Your best looking swirls

[PrincessMommy]

Those are so inspirational. Thanks for sharing.

I am wondering, both Paul and Lane, how do you get those nice rounded sides on your soap. Is that your mold? The cutter? I don't plan to sell soap, but I sure would like to have pretty looking soap when I'm done. Mine usually end up looking very "homey".

I use a simple potato/veggie peeler $.97 for two at wal-mart... I lay all of my soap out at the end of the week, pour a glass of wine, put on some music and bevel away!

Great idea! Thanks.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

I am wondering, both Paul and Lane, how do you get those nice rounded sides on your soap. Is that your mold?

Click on the link in Paul's signature for TOG mold shop. He makes a beveler and planer that turns a homely bar into a bar fit for a princess.

I have one and it is works beautifully.

Digit

thanks! But, when I click on the "bevelers/planers" its empty. :cry: no pictures...

Try it again. I was sold out, but nowmore posted... :wink:

Paul

 

[Lane]

I very muchly just bought one!!

 

[PrincessMommy]

Thanks Paul. You've got such nice stuff (and it looks beautiful too). I'm going to have to keep drooling over it for a while until the pocketbook gets a little fatter.

 

[Deda]

Your swirls are all beautiful, and your photography skills rock, too.

I did these over the weekend, really gotta learn to take pictures.

Pale Blue with 24K Mica is Frankincense and Myrrh EO
Pink and Beige is Cherry Almond FO
Green, Yellow, Pink and Orange is Lime, Lemon, Orange EOs with Pink Grapefruit FO

 

[Guest]

Deda, I hope you don't mind that I processed your picture a bit then reposted it. I couldn't see enough detail and was curious what your soap looked like. I suggest that in the future you post a bit larger images, and run them through a photo editing program. I doubled the size and increased the contrast and brightness:

Deda's Swirl

Yes, it appears you are getting along quite nicely! I believe you've got the technique down very well and I compliment you.

I'm referring to your swirling technique, not your photography technique!

I wish I were doing as well as you and I'll be looking forward to your posting more pictures.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

Deda your swirls look fabulous! Nice! 8)

Paul

 

[Guest]

I'm continuing to learn the swirling technique and made another attempt that didn't turn out so hot, but the value to me in terms of what I learned exceeded the value of the soap or its appearance. I followed the tutorial and it worked to a degree, but I got the swirls in the wrong plane! The top of the log was really fancy but the cut bars lost it. I applied a layer of neutral soap, zig-zags of pigmented soap, repeat neutral, repeat zig-zag, repeat neutral, repeat zig-zag, then like in the tutorial with a metal skewer. The surface was very promising but there was no vertical movement in the swirling so the pigment stayed in layers. I cut a few bars on the horizontal to get at least a few swirled bars. The bar on top right is a face-cut bar, bottom left the normal cut, and a couple bars shown end-on. I'm going to give some thought to what needs to be changed or maybe try ITP next time.

(Scanner picture, if you wondered why it looks weird.)

 

[kwahlne]

Wow, what incredible green color though!

It makes me wonder, is that tutorial for slab molds?

 

[Guest]

Wow, what incredible green color though!

It makes me wonder, is that tutorial for slab molds?

Yeah, it makes me wonder too.

Only thing, if it's for slabs I don't see the point of the layers. I have heard that molds with dividers "pull the swirl down the sides." I've been trying to imagine what that looks like.

The color is Select Shades lime blossom.

 

[Lane]

That green in AMAZING!!!

 

[Guest]

That green in AMAZING!!!

I'll have to say that the color is a bit off due to using a scanner to take the "picture." It's not luminescent in real life, just green although not a bad green.

I'm bummed out that the EO turned the whole batch yellowish although it appears more clear/translucent/whitish in the pic.

 

[SoapyGal]

Holy jeepers.....

ALL of these swirls are GORGEOUS!!! And the colors are scrumptious!!!

Where oh where is there talk of and/or tutorials about swirling ?!?!!

Maybe I'll start a thread & people can post their technique (if they don't mind sharing it ) for newbies like me who lack a clue....

I saw one in the forum for tutorials, but that forum doesn't seem to get much traffic, or much input, so maybe it would do better on the soap forum.....?

You all are so talented!! Such an inspiration to me!!

Thanks for sharing your soapies!!

 

[SoapyGal]

I did these over the weekend, really gotta learn to take pictures.

Pale Blue with 24K Mica is Frankincense and Myrrh EO
Pink and Beige is Cherry Almond FO
Green, Yellow, Pink and Orange is Lime, Lemon, Orange EOs with Pink Grapefruit FO

Breathtaking, Deda !!

May I ask what you used for the colors on all these?

I'm very confused about color.... I hear so many different things, and alot of it seems contradictory at times.... it's a bit overwhelming to me right now

 

[SoapyGal]

(Scanner picture, if you wondered why it looks weird.)

Greg - these are great looking!! The color came out really lovely! Now I understand what you meant in another thread where you said you'd be making single-oil batches to learn about what effect the oil will have on the color of the finished soap. That info would be very useful when thinking about what colors to use in it.

 

[SoapyGal]

Sliced these this morning!! Trace was to thick and the color was suppose to be pink... not purple...

Lily of the Valley

Lane, these are ssssooooooooo perty!! Great job!!

 

[SoapyGal]

Thanks to some help from my SMF friends I know more now about getting good swirls and I'm sure that'll aid my next attempt, probably this coming week.

ooooo..... please share, please share.... pretty please with hot chocolate fudge on top?!

 

[SoapyGal]

Even though I posted this picture in another post, I still love it. ♥ I tried to do a neat swirl earlier and had a massively bad time... :cry:

Lane!! I love these..... I see faces in them!! The bottom left and the top one!! How cool is that!!!!

 

[SoapyGal]

Here are a couple of my better swirl jobs;

Black Raspberry Vanilla

Burberry For Men

Hawaiian Pikake Jasmine

Paul ~ as always, these are works of art.... you've really got the gift, my friend.... really beautiful.

Would you be in favor of having an in-depth tutorial on SMF on how to make lovely swirls like these?

 

[Guest]

Maybe I'll start a thread & people can post their technique (if they don't mind sharing it ) for newbies like me who lack a clue....

I'll post something as soon as I get some really good swirls. I'm not worried about keeping secrets. When I start selling my bars there's no way for my customers to find out about you-all so you're not competition to me and I have no reason to not help you.

But first I have to get a good swirl, and I won't stop until I succeed.