When I think of wine production, my mind immediately jumps to beautiful images of Napa Valley in California. But, you may be surprised to know that Washington state is the 2nd largest wine producer in the United States. Most of the wine is produced in Eastern Washington, where temperatures are warmer. To highlight this ingredient in my local area, the water in this recipe is swapped for wine produced in Washington state.

Working with wine in soap is not particularly difficult, but it does require some extra prep work. Alcohol and cold process soap don’t mix very well. So, when incorporating alcoholic beverages into  recipes (such as beer, wine, etc.) the liquid needs to be boiled first to remove the majority of the alcohol. Then, I like to freeze the liquid and add the sodium hydroxide lye to the frozen liquid to keep temperatures cool.

Alternative liquids like wine have extra sugar, which scorches when mixed with lye. If the temperature of the liquid is kept cool, less scorching occurs. This keeps the liquid a slightly lighter color and reduces the unpleasant odor. Red wine is already quite dark, so if you’d like to skip freezing the wine you could. Keep in mind your soap batter might be slightly darker (and stinkier!). If you skip the freezing step, I do recommend allowing the wine to 50  ° F or cooler before adding the sodium hydroxide lye. Learn more about working with alcoholic beverages in soap here.

The red wine gives the soap batter a dark tan color. Titanium dioxide combats this a bit, creating a creamier color. A combination of Queen’s Purple Mica and Merlot Sparkle Mica create a rich burgundy-wine color. Berrywine Fragrance Oil gives the soap a realistic and slightly fruity scent. Berrywine Fragrance Oil does not smell great out of the bottle, but it smells good in soap – promise!

Using a local wine is a great way to highlight local ingredients and show off your hometown pride!

What You’ll Need:
Silicone Column Mold
25 oz. Swirl Quick Mix
7.4 oz. Prepped Wine (10% water discount)
3.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
1.5 oz. Berrywine Fragrance Oil
Titanium Dioxide
Queen’s Purple Mica
Merlot Sparkle Mica

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

If you’ve never made Cold Process soap before, stop here! I highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on Cold Process Soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including my newest book, Pure Soapmaking. You can also checkout the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.

WINE PREP: The first step is to prep the wine for soaping. This should be done the day before you’d like to make soap. Alcohol and soaping don’t mix very well, so the wine needs to boiled to remove the majority of the alcohol. Add the wine to a saucepan. I would recommend adding about 1.5x-2x more than you need, because the wine boils off. For this recipe, I would recommend adding 12 ounces.

Bring the wine to a steady boil for 5-7 minutes. Do not leave the wine unattended or it could boil over. Once it has boiled, remove from the heat and weigh the amount you need in a separate container. If you have more wine than you need, save it for another batch. If you don’t have enough, don’t worry. Add distilled water to the boiled wine to make up for any amount of liquid that you’re missing.

Once you have the correct amount of wine, pour it into ice cube trays (in this case we used Medium 9 Ball Silicone Molds). Place the prepped wine into the freezer and allow it to fully freeze. Once it’s frozen, place the wine ice cubes into a heat safe container suitable for mixing lye.

SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space.

With your safety gear on, measure out the sodium hydroxide lye into a separate container. Then, add about 1/4 of the lye flakes directly to the frozen wine. Slowly, start to mix the two together.

It takes a few minutes to get started, but the lye will begin to warm up the wine ice cubes and they will begin to melt. You will start to notice an unpleasant odor, and the color of the wine will change (notice the green hue in the photo below). Continue adding the lye flakes to the wine cubes. This process can take a while, so patience is key.

Once all the wine-ice has melted, continue to stir for several minutes. Make sure all the lye flakes have completely melted. In the photo below, all the ice is melted but there was still some lye flakes at the bottom of the mixture. Keep stirring until all the flakes are gone. This can take up to 10-15 minutes of stirring (patience is key!). To be extra safe, some soapers like to pour the lye mixture through a non-reactive mesh strainer to make sure all the flakes are gone.

Once the lye and wine are completely incorporated, we are ready to soap! Label the container of lye “DANGER: DO NOT TOUCH” and set it aside. Time to prep the other ingredients.

FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure out 1.5 oz. of Berrywine Fragrance Oil into a glass, fragrance oil safe container. Set aside.

