A Soap Challenge: Mixing Media

I love a good soap challenge! It’s usually just the kick in the pants that I need to follow through on an idea that is just loitering in the back of my mind.

So when Amy of Great Cakes Soapworks set down the gauntlet, I pounced on the opportunity.

Amy recently blogged about her experiences mixing cold process (CP) soap and “melt and pour” (MP) soap. That’s the kind of soap that you just melt in the microwave, add scent and color and pour into a mold. It’s super easy, fun and perfect for beginners and even little kids!

Soapmakers don’t usually mix the two media together, however, until recently. And why not? It’s fun to mix things around (literally!).

As far as design goes, I was inspired a long time ago by these two soaps and decided to try something like this mixing CP and MP soap.

pasito a pasito

Savons et Fantaisies

I started with a log mold and set up a dam along the diagonal. I wanted to have two layers of color, but different amounts of each.

Then I poured the yellow and green soap on either side of the dam. Once the soap had set up a bit, I pushed plastic drinking straws into the soap and left the whole thing until the next day.

Once the soap was firm, I pulled out the drinking straws. (A set of pliers was very helpful here.) Most of the soap came out with the straw. Just what I wanted: a thin channel for my MP soap. If some of the soap got left behind, I just gently pushed the straw back into the channel, and it would “grab” the soap. I pulled out slowly and was able to get the channel clear, all the way to the bottom of the mold.

Next I melted separately yellow- and green-colored MP soap, and poured it into the channels.

Once that had cooled, I was able to cut into bars, much like Savons et Fantaisies did for her soaps.

I really like the different texture and properties of the MP soap! It can look like jewels.

Especially when light shines through it.

Thanks for the kick in the pants, Amy! 🙂

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