Title: Special Soapmaking Techniques
Categories: Info *
Yield: 1 Text

TEXT ONLY

Coloration: In former times, ochers, chromes, and metallic oxides of iron such as siennas and umbers were used with many mineral substances to color soaps. By the late 1800s, colorants came primarily from aniline, a derivative of coal tar benzene, used as a base for extraction of color from other substances. Yellow and cadmium yellow came from naphthalene; red came from vermilion; blue from ultramarine; green from borate of chrome; brown from chocolate modified with yellow or red. Today the home soapmaker has a vast assortment of coloring agents from which to choose. You may wish to achieve color only through natural means. Or you may find the wide array of waxed color chips more to your liking. Waxed color chips are easy to use. Simply melt and mix them with a small prtion of soap before adding to your kettle. This process should be done prior to adding any botanicals or natural colors. The amount of wax used will depend upon the hue you wish to obtain.

Natural Dyes: Again, the concentrations are up to you. All of the dyes listed below are available in powder form except chocolate, which is available at supermarkets. I recommend melting bitter chocolate squares for brown. All dyes should be mixed with a small portion of soap prior to pouring into the kettle.

Chlorophyll = green Tumeric = yellow Ultramarine = blue Ocher, Paprika = red Chocolate = brown

Marbling: To obtain a beautiful marblized effect, try this: Prepare 2 cups of unscented, colored soap mixture and set this aside while you scent the remaining soap in the kettle. Pour half of the scented soap into a plastic mold. Drizzle one cup of color in vertical and horizontal lines. Repeat with the remaining soap and color. To complete marbleizing, take a slotted spoon (or a chopstick for a different effect) and run it through the mold in swirling direction, not more than twice. Cover the mold with the lid and blankets.

Layering: Layering creates an attactive and unusual effect. In this process you put one layer of soap in the mold on DAY 1, another layer on DAY 2, and so forth. It is fun to try different combinations of color, texture, and scent. The best thing about layering is that it will give you an excuse to make soap every day!

Chunking and checkering: You can create a confetti soap by chopping up small chunks of different colored soap and then adding these chunks to a newly poured batch. For this process to be successful, the newly poured batch should be as thick as possible. If you'd like to try your hand at checkering, you'll need to make 2 or more batches of different colored soaps. Then, as soon as they are ready to cut, slice them into rectangular strips approximately three quarters of an inch square. Lay these strips in your soap mold in a cross-hatch pattern. Now fill the mold with a fresh batch of soap of a different color.

Some finishing and decorating ideas:

Roll fresh soap bars into balls. Do this by had within a few days, while the soap is still fresh and soft.

Carve soft bars into shapes or press designs and imprints into them.

Paint designs on soap surfaces.

Make soap-on-a-rope by forming soap around a knot at the bottom of a loop of cord any time after the soap has been taken out of the mold.

Package your soaps in special paper or fabrics. It's fun to decorate fabrics with ribbons, raffia, yarns or string.

Boxed, tins and crates make wonderful gift sets.

Source: "The Soap Book: Simple Herbal Recipes" by Sandy Maine

previous

next