SMF Soap Challenge -July 2017 Mermaid Tail Soaps

[SunRiseArts]

Am I the one who gave you the idea?
I just made a mermaid soap, but with real tales....

Not sure I can participate, I will add myself, but I am on the road, hopefully I have time when I get back.

 

[Saponista]

1.earlene - I have not seen this one before; it should be fun!

2. Omneya- I have seen this before, but it was called dragon scales. Still want to try it!

3. dibbles - I've actually tried this once - it didn't go well. Time to try again!

4. toxikon - pretty shiny scales!!!

5. BattleGnome - an exercise in patience for me

6. PenelopeJane - Time poor this month but I will try and make time.

7. Soapprentice - oooooooohhhh..... Dragon scales!!

8. Mx5inpenn - I was thinking dragon too!

9. jewels621 - I'm in again....so fun!
10. Saponista - always wanted to try this!

 

[SunRiseArts]

1. earlene - I have not seen this one before; it should be fun!
2. Omneya- I have seen this before, but it was called dragon scales. Still want to try it!
3. dibbles - I've actually tried this once - it didn't go well. Time to try again!
4. toxikon - pretty shiny scales!!!
5. BattleGnome - an exercise in patience for me
6. PenelopeJane - Time poor this month but I will try and make time.
7. Soapprentice - oooooooohhhh..... Dragon scales!!
8. Mx5inpenn - I was thinking dragon too!
9. jewels621 - I'm in again....so fun!
10. Saponista - always wanted to try this!
11. SunRiseArts - I love mermaids, and their scale tails!

 

[BattleGnome]

What sort of recipe is everyone using?

I just made an attempt but had trace issues. My scented base moved like I expected/wanted but my design colors didn't want to thicken and I lost patience.

(26% hard oils. A combo of coconut and Shea which usually the trace I wanted for this attempt)

 

[Kittish]

I'm going to use the same soap recipe I used for my green soap, including the cool temps. It was pretty glacial setting up, which I'll need for the body of the loaf. I need a batter that'll sit at thick trace for quite a while to pull off what I want to do. My design trial is looking promising so far (couldn't resist, lifted the liner out of the mold and looked through the side since the soap is pretty firm already).

In not quite two weeks I can actually officially sign up for the challenge. This makes me happy.

 

[dibbles]

I had a try at this. I scented the base, and it riced. I lost patience waiting for the batter to thicken enough, so that was a fail. I now have another tee shirt that will be soaping/staying home attire only. I don't ever use glitter, but thought using a sample I've had forever might be fun. I will give this another try, but if someone could just invent biodegradable, disposable squeeze bottles...that'd be great.

 

[galaxyMLP]

I will give this another try, but if someone could just invent biodegradable, disposable squeeze bottles...that'd be great.

I wish there were disposable squeeze bottles! I wanted to try this with piping/frosting bags. My worry is that the frosting will fall out of the bag because this needs to be somewhat runny.

You are welcome to use other tools as long as the integrity of the design is preferred (drops of soap with a spoon pulled through them).

You are also allowed to do this in two batches if you want the bottom to set up firmly before you attempt the top. This could also help reduce soap waste in case of a boo boo.

 

[toxikon]

I have a silicone piping bag, I bet it would work great. I could just leave it alone for the batter to dry then crack it off for super easy cleaning.

 

[Sonya-m]

1. earlene - I have not seen this one before; it should be fun!
2. Omneya- I have seen this before, but it was called dragon scales. Still want to try it!
3. dibbles - I've actually tried this once - it didn't go well. Time to try again!
4. toxikon - pretty shiny scales!!!
5. BattleGnome - an exercise in patience for me
6. PenelopeJane - Time poor this month but I will try and make time.
7. Soapprentice - oooooooohhhh..... Dragon scales!!
8. Mx5inpenn - I was thinking dragon too!
9. jewels621 - I'm in again....so fun!
10. Saponista - always wanted to try this!
11. SunRiseArts - I love mermaids, and their scale tails!
12. Sonya-m - haven't been around much lately so about time I took part!!