COLOR PREP: To ensure that the Titanium Dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap. To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning. Then, disperse 4 teaspoons of the colorant into 3 tablespoons of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). The color dispersion is slightly more concentrated to avoid adding too much extra oil. Then in separate containers, disperse 1 teaspoon Queen’s Purple Mica and 1 teaspoon Merlot Sparkle Mica into 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to help get rid of any clumps.

ONE: Fully melt the entire bag of Swirl Quick Mix until completely clear and there is no cloudiness. Shake the bag to mix up all the oils. Measure 25 oz. into your soaping bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the dispersed titanium dioxide directly to the oils. Stick blend the colorant into the oils until they are completely combined. Adding the titanium dioxide to the oils helps get rid of more chunks in the colorant, and can be stick blended thoroughly without accelerating trace.

TWO: Add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 1.5 tsp. sodium lactate. Notice the color change of the soap batter!

THREE: Once you have reached a thin trace, split the batch in half. Each container should have about 500 mL of soap. To one container, add all the dispersed Merlot Sparkle Mica and all the dispersed Queen’s Purple Mica. To the other container of soap, add the remaining dispersed titanium dioxide. Use a whisk to thoroughly mix in the colorants.

FOUR: Add half of the Berrywine Fragrance Oil to one container of soap, and the other half of the fragrance oil to the other container (it’s okay to eyeball it). Use a whisk to thoroughly mix in the fragrance oil.

FIVE: Pour some of tan soap into the mold, while counting to “1,2,3.” Then, pour the wine colored soap into the cream, directly in the center of the mold while counting to “1,2,3.” Counting helps keep the pours consistent. The colors should break through to the layer below.

SIX: Continue pouring each color into the mold, directly in the center. Continue pouring until the mold is completely full.

SEVEN: While firmly holding on to the seals on the sides of the mold, very lightly tap the mold on the counter. Don’t tap too firmly, or the seal of the mold can unlock and your soap will spill everywhere! Set the mold aside in a safe area where it will not topple over.

Because of the extra sugar in the wine, this soap does have a tendency to warm up. Our soaping area is pretty cold this time of year, so we left the soap at room temperature for 3-4 days before unmolding. If you live in a hot climate, you may want to place the soap into the fridge for the first 3-4 hours to prevent overheating. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for 3-4 days. Because of the amount of colorant/extra oil in the recipe, we found it took a little longer to unmold. Once unmolded, slice into bars and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!

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How to Make Soap with Wine

This recipe uses red wine instead of distilled water. Give yourself an extra day to prep the wine!

Author Soap Queen

Ingredients

• Silicone Column Mold
• 25 oz. Swirl Quick Mix
• 7.4 oz. Prepped Wine 10% water discount
• 3.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
• 1.5 oz. Berrywine Fragrance Oil
• Titanium Dioxide
• Queen’s Purple Mica
• Merlot Sparkle Mica

Instructions

WINE PREP: The first step is to prep the wine for soaping. This should be done the day before you’d like to make soap. Alcohol and soaping don’t mix very well, so the wine needs to boiled to remove the majority of the alcohol. Add the wine to a saucepan. I would recommend adding about 1.5x-2x more than you need, because the wine boils off. For this recipe, I would recommend adding 12 ounces.<br>Bring the wine to a steady boil for 5-7 minutes. Do not leave the wine unattended or it could boil over. Once it has boiled, remove from the heat and weigh the amount you need in a separate container. If you have more wine than you need, save it for another batch. If you don’t have enough, don’t worry. Add distilled water to the boiled wine to make up for any amount of liquid that you’re missing.<br>Once you have the correct amount of wine, pour it into ice cube trays (in this case we used Medium 9 Ball Silicone Molds). Place the prepped wine into the freezer and allow it to fully freeze. Once it’s frozen, place the wine ice cubes into a heat safe container suitable for mixing lye.

Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and other distractions and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space.<br>With your safety gear on, measure out the sodium hydroxide lye into a separate container. Then, add about 1/4 of the lye flakes directly to the frozen wine. Slowly, start to mix the two together.<br>It takes a few minutes to get started, but the lye will begin to warm up the wine ice cubes and they will begin to melt. You will start to notice an unpleasant odor, and the color of the wine will change (notice the green hue in the photo below). Continue adding the lye flakes to the wine cubes and continue to stir. This process can take a while, so patience is key.<br>Once all the wine-ice has melted, continue to stir for several minutes. You need to make sure all the lye flakes have completely melted. In the photo below, all the ice is melted but there was still some lye flakes at the bottom of the mixture. Keep stirring until all the flakes are gone. This can take up to 10-15 minutes. To be extra safe, some soapers like to pour their lye mixture through a non-reactive mesh strainer to make sure all the flakes are gone.Once the lye and wine are completely incorporated, we are ready to soap! Label the container of lye “DANGER: DO NOT TOUCH” and set it aside. Time to prep the other ingredients.

FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure out 1.5 oz. of Berrywine Fragrance Oil into a glass, fragrance oil safe container. Set aside.

COLOR PREP: To ensure that the Titanium Dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap. To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable, stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning. Then, disperse 4 teaspoons of the colorant into 3 tablespoons of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). The color dispersion is slightly more concentrated to avoid adding too much extra oil. Then in separate containers, disperse 1 teaspoon Queen’s Purple Mica and 1 teaspoon Merlot Sparkle Mica into 1 tablespoon lightweight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to help get rid of any clumps.

• Fully melt the entire bag of Swirl Quick Mix until completely clear and there is no cloudiness. Shake the bag to mix up all the oils. Measure 25 oz. into your soaping bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the dispersed titanium dioxide and add it directly to the oils. Stick blend the colorant into the oils until they are completely combined. Adding the titanium dioxide to the oils helps get rid of more chunks in the colorant, and can be stick blended thoroughly without accelerating trace.
• Add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add about 1.5 tsp. sodium lactate. Notice the color change of the soap batter!
• Once you have reached a thin trace, split the batch in half. Each container should have about 500 mL of soap. To one container, add all the dispersed Merlot Sparkle Mica and all the dispersed Queen’s Purple Mica. To the other container of soap, add the remaining dispersed titanium dioxide. Use a whisk to thoroughly mix in the colorants.
• Add half of the Berrywine Fragrance Oil to one container of soap, and the other half of the fragrance oil to the other container (it’s okay to eyeball it). Use a whisk to thoroughly mix in the fragrance oil.
• Pour some of tan soap into the mold, while counting to “1,2,3.” Then, pour the wine colored soap into the cream, directly in the center of the mold while counting to “1,2,3.” Counting helps keep the pours consistent. The colors should break through to the layer below.
• Continue pouring each color into the mold, directly in the center. Continue pouring until the mold is completely full.
• While firmly holding on to the seals on the sides of the mold, very lightly tap the mold on the counter. Don’t tap too firmly, or the seal of the mold can unlock and your soap will spill everywhere! Set the mold aside in a safe area where it will not topple over. Because of the extra sugar in the wine, this soap does have a tendency to warm up. Our soaping area is pretty cold this time of year, so we left the soap at room temperature for 3-4 days before unmolding. If you live in a hot climate, you may want to place the soap into the fridge for the first 3-4 hours to prevent overheating. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for 3-4 days. Because of the amount of colorant/extra oil in the recipe, we found it took a little longer to unmold. Once unmolded, slice into bars and allow to cure for 4-6 weeks. Enjoy!

The post How to Make Soap with Wine appeared first on Soap Queen.

Yesterday was the first official day of summer. Thanks to the sun, my garden and flowers have been growing like crazy. The fresh blooms inspired me to create this Buttercup Melt & Pour Soap. The Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds create flowers within the bars, and a thin strip of green soap creates a stem. The top is decorated with more yellow flowers and a touch of glitter.

This project is scented with a combination of Sunflower Fragrance Oil and Flower Child Fragrance Oil. The scent combination is a sophisticated floral blend, with notes of jasmine, bergamot and musk. Both fragrances discolor slightly to an ivory/tan. Over time, I found the blue color changed to a slightly more teal hue.

This is an advanced melt and pour project. It involves several layers that require an understanding of melt and pour temperatures. A spray bottle of 99% isopropyl alcohol is crucial for this project. Click here to get more tips for layering melt and pour soap. If you haven’t made melt and pour soap before, I would recommend getting a few simpler projects under your belt first.

