Bruce the Chef

By: John Savage

There are many ways to add colorful designs to your homemade soaps. We
will discuss using the cold process soap making method to make soaps
with intriguing designs.

First, you will need to start with a plain white base. A base of 30
percent coconut oil, 5 percent castor oil and 65 percent lard makes a
nice white base that lathers and conditions well.

To make tri color soap with nice triangular designs, first make one
third of your base recipe to pour into your standard block soap mold.
Once the base has traced, add colorant of your choice, then prop your
mold at an angle so that when you pour your base into your mold it will
fill only one corner of your mold instead of the whole bottom.

To do this, place a few books under one side of your mold to raise one
side a few inches from your counter then place books against the other
side of the mold to keep it from moving. Pour your soap down the side
of your mold that still rests on the counter until it has filled the
corner, but not quite fully to
the top of the mold.

Now carefully cover your mold with a towel until your soap has gone
through the saponification process and has cooled into soap. This will
make a triangle block of soap that will sit off to the side of your
regular bar, making a nice design.

Next, mix two thirds of your plain white base recipe, and separate it
into two equal amounts. Color these with 2 separate colors, pour one
into your mold being careful not to splash it onto your triangle block,
then pour the second color on top of this.

Let this set for 24 hours covered, unmold your soap, cut, and you
should have a nice tri colored bar of soap with a triangle to the side.
I have found these soaps to be much sought after from customers as a
nice novelty for their bathroom decor.

Another way to put nice designs in your soap would be to use a mold that makes individual bars of soaps instead of blocks.

First, make a plain white base to fill your mold, and then remove a cup
or two from your batch. Add colorant to the cup of mixture, and then
pour this into a cake-decorating bag. Use this mixture to write
colorful designs onto the bottom of your mold.

Once you have completed this, then spoon your white base mixture on top
of this, being very careful not to disturb your writings.

Once you have spooned a few inches over your writings, then you can
carefully pour the rest of your soap into your mold (do this in one
corner so if your writing is disturbed only one section will be messed
up), let this set for 24 to 48 hours. Unmold and cut into bars.

When you unmold your soap, the bottoms will have your designs
permanently embedded into your bars of soap. This is yet another
intriguing method used to decorate your soaps.

Be creative and above all, have fun.

About the Author:

john savage is a Current Soap Maker. To quickly and easily make soap without wasting time or money please Click Here to visit my Blog.

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