Give us a swirl!

Over the years I have come across some truly remarkable soap creations - from elaborate sculptural pieces to impressive embedded designs.  While our soaps are pretty, they are not really artisitic. We have always made thiem in individual moulds, and they are individually wrapped, which does not really lend itself to artistic effects.

The soap swirl is one of the easiest effects to achieve; at its most basic level (which is about where I am!) you can get a really lovely effect, and in the hands of a skilled master the result can be stunning. About a month ago we were contacted by S4C who wanted to  film us making soap for a kids' TV show.  The production assistant, Hannah, asked if we could make it look pretty.  At about the same time we got an enquriy about making a soap loaf instead of individual bars.  "Of course", I said. "We'll add some swirls. It'll look great", I said. I mean how hard could it be?

Well, we eventually got a nice result, but it took several attempts.  The first attempt was more of a layer than a swirl. The second attempt was better, but still not quite a swirl. In the third attempt we tried using green instead of pink and that was fairly disastrous - there was essentially no contrast between the colours. For the fourth try we decided to use turmeric to make a bright orange, but also decided to try a new aroma, which turned the soap orange.  At the end of it all, the turmeric colour completely faded away, so althouhgh there is a hint of swirl, you have to look really closely to see it!  Finally, on the fifth attempt Ant cracked it.  It might not be a masterpiece but it's a pretty decent beginner's attempt.

With a bit of practice, maybe one day we'll be able to create something like this:

 

(Image courtesy of Saponifier Magazine. Soap by http://www.balsam.etsy.com)