Friday, April 6, 2012

FOUR COLOR IN THE POT SWIRL

FOUR COLOR IN THE POT SWIRL

My lab colors from Brambleberry arrived today!  I couldn't wait to try them out, so rather than clean or start dinner....or even shop for dinner....I made soap.  The dogs haven't learned to operate a camera, so I have no photos of my mixing, but will photograph the mold and the cutting when I uncover it.

Here's the recipe I used for this batch:

11.9 oz olive oil
12 oz canola oil
13 oz palm oil
10.4 oz coconut oil
3.12 oz cocoa butter
1.5 oz castor oil

16.8 oz water
and 7.2 oz lye


The colorants I used were 1 ml marigold, .7 ml cherry, .7 ml green apple and .7 ml vibrant orange and the fragrance was Valencia Orange essential oil.

The idea came from a tutorial I saw on the Brambleberry website, but I altered the recipe via lye calculator in hopes of getting a whiter base.  I may even try some titanium dioxide next time for an even whiter base and, hopefully, even more vibrants colors.

This was an "in the pot" swirling technique and, other than not having my trace as light as it should have been, it seemed to work pretty well !  My base was fragranced with Orange Valencia oil and then three containers were poured off from the main pot.  The main pot was then colored with marigold and the three smaller containers were colored with vibrant orange, cherry and green apple.  The vibrant orange and the cherry are VERY difficult to tell apart, so I'll be sure to keep the bottle next to the container if I try this one again.
The three containers were poured back into the pot at clock positions of twelve, four and eight.  The first pour was from about chest height, the second just above the pot.  The pour would have been more dramatic (and less bubbly) if I'd poured at a lighter trace or just after emulsion. Next time!  The pot is then poured into a five pound mold (mine is a silicone lined mold that I'm really liking).  The little bit left in the cups is poured in lines on top of the mold and then swirled with a chopstick by working the chopstick just across the very top of the soap on a diagonal. I like that pattern, so left it as is...but you could also run figure eights to break that up.   It's going to be a loooooong 36 hours until I can unmold this loaf !!  Until that time, I'm already planning more color combinations.  I'm obsessed !

Soap mold "put to bed" 

One peek won't hurt, right?
Bottom of the loaf

Side of loaf

Each bar is just a little different 

The green turned out well in this bar

This picture isn't true to color - it's much lighter than this - but the swirls turned out well on this one.

4 comments:

bubbawhitty said...

These colors are gorgeous!!

Unknown said...

Thank you, Bubbawhitty! I appreciate you putting up with soap and soaping supplies all over the house. Maybe we can work on the craft room this weekend (?) when you're not golfing !

newt + fig said...

Sorry to butt in on this family discusssion but I had to say that I am in love with this soap. Oh my little protégé this is so beautiful! When can we do a soap swap?

Unknown said...

You funny girl !! *chuckling at your post* You spoil me with all your soaps, but as soon as mine cure I'm going to send you a few bars. I'm hoping you'll be willing to give me an honest critique. I think it's all about trial and error, practice, practice, practice. I have some tiny air bubbles I need to work on keeping out of the batter and I'm only copying tutorials right now, but want to get the method down before I try recipes and colors of my own. Thanks for checking out my blog...now let's see if I can keep it going. I can't imagine the HOURS you spend on social media in addition to soaping and your job !!