 

[artemis]

I wish there were disposable squeeze bottles!

I recently saw a video in which the soaper put a large baggie down into her squeeze bottle. She kept the top out and screwed the cap right over it. The bag acted as a liner.

 

[Kittish]

I recently saw a video in which the soaper put a large baggie down into her squeeze bottle. She kept the top out and screwed the cap right over it. The bag acted as a liner.

I like that idea! I had a heck of a time cleaning out the bottle I used for my design trial.

 

[artemis]

I like that idea! I had a heck of a time cleaning out the bottle I used for my design trial.

I know! I thought, "GENIUS!" I wonder, though, if it really works, or if the baggie slides down too much, or what. It looked like it worked fine in the video.

 

[Kittish]

I know! I thought, "GENIUS!" I wonder, though, if it really works, or if the baggie slides down too much, or what. It looked like it worked fine in the video.

I'm going to try it with oven bags, I KNOW they'll be plenty big, and I have a brand new box that I got to try to line molds with then almost immediately made permanent liners for them all. I'd think a quart or gallon ziplock would work, too, if your bottle isn't too big. I'm also thinking that the bag can maybe be used several times, just pull it out and turn it inside out to clean.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Am I the one who gave you the idea?
I just made a mermaid soap, but with real tales....

Not sure I can participate, I will add myself, but I am on the road, hopefully I have time when I get back.

No, sorry! I've been wanting to make this type of soap for years and I thought I would make a good challenge. It doesn't really require too many special materials and it requires you to get creative while still following a technique.

Beautiful soap by the way! As long as you've been here over a month and have over 50 posts you can enter the challenge!

 

[earlene]

I recently saw a video in which the soaper put a large baggie down into her squeeze bottle. She kept the top out and screwed the cap right over it. The bag acted as a liner.

Yes, you can make your own baggies to fit your particular squeeze bottle using an Impulse Sealer for shrink wrap on your soaps. My soaping instructor makes them for her squeeze bottles. You could also use the food version that creates vacuum sealed/heat sealed closures for food.

 

[earlene]

I wish there were disposable squeeze bottles! I wanted to try this with piping/frosting bags. My worry is that the frosting will fall out of the bag because this needs to be somewhat runny.

You are welcome to use other tools as long as the integrity of the design is preferred (drops of soap with a spoon pulled through them).

You are also allowed to do this in two batches if you want the bottom to set up firmly before you attempt the top. This could also help reduce soap waste in case of a boo boo.

There are disposable squeeze bottles! I was just washing out my salad dressing bottle as per usual before putting it into the recycle bin, and thought how perfect! It's not biodegradable, but many salad dressings are sold in squeeze bottles with a flip top lid and they are made to be disposable.

I will be looking at my salad dressing bottles differently from now on.

 

[Saponista]

How thick do you think the batter needs to be?

 

[galaxyMLP]

Saponista, it needs to be medium/thick trace. You don't want it too thick (can't pull a spoon through it) but you can't have it too thin either. You want a batter droplet to be able to hold its shape without spreading. If it spreads, you can't get the scale definition as they will merge into each other.

 

[KristaY]

1. earlene - I have not seen this one before; it should be fun!
2. Omneya- I have seen this before, but it was called dragon scales. Still want to try it!
3. dibbles - I've actually tried this once - it didn't go well. Time to try again!
4. toxikon - pretty shiny scales!!!
5. BattleGnome - an exercise in patience for me
6. PenelopeJane - Time poor this month but I will try and make time.
7. Soapprentice - oooooooohhhh..... Dragon scales!!
8. Mx5inpenn - I was thinking dragon too!
9. jewels621 - I'm in again....so fun!
10. Saponista - always wanted to try this!
11. SunRiseArts - I love mermaids, and their scale tails!
12. Sonya-m - haven't been around much lately so about time I took part!!
13. KristaY- Been SO busy with family and I NEED to make soap so this is the perfect challenge to get back into the swing of it!

 

[SunRiseArts]

question. I want to do a combination of melt and pour and cold process. Is that allowed?