What You’ll Need:
10″ Silicone Loaf Mold
3 Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds
48 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Base
25 oz. White Melt and Pour Base
.4 oz. Sunflower Fragrance Oil
.7 oz. Flower Child Fragrance Oil
Buttercup Mica
Caribbean Blue Mica
Kermit Green Mica
Fine Iridescent Glitter
99% Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

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ONE: Chop and melt 15 ounces of White Melt and Pour Soap Base in the microwave using 15-20 second bursts until completely melted. In a small container, mix 1 tsp. Buttercup Mica with 1 Tbs. 99% isopropyl alcohol, stir to fully incorporate. Split off 10 ounces of the melted base into a separate container. Add all of the mica mixture to the 10 ounces of melted soap and stir to combine.

TWO: Place the Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds into a container to position the molds upright. Pour the yellow soap in two of the three Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds. Then, pour the remaining 5 ounces of white soap into the third Mini Daisy Silicone Column Mold. Spritz the top of the molds with alcohol to help disperse any bubbles. Allow the soap to fully cool and harden. Watch this video for more information on using the 2-part silicone molds.

THREE: To make the stem, chop and melt 10 ounces of White Melt and Pour Soap Base in the microwave using 15 second bursts. In a small container, mix 1 tsp. Kermit Green Mica with 1 Tbs. 99% isopropyl alcohol and add the mica mixture to the melted soap. Stir to combine. Pour the green soap into the bottom of the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold, and spritz the top with alcohol to help get rid of any bubbles. Allow the soap to fully cool and harden.

FOUR: Once fully cool, remove the green soap from the mold. Cut the thin layer in half vertically so you have two long strips. I found that my layer was a little bit thicker than I wanted, so I used a peeler to make the layer a little thinner. This step is optional, and will depend on how thick you’d like the stem of the flower to be.

FIVE: Remove the flower embeds from the mold and trim them if necessary. I love using the Clean Up Tool for this step! Cut all three embeds to be the same length as the 10″ Silicone Column Mold. With the leftover embeds, cut them into small, thin flowers. These will go on the top of the soap at the very end.

SIX: Chop and melt 40 ounces of the Clear Melt and Pour Soap in the microwave using 30-45 second bursts. Mix together 1/2 tsp. of the Carribean Blue Mica with 1/2 Tbs. of 99% isopropyl alcohol until smooth. Add the mica mixture to the melted clear soap. Stir to combine.

SEVEN: Mix together the Sunflower and Flower Child Fragrance Oils in a glass, fragrance safe container. Add the fragrance blend to the melted blue soap and stir to fully combine.

EIGHT: Place one of the yellow embeds into the far left corner of the mold, leaving a small amount of space between the side of the mold and the embed. Check the temperature of the blue soap. If it’s hotter than 130° F, allow it to cool to 125° F or below to prevent it from melting the yellow embed. Spritz the mold and embed with alcohol to help the embed adhere, then pour a thin layer of the blue soap into the mold until it almost covers the yellow embed. Spritz with alcohol to get rid of any bubbles.

NINE: Allow the blue soap to cool slightly until it forms a skin. Then, insert one piece of green soap upright in the opposite side of the mold. You may need to hold the green soap in place for a few minutes to allow the blue soap to harden enough to stabilize the green embed.

TEN: Once the green layer is stable, spritz the soap with the 99% isopropyl alcohol to help the layers stick and pour more blue soap into the mold. Continue to pour until you have covered the first yellow flower embed, and pour a little extra create a layer in between the second flower embed. Allow this soap to cool and form a skin. Once cooled slightly, spritz with alcohol and pour a small amount of blue on top, then lay the white flower embed near the center of the mold.

Allowing the blue soap to harden slightly will keep the soap from falling down into the mold. Pouring a little bit of melted soap before placing the white embed helps the white soap stay in place.

ELEVEN: Remelt the remaining blue soap in the microwave using short bursts. When it’s 130° F or below, thoroughly spritz the top with alcohol and pour the remaining blue soap over the entire mold, making sure to fill in the various areas evenly. Place the yellow flower embed directly on top of the green stem embed. Spritz the top with alcohol to disperse bubbles.

TWELVE: Once the top has cooled and formed a skin, spritz with alcohol and place the small yellow flower pieces on top. Chop and melt 8 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Base in the microwave using 15 second bursts. Once melted, add a pinch of iridescent glitter until you’re happy with the amount of sparkle.

