Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Recent Soap Projects

I love making soaps freehand. No, they aren't as perfect as soaps made with molds, but, I simply enjoy the art of making a truly unique, one of a kind design. Here are a few of my recent projects.

This is a full loaf of soap. It was challenging to make it so every slice would be the same. This is scented with Hansel and Gretel's House Fragrance Oil which is a delightful Gingerbread fragrance. Not a sharp gingerbread but a very smooth, mellow gingerbread fragrance. I love it so much I made a second house with it.

This is the first Gingerbread House sliced.

My second Gingerbread House Soap, also scented with the Hansel and Gretel's House fragrance oil.

Here it is sliced. I went back and added the yellow trim at the top to each slice. Didn't get a picture of all of them together tho.

This one was really tricky because it is difficult to get each of the embeds sized correctly. For anyone who works with melt and pour soap, you know thin or small details in a design are prone to melting when hot soap is poured around it. The vase in this soap is larger than I wanted and the mirror added a good bit of height, resulting in a larger soap than I anticipated.

Here is the Fireplace soap sliced. This is scented with Twilight in the Woods Fragrance Oil.

This design really drove me nuts. I had to cut each component seperately and then "glue" them together with soap. As you can see, it turned out a bit crooked and off center. It is supposed to be a lava lamp, for those who are trying to figure out what in the world it is. It is scented with Sands of Morocco Fragrance Oil.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

How to Groom Soap

Every soap maker has made soap that had flaws. The most common one is air pockets. This problem is easily corrected if you tend to the problem as soon as the soap is removed from the mold. When first removed from the mold, the soap is obviously firm, but, is still malleable. I will post pictures of how to fill in air pockets. This process must be done immediately upon removing soap from the mold, before the soap begins to dry. Otherwise, the soap patching will not adhere. Feel free to post any questions you might have.

Soap with air pockets

End piece from loaf of soap

Cut small amount of soap from end piece

Press into air pocket

press firmly


Smooth with knife


keep smoothing with steady pressure

Leave soap to harden, then trim irregularities