Green Machine (Melt and Pour Tutorial)
- Difficulty:Advanced
(for melt & pour) - Time:3 hours
- Yields:11 - 12 bars
Ingredients
25.5 oz White Soap base
19.5 oz Clear Soap base
10 ml Emerald Green LabColor (diluted in 8 oz water)
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This 15 layer soap was inspired by a Bramble Berry newsletter project using the cold process soapmaking method. Here’s the link if you want to check it out. But for our melt and pour fans, we wanted to give them the same option of making graduated layers.
In order to make the 15 layers manageable, I separated the recipe into 4 parts, pouring 3 ounces per layer and adding drops of Emerald Green LabColor for the fading effect. But, I did do the project all at once, in one sitting so plan to set aside at least 30 minutes to do the project all straight through.
If you have never made a layered soap before, please watch the Basic Layers episode on Soap Queen TV to brush up on the basics before tackling this project. So dilute that LabColor (see directions here) and let’s get started.
Part One
ONE: Melt 15 ounces of white melt and pour base, mix in 1/3 ounce of Sweet Pea Fragrance Oil and 4 drops of diluted Emerald Green Labcolor. Mix well and pour 3 ounces into your loaf mold.
Tip: I poured 3 ounces into a separate container so I could accurately measure before pouring. Or you can pour the soap with your mold on a scale. Weighing out 3 ounces for each layer is important for a consistent and professional look.
TWO: Add 8 drops of Emerald Green LabColor to the remaining soap and mix well. When layer one has cooled and the soap is around 130 degrees. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 2 (3 oz.).
THREE: Add 10 drops of Emerald Green LabColor to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 3 (3 oz.).
FOUR: Add 10 drops of Emerald Green LabColor to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 4 (3 oz.).
FIVE: Add 6 drops of Emerad Green LabColor to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 5 (3 oz.).
Tip: You may need to reheat the soap after you pour some of your layers. Just make sure you’re paying attention to your temperatures and pour at around 130 degrees so you don’t melt any of the layers.
Part Two
ONE: Melt 7.5 ounces of white base and 7.5 ounce of clear base in one microwave safe container. Blending the two soap bases will allow the base to take on a brighter color. Once the soap is melted, add 1/3 ounce of Sweet Pea Fragrance Oil and 65 drops of Emerald LC (just over 3 ml). Mix well, spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 6.
TWO: Add 15 drops of Emerald LC to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 7 (3 oz.).
THREE: Add 25 drops of Emerald LC to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 8 (3 oz.).
FOUR: Add 25 drops of Emerald LC to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 9.
FIVE: Add 30 drops of Emerald LC to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 10 (3 oz.).
We’re a two thirds of the way there! Yes!
Part Three
ONE: Melt 3 ounces of white base and 9 ounce of clear base in one microwave safe container. This combination will allow the base to take on an even brighter green color. Once the soap is melted, add 1/3 ounce of Sweet Pea Fragrance Oil and 150 drops of Emerald LC (about 7.5 ml). Mix well and pour layer 11.
TWO: Add 60 drops of Emerald LC (about 3 ml) to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 12 (3 oz.)
THREE: Add 50 drops of Emerald LC to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 13 (3 oz.)
FOUR: Add 35 drops of Emerald LC to the remaining soap and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 14 (3 oz.)
Part Four (the last layer)
For the final layer, melt 3 ounces of clear soap base, mix in 15 drops of Emerald LC and mix well. Spritz with rubbing alcohol and pour layer 15. Let the soap cool for at least 6-8 hours and cut as soon as you can with a sharp knife. The longer you let the soap dry out, the more of a chance your layers could separate when you cut. But hopefully you’ll remember to spritz with rubbing alcohol in between layers. With the combination of spritzing with rubbing alcohol and pouring fresh soap layers you shouldn’t have a problem (but humor me and play it safe).
Tips for layering melt and pour
Pich Posh Green Mean Machine
Bramble Berry Supplies
ELF Soap Molds
Otion – The Soap Bar
Soap Queen Blog
Soap Queen TV
Teach Soap
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Beautiful!!
love!
One word: AWESOME!!!!
Claudia
Monterrey, Mexico
Thanks =)
It’s not as much work as it looks, I promise!
The end result is stunning! So cool.
Oh this is so neat, I have purple, red and black labcolors so can’t wait to try it with either the red or purple. Thanks for the step by step guide.
Wow! That is the most awesome soap I have seen LOVE IT!
So would this take a full 8 oz. of diluted LC? I have several colors, but I’ve used some out of all of them! Also, I’m pretty sure all my LC are for high pH, can I still use them in m & p?
How incredibly cool is this! I wouldn’t have guessed that what looks like many gradated layers are actually just different intensities of the hue.
Could I use Goat’s Milk M&P in place of the white & Aloe Vera M&P in place of the clear? Also, I don’t need to add the preservative when I dilute the Labcolor, right? Sorry, I’m a newbie! And, thanks!
These are great questions. Yes, you can use GM MP in place of the white and Aloe Vera MP in place of the clear.
When you dilute your Labcolors, you’ll want to do a water-soluble preservative at 1% (so .08 oz.) in addition to using distilled water. This helps germs and bacterial not grow in your water-based product.
Isn’t that fun? We had such a good time making the soap. And it was way faster than you’d think too!
Definitely not; maybe 1/2 ounce of diluted product, max. Most of the layers take small amounts so we barely used any of our freshly diluted bottle =)
High pH labcolors can definitely go in melt and pour =)
Thank you. We had a really fun time designing and executing on the design! =)
Black into grey would be super cool ….
Fantastic tutorial and marvellous your soaps, as usually.
Kisses
Great! Thanks so much Anne-Marie! Can’t wait to get started!!
I’ll be using Berrywine FO & Royal Purple Labcolor!
Fantastic! That Royal Purple can be a little spotty so make sure to dilute with super hot water and stir well. =) Your soap is going to look so great when it’s done.
Aw thanks; you’re sweet =)
DEAR QUENN
I WANT TO MAKE THIS COLOR MP SOAP. I TRIED MANYG TIME ALL FAILED.PLEASE HELPS.
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I WANT TO SEND YOU A PICTURE. CAN YOU SEE?
THANKS.
Please email us a picture to info(at)brambleberry(dot)com. We would love to help you =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
HOW TO SEND A PICTURE? DO YOU HAVE A EMAIL ADD?
If you’re a Bramble Berry customer, you can just reply to one of our emails that we’ve sent you with your orders and we’ll get that response and be able to give free technical support =) Anne-Marie
i am sending now! thanks !
QUEEN
HAVE YOU GOT MY PICTURE FROM INFO?
THANK FOR THE REPLY
Customer service is not in the office today. We’ll be sure to reply to your email on Monday. Thanks for your patience!
Courtney from Bramble Berry
TODAY IS MONDAY.
QUEEEN, HAVE YOU SEEN THE PICTURE THAR I SENT TO YUU? DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE THAT MP SOAP?
THANK FOR THE REPLY. I AM WAITING FOR YOU LONG TIME.
It looks like you emailed on Friday when we closed. Sorry about the timing. But we have your email and are responding to you right now =)
Courtney from Bramble Berry
Wow!!!! I would never have believed it!