SMF Soap Making Challenge October: Hidden Feather Swirl

[soapswirl]

1. Snappyllama (woohoo I'm first)

2. Saponista (really looking forward to this!)

3. Commoncenz (If at first you don't succeed ... you're probably soaping)

4. TheDragonGirl (Trying should at least be entertaining)

5. BlackDog (First challenge! Woop!)

6. Rparrny (looking forward to my first!)

7. GalaxyMLP (Ive never done a feather swirl...)

8. osso (...it's been a long week)

9. TwystedPryncess (Oh, Lawd. Just, Oh, Lawd.)

10. dibbles (been on my want to try list for a long time-the time has come)

11. KristaMarie (First challenge and first feather swirl!)

12. doriettefarm (my 2nd feather swirl attempt has to turn out better than the 1st, right?)

13. Newbie (quaking in my shoes as everything's been a bust in the last week.)

14. Green soap (can't believe I am doing this.)

15. skayc1 (I've wanted to try this technique for some time now! Oh and Green Soap & I posted at the same time.)

16. SunWolf (woo hoo, I got an idea...time to build a "tall & skinny" mold)

17. Dillsandwitch (Insert witty line here)

18. traderbren (look out birdies- now my soap can have feathers, too!)

19. KristaY (Yipee! County fair is over so I can soap again! Now to shake off the "feather" nerves....)

20. Kumudini ( finally ordered some regular Palm oil, so can think of making white soap with swirls)

21. Gigi (gonna pour n pray lol)

22. MissChief (I guess I did it wrong the first time... oh well, I'm IN)

23. Mrs. Spaceship (Gonna spread my wings and hope to fly!)

24. mintle (no dividers, no hanger to bend, no very slow moving recipe - scared but I go for it!)

25 JuneP New micas and new Palm oil have arrived and will definitely make time to give this a go in the next day or two.

26. Judiraz ( never tried this, should be fun)

27. TeresaT (This challenge has to turn out better than my last two challenge disasters. Doesn't it? Please!)

28. Jules92207 (So gonna have to McGyver this cause I don't have anything I need to do this as elegantly as Sonya...this should be interesting)

29. Soapswirl (last time I attempted something like this - a hidden Christmas tree - was a disaster! Must try harder this time...)

 

[mintle]

my attempt is cooking in the oven, oh dear I was fast and furious as the soap hit trace very quickly. I will have to give it another try. At least I have my home made dividers ready for the second round!

 

[Saponista]

I'm so happy we have so many entrants again. It's wonderful to see everyone's creations. I haven't started mine yet, I have my first craft fair on Sunday so life is s bit hectic at the moment. I am terrified! I have plans to work on this next week though with 100% of my effort.

 

[kumudini]

Today I tested my feather making capabilities with a single color. big '0'. The CO soap took forever to come even to a light trace. So I just used the light batter, mixed up my color and started pouring. First thing, my makeshift dividers didn't hold up and then, my very fluid layers just ran into each other. When I cut, the swirl was very nondescript, soap got processed immedietly for laundry mix.
Guess I now can expect my palm and butter heavy vegan recipes to be better suited for this technique as it is fairly easy to get them to a medium trace as long as I know when to stop with the SB and stick to EOs which are better behaved. Now, I need suggestion on how to make some sturdy 'poor man' dividers. Any one? TIA.

 

[Sonya-m]

Now, I need suggestion on how to make some sturdy 'poor man' dividers. Any one? TIA.

I made mine out of an old cardboard box - it's pretty thick cardboard. Then I covered them in parcel tape so they can be wiped down. They need to be maybe a tiny bit longer than you need so you can squeeze them into place without them bowing out. Better to make slightly too big then cut down to size. Or make them exactly the right size and use the tape to add extra layers thus giving you a snug fit

 

[Sonya-m]

I'm so happy we have so many entrants again. It's wonderful to see everyone's creations. I haven't started mine yet, I have my first craft fair on Sunday so life is s bit hectic at the moment. I am terrified! I have plans to work on this next week though with 100% of my effort.

It's great having so many taking part!!

Good luck for the craft fair!

 

[SunWolf]

I made attempt #1 today, I really like the top of this one, it looks like a clown threw up in my mold!! I can't wait til tomorrow to cut it and see how bad my feather turned out. I'll be sure to post cut pics.

I know this one is a failure as I missed the requirement that each color needs to be repeated, so it's just one set of colors. I also know I messed up the order of the colors and the lower layers are blended into one another because my batter started out too thin.

This was just too much fun, I've got tomorrows try planned out already.

