Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Drop Swirl with Feathered Mantra Top

 

 
Monday spring break project.  The kids were home watching me do this.  Ingredients used were my usual Olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm oil and Castor oil.  I still have 1 oz. of the lavender 40/42 fragrance oil and decided to do the same purple drop swirl as my previous lavender soap.  But to make it different, I added a green color and instead of just mantra swirl on top, I did a feathered mantra swirl.
 
I love the color combination and my daughter love the designs the swirl created.  Each bar and every side of the bar is different from each other.  Truly loving the drop swirl technique.   As I have observed from other soapers' blogs and youtube videos.  When it comes to soaping, you can just anticipate and hope for the best every time.
 
 
I have been doing the cold process oven process technique for the past few batches, because I like how the colors are just more vivid to me.  Picture above was taken right after the soap came out of the oven.   I also know that some soapers prefer to prevent gelling by placing their molded soap in the fridge instead.  I still have to try that and see how I will like the no gelling fridge technique later.  For now, I am loving the oven process.
 
 
Out of the mold and ready for cutting.
 
 
My problem for both the previous lavender soap and this soap.  Lots of bubbles on the sides.  I thought it was due to the tea I used on the last soap.  But  I just used plain distilled water for this batch and I still get the same bubbles on all four sides of the soap.  I don't get any bubbling in the sliced sides of the soap.
 

These are all cosmetic though.  They are perfectly good handmade soap made from high quality oils.  Just need to find the cause of the bubbling.
I wonder if the culprit for all these bubbles was due to the use of mineral oil.  I did not line the mold for this and the last lavender soap instead I rubbed some mineral oil along the sides of the mold.  Maybe that is the cause.  I will check and see for the next batch.
 
 
I sprinkled some iridescent glitters on top and love the effect it gives to the soap as well.
 
Till the next project.  Thank you very much for stopping by.
 
Happy Soaping...
 



4 comments:

  1. Hi,
    Those are so pretty....& I love the colour combo. Drop swirls are on my 'to try' list....so many projects, so few hours in a day!
    Just by chance I was reading the soap queen blog series yesterday about CPOP, HP, HPOP etc and there was something in there about the tiny bubbles being caused by silicone moulds when used in an oven.....not sure if that helps as I don't know how to post a link? Sorry.
    Please keep the blog reports coming....they make a great start to a day. Thank you.
    jo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jo, Glad to read your comment here before I started another batch this morning. Let's see if those bubbles will show up tomorrow. I just insulated the soap in towel today, no oven.
      This is why I love soaping, soapers of different levels share information and experiences. Thank you.

      Delete
  2. yes, that will be interesting to see what happens. I have never tried oven process,.....that's why I was reading the soap queen blog. Of course, all my moulds are silicone (typical!), so now I am having a rethink. I was keen to compare the colour results.
    Me too.... I love that soapers are willing to share their successes, and probably more importantly their failures!! I started making soap before computers and the internet were 'the norm', so everything was from a single book. After a break of about 15 years, I came back to it and can't believe how much everything has changed - all the info, the ingredients, the techniques....so now I am a newbie all over again!
    Hope the experiment worked out ok...
    jo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I saw some soapers add a little titanium dioxide to the batter before adding the colors they wanted and they like the colors produced with some titanium dioxide added.
      Lots of info. in the internet and some conflicting results. We still have to really experiment on what works for us. Happy Soaping to you Jo.

      Delete