Technique help

[penelopejane]

I found this soap on thesoapbar.blogspot.com but it was just a photo and it is no longer there.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how this soap is made? It is a salt bar.
I thought it was an in the pot swirl with about 80% white and 10% each of two other colours.
I've tried it about 4 times and I can't get anywhere close with an in the pot swirl in either emulsion or light/medium trace.

Could it be done by dropping down the length of a log mold?
Would it be possible to achieve this in an individual cavity mold?

Thank you so much for any suggestions.

 

[Astro]

Is there a pic?

 

[penelopejane]

Sorry, I forgot the photo! Thank you.

 

[moodymama]

Shame we can't see the other bars. It almost looks to me like the tops of bars made in a slab mold.

 

[Obsidian]

I was thinking a slab mold too. I just can't see how it would be done in a log mold.

 

[dibbles]

My first thought was a slab mold too. I looked at the blog and it seems that she liked to feature pictures by other makers, so who knows if this soap was even made by her. There was a post about her salt bars, however, and it looks like she uses 100% salt PPO, 100% CO and a 20% SF. She wrote in the post that she had started using individual cavity molds. So possibly plopping in different colors and then swirling with a skewer?

 

[TheGecko]

I found this soap on thesoapbar.blogspot.com but it was just a photo and it is no longer there.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how this soap is made? It is a salt bar.
I thought it was an in the pot swirl with about 80% white and 10% each of two other colours.
I've tried it about 4 times and I can't get anywhere close with an in the pot swirl in either emulsion or light/medium trace.

Could it be done by dropping down the length of a log mold?
Would it be possible to achieve this in an individual cavity mold?

Thank you so much for any suggestions.

I'm thinking maybe a couple of different techniques like Ghost Swirl and Glycerin Rivers? And I think it's blue with white.

 

[penelopejane]

My first thought was a slab mold too. I looked at the blog and it seems that she liked to feature pictures by other makers, so who knows if this soap was even made by her. There was a post about her salt bars, however, and it looks like she uses 100% salt PPO, 100% CO and a 20% SF. She wrote in the post that she had started using individual cavity molds. So possibly plopping in different colors and then swirling with a skewer?

That is a technique I hadn't thought of. I couldn't find a blog post on it? I had the photo from ages ago and even did a reverse image search and found two links but couldn't find the soap on those links. I am technologically challenged though...

 

[dibbles]

I just looked at the blog you mentioned. That particular soap wasn’t there, and it looks like the blog has been inactive for a few years. The soap in the picture is very pretty. I have always made one color salt bars, but I’m tempted to give this a try next time.

 

[moodymama]

That is a technique I hadn't thought of. I couldn't find a blog post on it? I had the photo from ages ago and even did a reverse image search and found two links but couldn't find the soap on those links. I am technologically challenged though...

https://thesoapbar.blogspot.com/2011/06/happy-blooooz.html

I think its soda ash not salt bars. It says it is oatmeal and coffee grounds.

 

[penelopejane]

I just looked at the blog you mentioned. That particular soap wasn’t there, and it looks like the blog has been inactive for a few years. The soap in the picture is very pretty. I have always made one color salt bars, but I’m tempted to give this a try next time.

Please let me know how you go. I tried heaps of different things and can't get anywhere near it. I'll try you suggestion above. Thanks.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I made some salt bars in oval individual cavity molds that I think are something like that. For both batches, the batter was at medium trace by the time I finished mixing in the micas. I used a spatula to do an ITP swirl and had to dig down and lift up a bit to get the colors to swirl.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/tide-pool-opals.76127/#post-784510
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/stones-in-the-river-salt-bars.76211/

 

[penelopejane]

I made some salt bars in oval individual cavity molds that I think are something like that. For both batches, the batter was at medium trace by the time I finished mixing in the micas. I used a spatula to do an ITP swirl and had to dig down and lift up a bit to get the colors to swirl.
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/tide-pool-opals.76127/#post-784510
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/tide-pool-opals.76127/#post-784510
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/stones-in-the-river-salt-bars.76211/

Oh, Mobjack they are just beautiful. I'm using indigo and it just seems to make such a "solid" colour. No variation.
I just love the tide pool opals.
Do you know what percentage you used for each colour or was it 25% of each?
I've been trying an in the pot swirl but when I've added the salt it just doesn't seem to flow at all well and it ends up with big swirls of colour.
I used 50% white, 20%, 20%, 10% 0f various blues and it all melded into one dark blue colour.
So I tried 80% white, 10% blue, 10% darker blue and the stupid thing doesn't seem much better. Lots of blue and seems to be only one colour of blue. Indigo is a pain to work with. Still hasn't cured enough to get out of the molds so I can't be sure yet.

 

[Arimara]

Oh, Mobjack they are just beautiful. I'm using indigo and it just seems to make such a "solid" colour. No variation.
I just love the tide pool opals.
Do you know what percentage you used for each colour or was it 25% of each?
I've been trying an in the pot swirl but when I've added the salt it just doesn't seem to flow at all well and it ends up with big swirls of colour.
I used 50% white, 20%, 20%, 10% 0f various blues and it all melded into one dark blue colour.
So I tried 80% white, 10% blue, 10% darker blue and the stupid thing doesn't seem much better. Lots of blue and seems to be only one colour of blue. Indigo is a pain to work with. Still hasn't cured enough to get out of the molds so I can't be sure yet.

I still have some indigo. It was an utter nightmare to use. I might just infuse the last of it to get rid of it.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Oh, Mobjack they are just beautiful. I'm using indigo and it just seems to make such a "solid" colour. No variation.
I just love the tide pool opals.
Do you know what percentage you used for each colour or was it 25% of each?
I've been trying an in the pot swirl but when I've added the salt it just doesn't seem to flow at all well and it ends up with big swirls of colour.
I used 50% white, 20%, 20%, 10% 0f various blues and it all melded into one dark blue colour.
So I tried 80% white, 10% blue, 10% darker blue and the stupid thing doesn't seem much better. Lots of blue and seems to be only one colour of blue. Indigo is a pain to work with. Still hasn't cured enough to get out of the molds so I can't be sure yet.

I split the batter evenly, 20% for each of 4 colors plus uncolored batter. According to my notes, the batter was “spoon plop” consistency as I was swirling. I also noted that I should use a bigger container for doing the ITP swirl. I needed more room to get down to the bottom and pull batter up. I think I also made more layers in the pitcher for the second soap in order to get the colors and little more evenly distributed. You can see in the first batch that some soaps have more white and some have more colors. The uncolored batter was at the bottom of the pitcher, first in the pot.

My salt bar recipe is 50% salt ppo.

 

[penelopejane]

I split the batter evenly, 20% for each of 4 colors plus uncolored batter. According to my notes, the batter was “spoon plop” consistency as I was swirling. I also noted that I should use a bigger container for doing the ITP swirl. I needed more room to get down to the bottom and pull batter up. I think I also made more layers in the pitcher for the second soap in order to get the colors and little more evenly distributed. You can see in the first batch that some soaps have more white and some have more colors. The uncolored batter was at the bottom of the pitcher, first in the pot.

My salt bar recipe is 50% salt ppo.

Yes the uncoloured batter staying in a lump at the bottom happened to me too. The salt makes the batter very difficult to distribute colour through. Creating more layers in the jug is a good idea.
Thanks for the info I’ll try again tomorrow.