THIRTEEN: Spritz the soap again with alcohol, and when the clear and sparkly soap is 130° F or below, pour it on top of the entire mold. Spritz with alcohol to remove bubbles, and allow the entire loaf to fully cool and harden. This can take about 4-6 hours.

Once cooled, cut into bars. Wrap the bars in plastic wrap to help prevent glycerin dew. Learn more about storing handmade products here.

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Buttercup Melt & Pour Soap DIY

This Buttercup Melt and Pour uses daisy shaped embeds to create a floral bar of soap.

Course Melt and Pour Soap

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours

Servings 3 -4 pounds of soap

Author Soap Queen

Ingredients

• 10 ″ Silicone Loaf Mold
• 3 Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds
• 48 oz. Clear Melt and Pour Base
• 25 oz. White Melt and Pour Base
• .4 oz. Sunflower Fragrance Oil
• .7 oz. Flower Child Fragrance Oil
• Buttercup Mica
• Caribbean Blue Mica
• Kermit Green Mica
• Fine Iridescent Glitter
• 99 % Isopropyl Alcohol in Spray Bottle

Instructions

• Chop and melt 15 ounces of White Melt and Pour Soap Base in the microwave using 15-20 second bursts until completely melted. In a small container, mix 1 tsp. Buttercup Mica with 1 Tbs. 99% isopropyl alcohol, stir to fully incorporate. Split off 10 ounces of the melted base into a separate container. Add all of the mica mixture to the 10 ounces of melted soap and stir to combine.
• Place the Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds into a container to position the molds upright. Pour the yellow soap in two of the three Mini Daisy Silicone Column Molds. Then, pour the remaining 5 ounces of white soap into the third Mini Daisy Silicone Column Mold. Spritz the top of the molds with alcohol to help disperse any bubbles. Allow the soap to fully cool and harden.
• To make the stem, chop and melt 10 ounces of White Melt and Pour Soap Base in the microwave using 15 second bursts. In a small container, mix 1 tsp. Kermit Green Mica with 1 Tbs. 99% isopropyl alcohol and add the mica mixture to the melted soap. Stir to combine. Pour the green soap into the bottom of the 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold, and spritz the top with alcohol to help get rid of any bubbles. Allow the soap to fully cool and harden.
• Once fully cool, remove the green soap from the mold. Cut the thin layer in half vertically so you have two long strips. I found that my layer was a little bit thicker than I wanted, so I used a peeler to make the layer a little thinner. This step is optional, and will depend on how thick you'd like the stem of the flower to be.
• Remove the flower embeds from the mold and trim them if necessary. I love using the Clean Up Tool for this step! Cut all three embeds to be the same length as the 10" Silicone Column Mold. With the leftover embeds, cut them into small, thin flowers. These will go on the top of the soap at the very end.
• Chop and melt 40 ounces of the Clear Melt and Pour Soap in the microwave using 30-45 second bursts. Mix together 1/2 tsp. of the Carribean Blue Mica with 1/2 Tbs. of 99% isopropyl alcohol until smooth. Add the mica mixture to the melted clear soap. Stir to combine.
• Mix together the Sunflower and Flower Child Fragrance Oils in a glass, fragrance safe container. Add the fragrance blend to the melted blue soap and stir to fully combine.
• Place one of the yellow embeds into the far left corner of the mold, leaving a small amount of space between the side of the mold and the embed. Check the temperature of the blue soap. If it's hotter than 130° F, allow it to cool to 125° F or below to prevent it from melting the yellow embed. Spritz the mold and embed with alcohol to help the embed adhere, then pour a thin layer of the blue soap into the mold until it almost covers the yellow embed. Spritz with alcohol to get rid of any bubbles.
• Allow the blue soap to cool slightly and form a skin. Then insert one piece of green soap upright in the opposite side of the mold. You may need to hold the green soap in place for a few minutes to allow the blue soap to harden enough to stabilize the green embed.
• Once the green layer is stable, spritz the soap with the 99% isopropyl alcohol to help the layers stick and pour more blue soap into the mold. Continue to pour until you have covered the first yellow flower embed, and pour a little extra create a layer in between the second flower embed. Allow this soap to cool and form a skin. Once cooled slightly, spritz with alcohol and pour a small amount of blue on top, then lay the white flower embed near the center of the mold. Allowing the blue soap to harden slightly will keep the soap from falling down into the mold. Pouring a little bit of melted soap before placing the white embed will help the white soap “stick."
• Remelt the remaining blue soap in the microwave using short bursts. When it's 130° F or below, thoroughly spritz the top with alcohol and pour the remaining blue soap over the entire mold, making sure to fill in the various areas evenly. Place the yellow flower embed directly on top of the green stem embed. Spritz the top with alcohol to disperse bubbles.
• Once the top has cooled and formed a skin, spritz with alcohol and place the small yellow flower pieces on top. Chop and melt 8 ounces of Clear Melt and Pour Base in the microwave using 15 second bursts. Once melted, add a pinch of iridescent glitter until you’re happy with the amount of sparkle.
• Spritz the soap again with alcohol, and when the clear and sparkly soap is 130° F or below, pour it on top of the entire mold. Spritz with alcohol to remove bubbles, and allow the entire loaf to fully cool and harden. This can take about 4-6 hours. Once cooled, cut into bars. Wrap the bars in plastic wrap to help prevent glycerin dew.

