have some waves and are definitely not symmetrical, but I was too frustrated to make another attempt. Still could not get decent lighting, or I need a new phone with a better camera, so here it is in all it's glory.

 

[SoapySuds]

Ok, this probably barely counts as an entry. I used two colorants: titanium dioxide and activated charcoal. I split my batter into two portions, and colored and poured. The box I used was a box top lined with Saran Wrap, and as you can see, the bars are barely a half inch thick, if that. However, I’m actually ok with the overall appearance and will probably do something similar again. The scent is Birch Tree.

 

[mommycarlson]

This one didn't clean up as nicely as my 2nd "fail" posted on the challenge thread. I just liked the contrast in colors better. Strangely enough the colors are almost all the same as the other one, I must have used a heavier hand? This one is scented with Hippie Chick from RE, the colors are Yellow Raincoat, Peacock, Tangerine, Voodoo, Maniacal Pea and Pow Pow Purple, all from MO. The bars are getting soda ash from being poured at emulsion. I've planed them and beveled them twice!

 

[Karmic]

This was from my first and so far only attempt at this challenge though honestly now that I got my Trial By Fire red mica from Nurture I'm really curious to see how this would look in that color. For now I'm really psyched about how this turned out from my little 6 bar slab mold. Colors used are Sirens Song and Black Iron Oxide, FO is Honeysuckle, all of which came from Nurture. The white is just my uncolored batter. Pay no attention to the spots of soda ash

Good Luck everybody!

 

[bookreader451]

Well mine is eerily similar to Karmic.

This month my inspiration is more interesting than the soap.

I was watching Queer Eye Japan and a woman named Yoko was their “project”. She is a private hospice nurse who turned her home into a gentle place for dying persons, and purchased the home next door to build a community center. She also loved Audrey Hepburn.

After I sobbed my way through the episode, Yoko stayed with me. So she inspired my soap. This is Holly Golightly’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

 

[dibbles]

My entry for this challenge was my first attempt. The second try didn't gel and is still too soft to plane and bevel. It is also quite similar to the entries by @bookreader451 and @Karmic. The fragrance is White Citrus from WSP, and some batter did go overboard while I was spinning the mold. Both times. I do love how the patterns wrap around the sides of the cut bars with this technique. Thanks @earlene for hosting the challenge - it was fun!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Here’s my entry! My soap is still a bit soft, but it cleaned up well enough. I was inspired by all the purple mica I have on hand after buying it on close out. My ability to get swirls was limited, I think, by the small size of the slab mold I used (6” x 6”). I’m now lusting after one of those larger slab molds with the dividers. The white is uncolored batter and I wish there was more of it. The first few pours seemed to dive under the colored soap and ended up near the bottom of the soap. You can see the buried white on the sides of the soaps on the left. I’m still trying to get the hang of the balance of colors for soaps like this. The uncolored batter was only 30% of this mix and next time I will probably go with 50%.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

these bars are so much bigger than my regular bars, they almost don’t fit into my soap boxes. Reminds me of Duke Cannons big man soap bars lol but not quite as large.
I have a funny looking spin face in my soap and it made me think of an angry monkey saying no more spinning!

my entry though isn’t so terrible as I thought, just really muted colors and I wanted a pretty colorful swirl. My colorants are Lime green mica, activated charcoal and black walnut hull powder, scented with cedarwood and eucalyptus.

 

[Dawni]

My swirl is lacking some more spins I feel. I already did so many and the sides were starting to get muddy, plus the batter had thickened up so this is as far as it wanted to go. @earlene if it doesn't qualify for this challenge please exclude it.

Hot processed soap with lard, RBO, sweet almond oil, cocoa & shea butters and castor oil, in that order. This is my recipe with rice as additives. I've found that not only does it cook fast and make a really hard bar, it also stays a lot more fluid a lot longer than other recipes, at normal 3:1 lye ratio.

Colored with annatto infusion for the yellow, zinc oxide for the white and a mix of chlorella, spirulina, nettle, wheatgrass and kelp for the green. Scented with cinnamon, cardamom, clove, ginger and anise.

 

[MarnieSoapien]

I made a much smaller batch than I usually do because I was trying out a new FO. Unfortunately I feel like my colors are muted. I've done a spin swirl in the past and really enjoy the technique. The FO is Fairy Dust and the colorants are Black Gold mica, Egyptian Blue mica and Jade mica.

 

[Michele50]

Once again, a technique I had been wanting to try but I’ll need more practice to get a more fluid batter. I was actually surprised that I got ‘some’ swirl despite the small box AND thickness of my soap batter. It included palm oil so I soaped about 105 F but probably could have gone down to 98-ish. I’m still new at cooler soaping (2 months) so I’m a little weary my palm won’t behave at 98F.

I repurposed an Amazon box to make a small 6” x 8” box for my 1st attempt, used shipping tape for the inside corners to prevent leaking and lined it with freezer paper. It was deep enough to get 8 small bars. What I liked about this attempt vs #2 & #3 was the depth of the colors—truer to those used. My colors: Mystic Magic Red, TD, Rose Red, Silver Shimmer Black, Green Chrome Oxide and I divided my colors into equal parts per color. The high amount of EVOO in #2 muted my nice bright colors ☹ and somewhat resembled @MarnieSoapien. My 3rd try looked close to @SideDoorSoaps's, plus I wasn’t pleased with the lack of depth of colors of my last attempt which had all of these plus yellow.


Not wise to use a new fragrance for a technique one hasn't ever tried b/4 but the fragrance did behave: White Peach Prosecco (Crafter's Choice from WSP)

 

[earlene]

The survey link for voting and the password have been send via conversations (formerly known as private messaging) to all 19 members who signed up for the challenge.

The password is case specific, so if you can't get in, double check you don't have your CAPs turned on.

Send me a private message (conversation) if you have any troubles getting in, or if you didn't get the link & password. I will check periodically tonight & tomorrow, and respond accordingly.

 

[earlene]

We have the winners:

1. dibbles
2. mommycarlson
3. a tie between DKing and Mobjack Bay

Congratulations to each and every one of you who participated. I know this was much more challenging than I anticipated myself when I first started the project, and based on all the comments on the thread, it seemed as challenging to you as it did to me. Thank you all for joining in and sharing your experiences with the Spin Swirl.

 

[Michele50]

CONGRATS @dibbles, @mommycarlson, @DKing, and @Mobjack Bay!! Great and beautiful soaps.

 

[DKing]

Thank you for everyone who gave me a vote! I did not expect to place at all with all the beautiful entries so I am truly appreciative! Congrats to @dibbles, @mommycarlson and @Mobjack Bay

 

[Mobjack Bay]

What a wonderful surprise! Thank you. I’m honored to be on the list with @dibbles @mommycarlson and @DKing and truly inspired by all!

 

[bookreader451]

Congratulations to the winners and to everyone who entered.