Tiger Stripe - Soap Challenge week 1

Last week I mentioned that I would post a video on swirling Melt and Pour soap but I forgot that I have entered the soap challenge with Amy Warden of Great Cakes. So I will have to post about the Melt and Pour in a few weeks time as there are 3 more challenges to go.

I wasn't really sure if I would like this challenge as it seemed so similar to the Faux Funnel which you can see here, here, here, here and here. One of these posts is also a challenge from Amy last year. I must admit it turned out better than I expected. I did have fun. Thanks Amy. It is a little different to Faux Funnel

You will need:

• 300g Olive Oil
• 500g Coconut oil
• 200g Palm Oil
• 8g Palm Stearic acid
• 150g NaOH – (Sodium Hydroxide)
• 352g Distilled Water
• 40ml Casanova Fragrance oil - This does thicken but if you stir it with a spoon it becomes pourable again
• Green Chrome Oxide
• Yellow Oxide
• Ultramarine Pink - I mixed the Yellow and Pink together to make Orange
• Ultramarine Violet

Tools:

• Mixing jugs
• Silicone Mould
• A stick blender
• Plastic spoons
• Hand whisk

If you have never made Cold Process soap before make sure you understand the dangers and you are well covered up with eye goggle, an apron, gloves etc. See this great tutorial from The Soap Queen. Once you have your lye and oils at the correct temps add the lye to the oils and stick blend for a very shot while - just until emulsified. Separate the mixture into your jugs with your pre-mixed oxides and pigments. I then mix with a hand whisk to keep the mixture thin and get the colour all mixed properly.

Pour your soap in layers along the mould in alternating colours until it is all finished. Easy peesy

 

  

You can see the video here

Riverlea Soap

 

 

I think I am obsessed!

You may remember my recent post about swirling Melt and Pour soap.

 

Well since then I have made a few batches and I really think I have become obsessed with getting the perfect swirl.

 

Next week I will post a video tutorial on making the soap on the left. It is fragranced with Lemon and Vanilla. Really Yummy!

Riverlea Soap

 

Mantra Swirl - the tools - a tutorial

Last week I posted about my difficulties trying to make a pretty Mantra swirl soap. I like to think I am a "fixer" of sorts and will always try to find a more efficient way to do something. So I decided to see what I could devise that would make my life easier but also result in a pretty soap. This week I will show you what I came up with.

I love this technique so I really wanted to make it work.

 

These are the tools/ props I used:

• Cheap, thin chopping board - you do get thick ones but they are hard to cut
• Hacksaw
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Epoxy glue( if your mould is smaller than mine and the board bigger then you may not need the epoxy)
• Correx or cardboard

Method:

One: Measure your mould and make sure the chopping board is big enough to fit inside it. Mine was the right size if I cut it in half lengthwise

Two: Draw a line with the pencil along the board where you want to cut it

Three: Use the hacksaw to cut carefully along the line until the board is in 2 pieces

Four: Because the cut out handle made my board too short in one section I needed to "fill" the section in so that I had a rectangle with a "lip/ handle" on one side. The lip was not planned but the board was too long so i thought it would be good the have this lip to "hang" over the edge of the mould (you can see this below right). The actual board was too long so I cut the extra off. (middle photo above)

Five: Cut the Extra section out and fit it into handle area (above right and below left)

Six: Fit the cut out board into the main board (above middle). Epoxy in place

Seven: Once dry, cut the excess so that you now have a complete rectangle with 90 degrees.

Eight:: Place your cut chopping board dividers into your lined mould and measure how far apart you want them to be spaced

Nine: Take your cardboard or Correx and cut pieces the size of the gaps you want and place/ wedge them into the sides holding your chopping board dividers in place ensuring they don't move. Ideally you want even spacing between your boards - as I only had one chopping board I could only make 2 dividers but in reality I needed 3 so that I had 4 cavities to fill with soap. So you can see the gap in the middle is bigger than the two on the sides.I also ran out of Correx so I used a piece of cardboard in the larger middle section... nothing goes according to plan. Well actually there wasn't much of a plan so what could I expect!

So now you have your mould ready and the dividers are standing up on their own, you can make Mantra swirl soap to your hearts content with ease.

Riverlea Soap

Mantra swirl–trying again

My first 2 attempts. Not very good and I was a little disappointed. The colours also were not contrasting enough, in my opinion

Easy to do – divide a juice container with cardboard

Correx being held in place with a very sophisticated divider. This was not heavy enough and the soap “slipped” under the dividers

I have tried this technique a few times and battled with only 2 hands. I like a challenge so I decided to try and make it easier for myself. The tools I came up with were really quite simple: a cheap plastic chopping board and something called Correx. (not sure what it is called in the rest of the world, but it is used for printing advertising posters cheaply)

Next week I will show you how easy this is. Maybe someone with a better colour sense that me can help me pick contrasting colours that actually look good and work together. I think I try to pick tones that are too close to each other.

Riverlea soap

 

 

Vintage Ice Cream soap

A few years ago I made these cute ice cream soaps and decided to remake them with new packaging.

I think they came out quite well.

Riverlea Soap