Make Soap Curls

Its easy to embed soap curls into a batch of cold process soap and create unique decorative designs.

This is one soap making idea that can be used in various ways. I've made happy faces, words, hearts and a wave pattern using this general concept.

Begin by using a cheese slicer to cut thin strips of soap. I usually use fresh soap that has been made with my Basic Homemade Soap recipe because it is quite pliable which makes it easier to manipulate. 

Using the cutter, drag it through the top of your log of soap from one end to the other.

This usually will create the curl but if not, you can use a pencil to carefully roll the soap strip up "jelly roll style" into loose curls.

Create enough of these curls to fill the soap mold. The curls should touch but not be jammed in.

Place the mold and curls in a warm oven (an oven that has been set to it's lowest temperature and then turned off prior to placing the soap inside) while you make the base soap. This step is optional if your work room and the soap is already a decent temperature.

You want to avoid a temperature shock between the soap curls and the base soap. If the curls and the soap mold are quite cool, you can get blotches of white mottling in your soap that ruins the design.

Make your contrasting soap base but before you pour the soap, remember that the mold will fill much higher than normal since it already has quite a bit of soap in it. You will want to have another soap mold on hand to put in any extra base you might have. Think of the extra soap as colourful bits for another soap batch.

Be sure to pour the light-medium traced soap base very carefully so you do not mess up the design by pushing the curls around.

Insulate your soap as normal and after the insulation period is complete, you can cut the bars. Remember to cut your decorative soap bars in a way that the design will show to it's best potential.

The example below shows how to cut a soap log that has curls in it. The soap produced using my square mold above has to be cut into two short logs before cutting as shown in the picture below.

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