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The post Buttercup Melt & Pour Soap DIY appeared first on Soap Queen.

What You’ll Need:

Heavy Duty Column Mold

50 oz. White Melt & Pour Base

Hydrated Chrome Green Color Block

Fizzy Lemonade Color Block

Ultramarine Blue Color Block

.75 oz. Fresh Bamboo Fragrance Oil

Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart!

MOLD PREP: Insert the flat plastic divider into the column mold. Run your finger down the seam until you hear the “snap”, ensuring that you have a smooth, even seam that won’t show up on your soap. Attached the end cap and you’re all set!

ONE: Begin by cutting the White Melt & Pour Base into small chunks and measure out about 16 oz. each into three separate containers. Be sure the containers are microwave safe! Melt the containers one by one in the microwave in short, 30 second bursts.

TWO: Now shave off portions of the colors blocks and add one color per container. Color blocks are WYSIWYGs (what you see is what you get), so add more color block for a darker color and less color block for a more pastel color. In order to keep crisp lines in the soap, make sure whatever colors you choose to use are non bleeding. Want a list of our colors that are non-bleeding? Here’s a blog post on just that. 

THREE: Next it’s time for fragrance. Pour .25 oz. of Fresh Bamboo Fragrance Oil per container. Remember to choose a fragrance that is not going to discolor your soap brown.

FOUR: Start getting your set up ready. You’ll want to find something to prop up under the mold so when you pour, each layer can dry smoothly. In my set up, I propped the mold on a small dish and put the scale behind the mold to keep it from sliding backward. If you’re worried about the soap leaking, wrap the bottom of the mold with saran wrap and use a rubber band to secure the saran wrap; then, put your end cap on. Extra insurance is a good thing.

FIVE: By now your soap may have solidified a bit. Reheat the soap in short bursts of 30 seconds or less, taking time to stir the soap between each heating. It extremely important that the soap doesn’t get hotter than 160 degrees and burn because it will make it much harder to pour a smooth, even layer into the mold. Pouring your second layer too hot also will melt the first layer. Pouring the soap at 130 degrees or less is ideal.

SIX: Once your soap has cooled, gently pour it into the mold. As it pools in the back, slowly lower the mold as you pour until it is resting on your bowl (or whatever you choose to use). The soap may not come all the way up to mouth of the mold, but that’s okay! The other colors will fill in the space, and you can always cut off the end of the soap when you unmold it. 

SEVEN: It’s very important to not rotate the mold until the soap is solid. Otherwise, you could risk breaking through the top skin and spilling soap around the inside of the mold. Wait at least two hours for the soap to harden, and then using a temperature gun, take the temperature of the soap in the back of the mold. I waited until my first layer was around 82 degrees at the soap’s deepest point just to be sure.

EIGHT: Gently rotate the mold and pour the second layer. You may not be able to pour the full 16 oz. of soap, so keep your container ready to catch any run-off.

NINE: For the third and final layer, tip the mold up and rest it on its end. Check the temperature of the poured soap to make sure it’s dry enough to tip, and then gently pour in the remaining soap.

Let me the soap sit overnight before unmolding. Enjoy your new geometry-friendly soap!

The post Circular Soapy Geometry (Tutorial) appeared first on Soap Queen.