The Pacific Northwest experiences its fair share of rainfall. While the abundant precipitation can limit outdoor activities, it keeps the air fresh and the landscape lush. This Blue Rain Drop Swirl Cold Process is inspired by the current rainy season. The drop swirl technique gives the illusion of water and the crisp Ocean Rain Fragrance Oil smells like fresh rainfall.
This project uses the new Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold. This sturdy mold produces tall bars of soap which allows for a dramatic swirl effect. Before using this mold, don’t forget to line it! Lining a mold can be a little tricky at first, but is easy once you get the hang of it. This blog post shows you how to line any mold, step by step.
What You’ll Need:
39 oz. Swirl Recipe Quick Mix
5.4 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
12.9 oz. Distilled Water
Ocean Rain Fragrance Oil
Titanium Dioxide
Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant
Ultramarine Blue Oxide
Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold
Optional: Easy Pour and Measuring Containers (4)
Click here to add everything you need for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! Don’t want to use a swirl mix and want to create your own recipe? Make sure you have at least 60% liquid oils in the recipe to ensure you have enough time to get that swirl to really work well. Tips for creating your own recipe here.
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, Soap Crafting. You can also checkout the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.
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. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
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 2 teaspoons of the colorant into 2 tablespoon of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Finally, disperse 1 teaspoon Fizzy Lemonade Colorant, Ultramarine Blue Oxide and Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant into 1 tablespoon of light liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to get the clumps of color worked out smoothly.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
TWO: Fully melt the Swirl Recipe Quick Mix and pour into a large bowl that holds at least 58 oz. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), 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 3 tsp. sodium lactate.
TWO: Once you’ve reached a thin trace, split the batter into two containers of about 500 mL, one container of 600 mL and one small container of about 200 mL. To these containers, whisk in the dispersed colorants using the amounts below.
- Container A (600 mL): All dispersed Titanium Dioxide
- Container B (500 mL): All dispersed Ultramarine Blue Pigment
- Container C (500 mL): 1 tsp. Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant
- Container D (200 mL): 2 tsp. Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
THREE: To the four containers, add the 2 ounces of Ocean Rain Fragrance Oil proportionally. It’s okay to eyeball it! Use a whisk to fully blend in the fragrance oil.
FOUR: Pour about half of the white soap into the mold. Firmly tap the mold on the counter to release any bubbles.
FIVE: Pour the dark blue soap into the center of the mold. Pour from about 10 inches above the mold; this helps the blue soap to drop to the bottom of the white soap, rather than sitting on top and creating layers.
SIX: Continue pouring the soap from above the mold, using the light blue, yellow, white and dark blue soap. Pour enough of each color to ensure you can pour all colors at least three times. Save a small amount of the white soap for the top. Continue to pour from various heights to help the colors reach various depths. Don’t worry about being too precise when you are dropping in the colors. As you pour, the soap will begin to thicken. Don’t worry! Just keep pouring from high above the mold to ensure you don’t end up with layers. If it gets too thick, give it a quick whisk to help loosen up the batter.
SEVEN: Once you have poured all the soap into the mold, pour the small amount of the saved white soap on top. Tap the mold firmly on the counter to release any bubbles.
EIGHT: Insert a chopstick or dowel into the very top of the soap, and swirl in a S-shaped curve width-wise down the mold. Spray the top with 99% isopropyl alcohol, and place the lid on to help insulate. Allow the soap to sit with the lid on for at least 24 hours to insulate the soap and make the colors pop. You can read more about that in the Jazzed About Gel Phase post. Allow to sit in the mold for 48-72 hours. To remove, slide the bottom of the mold out and allow the soap to drop out. Remove the liner, cut and enjoy!
What are your favorite rainy day activities? I love curling up with a good book, and of course…making soap!
Blue Rain Drop Swirl Cold Process
Ingredients
- 39 oz. Swirl Recipe Quick Mix
- 5.4 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 12.9 oz. Distilled Water
- Ocean Rain Fragrance Oil
- Titanium Dioxide
- Fizzy Lemonade Colorant
- Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant
- Ultramarine Blue Oxide
- Tall Narrow Wood Loaf Mold
- Optional: Easy Pour and Measuring Containers 4
Instructions
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. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
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 2 teaspoons of the colorant into 2 tablespoon of sunflower or sweet almond oil (or any other liquid oil). Finally, disperse 1 teaspoon Fizzy Lemonade Colorant, Ultramarine Blue Oxide and Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant into 1 tablespoon of light liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to get the clumps of color worked out smoothly.
- Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
- Fully melt the Swirl Recipe Quick Mix and pour into a large bowl that holds at least 58 oz. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), 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 3 tsp. Sodium Lactate.
- Once you’ve reached a thin trace, split the batter into two containers of about 500 mL, one container of 600 mL and one small container of about 200 mL. To these containers, whisk in the dispersed colorants using the amounts below.
Container A (600 mL): All dispersed Titanium Dioxide
Container B (500 mL): All dispersed Ultramarine Blue Pigment
Container C (500 mL): 1 tsp. Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant
Container D (200 mL): 2 tsp. Fizzy Lemonade Colorant - To the four containers, add the two ounces of Ocean Rain Fragrance Oil proportionally. It’s okay to eyeball it! Use a whisk to fully blend in the fragrance oil.
- Pour about half of the white soap into the mold. Firmly tap the mold on the counter to release any bubbles.
- Continue pouring the soap from above the mold, using the light blue, yellow, white and dark blue soap. Pour enough of each color to ensure you can pour all colors at least three times. Save a small amount of the white soap for the top. Continue to pour from various heights to help the colors reach various depths. Don’t worry about being too precise when you are dropping in the colors. As you pour, the soap will begin to thicken. Don’t worry! Just keep pouring from high above the mold to ensure you don’t end up with layers.
- Once you have poured all the soap into the mold, pour the small amount of the saved white soap on top. Tap the mold firmly on the counter to release any bubbles.
- Insert a chopstick or dowel into the very top of the soap, and swirl in a S-shaped curve width-wise down the mold. Spray the top with 99% isopropyl alcohol, and place the lid on to help insulate. Allow the soap to sit with the lid on for at least 24 hours. Allow to sit in the mold for 48-72 hours. To remove, slide the bottom of the mold out and allow the soap to drop out. Remove the liner, cut and enjoy!
