Planes

 

 

 

You will need:

• 300gr White/ opaque Melt and Pour Base (this depends on how big your moulds are and how many you want to make. Determine how big your mould is by putting it on a scale and pouring water into one of the cavities.
• Colour – I used red and blue
• Fragrance – 1.5 % of the soap base
• Aeroplane mould
• Microwave Jug
• Rubbing Alcohol to spray bubbles away

 

Method:

1. Melt your soap base in the microwave in 30 second bursts. When melted add your colour and fragrance and stir gently.
2. Pour carefully into your moulds and spritz the rubbing alcohol to remove any bubbles.
3. Allow the soaps to get hard for about 1hour then remove them and repeat the process with the blue colour.
4. The soaps will need to be wrapped or bagged soon after making or they will start to “sweat”

On the Curing Rack

We will be going to market soon and have been making soap furiously!

  

Our new T-shirts

Linda and I had a little fun and printed our own T-shirts.
I may have to do a tutorial on this as it was great fun but not as easy as you would expect.

  

We could have done with a little make up and a hair brush but we were just so excited to share we felt you may forgive us.

Thanks and Sorry!

I would like to thank all you lovely people out there who have subscribed to our blog.
Please could bear with us while we try to sort out the Feedburner logo and a couple of other technical things. I am new to Feedburner and as much as I love technology I am a little challenged in that area so it takes me twice as long to figure something out. All the forums out there are GREAT and I would be clueless without them BUT I think the guys who post on them assume you have a few more brain cells than me.
Anyway in the next few days you may receive emails with TEST in the Subject line and other such boring things. For this I am sorry. I have not figured out how to send MYSELF a test only without having everyone also receive it. If someone has any ideas I would be grateful and I am sure all the subscribers will also be.

Thanks for your patience.

Soap Leaves- a fun and easy project

 

 

You will need:

300gr Clear M&P Base
Glitter powder
Fragrance
Skeleton leaves

Microwave Jug

Tweezers

Rubbing Alcohol to spray bubbles away

String and pegs

 

Method:

1. Melt your soap base in the microwave in 20 second bursts. When melted add your fragrance and stir gently and spritz the rubbing alcohol to remove any bubbles.
2. Take your string and make a "washing line" to hang the soap leaves on to dry.
3. Take a skeleton leaf in the tweezers and dip them one by one into the soap base. One dip is all that is required. Sprinkle with glitter. The soap will dry enough as you take it out and shake it. Hang it on to line made with string and make the next one. The leaf will be set in about 30 minutes and ready for packaging.

To use: Using your soap leaves: carry the leaves around with you in your handbag. If you find yourself in a public place without soap just take out one leaf – wash your hands and throw away the skeleton leaf. These just make the most perfect gift.

 

 

Check out this clever lady (Craftionary) who made leaves after seeing our post .

Odie

Soap Roses

We are testing a new type of soap rose here at Riverlea Soap and I am very pleased with it.
What do you think?

How to make Soap stamps

 

Now that you have made soap, see our posts here and here and here, you will probably want to personalise it. 

This is undoubtedly one of the messiest projects I have done. Not sure whether it was just me or if resin is messy to work with.

I have mentioned my fly press and soap stamping here. This week we will make a stamp that will not require a fly press.

You will need:

A block of soap - M&P or Cold Process.

Alphabet letters

A sheet of thin plastic/ cling wrap

Resin mix

Container to mix the risin into

Paper to wrap around your soap

Sticky tape

 

 

METHOD:

1. Take your soap block and place the plastic on top of it. Take the letters you are wanting to use and press them into the soap. Note I did find the M&P too hard to work with so I felt happier working with CP as it was still soft. 
2. Once you are happy with the result, peel the letters and the plastic off the soap and you will be left with your block of soap like the picture above (left).
3. Take the soap and wrap a sheet of paper around the soap (above left) and make sure it is secure and tight. This is where the potential for messy starts. I have to discover a way to secure the paper TIGHTLY around the soap. The resin is runny and goes into all the little cracks and gaps...
4. Take the resin and mix according to the manufacturers instructions. Word to the wise - wear GLOVES when mixing resin. I got it all over my hands and it really sticks.
5. Once it is totally mixed pour it into your soap surrounded by paper.
6. Let the resin harden and cool - mine took about 3 minutes to go hard and then 8 minutes to cool down.
7. One cool hard and cool, remove the paper and pry the resin and soap apart. 
8. All that is left is to neaten the edges and sand paper any rough bits then test it.

 

They are not the prettiest but they do the job.

How to use your new Soap Cutter

Using the Cutter

 

Step 1: Before cutting, fill a spray bottle with water or isopropyl alcohol and lightly moisten the cutter's surface. This makes for easy, frictionless pushing. The smooth linoleum or Formica top won't mar the surfaces of your soap, and it's easy to clean. You'll also need to secure the cutter so that it doesn't move while you're cutting soap. This can be as easy as having it abut the wall behind your kitchen counter top or clamping it to a table. When you slide both the top and the bottom blocks, the wire will move back and forth to create any size bar you desire. If the wire doesn't go all the way over to the wooden guide, flip the cutter over. The movable wooden block underneath the cutter probably needs to be rotated. As you push the block of soap through the cutter, try to push it in toward the guide board as well as forward. In other words, concentrate on pushing in a diagonal direction.

The block of soap can wobble if it's not pushed into the guide, resulting in wavy edges on your soap. Try using a small length of 1" X 2" wood to push the block of soap. It gives you more control, and it eliminates dent marks and fingerprints. Before cutting bars, "clean" the slab. Set the wire about 1/8" from the guide, and gently push the block through. Trim all four sides. Then gently scrape off the flaws on the top and bottom of the block. These trimmed scraps can be re-melted or used as is.

 

Step 2: Now the block is ready to be cut into bars. If you want a 2" X 3" x 1" bar of soap, first take a ruler and measure 2" over from the wooden guide. Jiggle the wire over to this spot, and tighten it if it's slack. Make sure the wire is straight up and down, not at an angle.

 

 

Step 3: Push the trimmed slab through until you're left with six strips 2" wide.

                       

 

Step 4: Now measure 3" from the guide, and move the wire here. Run the strips through sideways, and Cut into 3" lengths. You now have blocks of soap measuring 2" X 3" X 2".

For 1" thick bars of soap, set the wire 1" from the guide, flip the bars on their sides, and push them through again.