Column Swirl Homemade Soap Recipe

Producing a column swirl homemade soap recipe has been on my 'to do' list for some time now and I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed making this one.

This design is easy to create by using a simple tool, a plain square column of wood, and lots of wonderfully bright, fun soap colours. With this batch I used 6 colours. Next time I will only use 4...I think it will have more impact.

The recipe below is without fragrance but you are welcome to add whatever scent suits your fancy. Just be sure that the scent is a slow mover since this technique takes some time to achieve.

Water as % of Oils = 38
Super Fat/Discount = 5%

**If you cannot find ethically sourced palm oil or would prefer to not use palm oil at all, it can be substituted with lard, tallow, shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, etc. Re-run the recipe through the lye calculator before making.

Column Swirl Homemade Soap Recipe Instructions

For this recipe I used the Room Temperature Method. Bring the soap to a thin trace.

Divide the soap up into 6 equal portions.

Add your colourants to each container.

Mix in the colour with a small whisk (or other mixing tool).

Make sure the soap colour is well mixed in with no lumps. This is important! I thought I had all of the lumps out but as you can see...there are a few still in there.

Place the square wooden column into the center of the soap mold.

Start pouring the first colour of soap. The amount of soap you pour will determine how wide the soap rings are. I went with pouring little amounts and wish I had used more soap base with each pouring. The wider rings look more vibrant and didn't muddy up like the narrower rings tended to.

Alternate pouring the colours, being sure to put contrasting colours next to each other.

Once all of the soap batter has been used up, remove the wooden column.

The center may look a little 'muddy' so you might want to scrape the last drops of coloured soap onto the top.

Wrap the soap up and leave to insulate for 24 hours (or more...mine took a bit longer than normal this time...36 hours) and cut when it is firm enough to handle.

Many more Homemade Soap Recipes can be found on the main recipes page.