 

[Sonya-m]

Have I been too strict and made the challenge too hard by specifying you need to use 3 colours at least 3 times?

 

[gigisiguenza]

Have I been too strict and made the challenge too hard by specifying you need to use 3 colours at least 3 times?

I don't think so, that's what makes it a challenge IMO

ETA in do have a question though... is it three colors including the background color?

 

[Sonya-m]

I don't think so, that's what makes it a challenge IMO

ETA in do have a question though... is it three colors including the background color?

Ok, just didn't want people to struggle too much

No, the feather itself needs to comprise of at least 3 colours each appearing at least 3 times i.e. Your feather will have at least 9 layers

 

[mazimazi]

So, I'm not participating (not even close to enough posts ) but I just wanted to say a big big thank you to all of you who put so much effort into organizing everything and preparing these lovely tutorials. So many of us benefit from them and you don't earn a cent, I find that very very generous of you! Kudos, and keep up your great work!

 

[kumudini]

Too short molds?

Have I been too strict and made the challenge too hard by specifying you need to use 3 colours at least 3 times?

Actually it might be a little hard for folks like me who don't have a mold with a depth. The max depth of my molds is 2.5 inches and with three colors poured three times every time alternating with the base color and the whole thing to be enclosed in the soap, it might be quite difficult. I will have to see what I could do with what I have. Or may be its a perfect excuse for me to get a T&S mold .

 

[Misschief]

Have I been too strict and made the challenge too hard by specifying you need to use 3 colours at least 3 times?

Having done my swirl twice now, no, I don't think it's too strict. I, too, have a max depth of 2.5" in my molds. It has more to do with the batter's consistency that with the depth of the mold.

With my first attempt, my batter thickened up too quickly to do three layers of three colours. With my second attempt, my batter was too thin and the layers, though all nine are there, tended to pool together. I need to find that happy medium... and work fast.

I may try another batch but I'm not unhappy with with my second batch. Does anyone have a favourite recipe to use when swirling like this? For my semi-successful batch, I used this formulation: 25% coconut oil, 54% olive oil pomace, and 21% lard with 5% sf.

 

[kumudini]

Misschief, I see that people here like their high lard recipes for slow tracers a lot, may be you could just reverse the percentages of OO and lard. At just 50+% lard might not slow the trace indefinitely like a 100% lard would. I have never used lard so others will have to confirm though.

 

[rparrny]

I've done the TD thing before too and it just doesn't work does it?

I can definitely see the feather so a great first attempt

The only thing and it may be that I can't see all your feather colours but don't forget that the actual feather element needs to comprise of at least 3 colours with each featuring at least 3 times.

Believe it or not there are four colors and they were used three times...the grey background was a dud. I used blue, black, brown and a darker grey. I'm gonna rethink the whole thing...maybe a white background would help or maybe just change the colors...in either case I'm waiting for my new hanger tool that is made for my 1501 loaf mold to arrive before I try again.

 

[rparrny]

Have I been too strict and made the challenge too hard by specifying you need to use 3 colours at least 3 times?

No, I don't think so...having said that you couldn't tell that I used 4 colors and 3 repeats....mold issue, pour issue, color issue? I have no idea...back to the drawing board...

 

[Sonya-m]

If it helps here's my recipe

 

[Misschief]

That does help. Thanks Sonya!

 

[Deedles]

I don't have enough posts to play but I'll be trying it anyway. I love Sonya's result but I'm sure my first won't be that pretty!

 

[songwind]

Sounds like fun. I wanted to learn this technique anyway, so...


1. Snappyllama (woohoo I'm first)
2. Saponista (really looking forward to this!)
3. Commoncenz (If at first you don't succeed ... you're probably soaping)
4. TheDragonGirl (Trying should at least be entertaining)
5. BlackDog (First challenge! Woop!)
6. Rparrny (looking forward to my first!)
7. GalaxyMLP (Ive never done a feather swirl...)
8. osso (...it's been a long week)
9. TwystedPryncess (Oh, Lawd. Just, Oh, Lawd.)
10. dibbles (been on my want to try list for a long time-the time has come)
11. KristaMarie (First challenge and first feather swirl!)
12. doriettefarm (my 2nd feather swirl attempt has to turn out better than the 1st, right?)
13. Newbie (quaking in my shoes as everything's been a bust in the last week.)
14. Green soap (can't believe I am doing this.)
15. skayc1 (I've wanted to try this technique for some time now! Oh and Green Soap & I posted at the same time.)
16. SunWolf (woo hoo, I got an idea...time to build a "tall & skinny" mold)
17. Dillsandwitch (Insert witty line here)
18. Songwind