Homemade Hanger Swirl Cold Process Soap - Coconut Lime Verbena with Piped Dots on Top

Have you ever searched Pinterest for creative techniques to add to your soap making repertoire? I have. While I don't spend much time on Pinterest, I do remember being inspired by a soap with diagonal dots of color on the top.

In this video, I attempt to pipe light green, dark green and black dots in a diagonal line on top of a soap loaf. The fragrance is Coconut Lime Verbena and I've used a clothes hanger to swirl the colors. The color pattern inside the soap is White (base), black, light green, dark green, light green, white, black, white.

The color pattern for the dots on top is  light green, dark green, black, dark green (repeat so that the black is surrounded by dark green on either side.)

Have you ever tried a Salt Soap Bar?

Usually I can wait for soap to cure. Yes, I might grab a sliver of freshly made soap and wash my hands. I love to see how the combination of oils blend and wonder what kind of lather the soap will create. If you don't make hand crafted soap yet, you might not realize that soap has different characteristics based on the type and quantity of oils used in the recipe.

Online soap calculators often include soap qualities such as:
Hardness
Cleansing
Conditioning
Bubbly
Creamy

If a soap is too hard, you might not be able to cut it. If a soap is too cleansing, it may dry out your skin. If it's too conditioning, it might be soft, slimy or not bubbly. If it's too bubbly, it might not be conditioning enough. If it's too creamy, it might behave more like lotion than soap. These statements are my opinion as I dislike non-bubbly, soft soaps. A balance of oils and characteristics is important.

The other day, I made a lavender soap loaded with Sea Salt and essential oils. Salt destroys bubbles. Coconut Oil, however, makes lots of bubbles and cleans really well, but it can be drying when used at more than 30%. The soap I made contained 80% coconut oil. How can such a high percentage of Coconut Oil make a good soap? Instead of the standard 5% superfat, I increased it to 10%. The soap is gentler with the addition of extra fat. I also added 20% Castor Oil which is very nourishing and creates a fluffy, stable lather. Castor Oil is thick like corn syrup. It's said to act as a humectant in soap -- helping to counteract the drying properties of the Coconut Oil. Check out the recipe below, watch the video, and make some salt bars! 

I can't wait to try these salt bars!

Here's what I selected for my Lavender Essential Oil Salt Spa Soap:

80% Coconut Oil
20% Castor Oil
(10% superfat)
Run these ingredients through a soap calculator to see how much lye (Amazon Link) Sodium Hydroxide (Essential Depot link) to use
--------- plus
75% of the oil weight in Sea Salt (added at trace)

I'd use .5 oz of essential oil per pound of oil in this soap.

Here's the video I created while making this soap:

    

DISCLAIMER: Nancy's Garden Soap Co is a participant in Amazon Services LLC and Essential Depot's Affiliated Advertising programs that provides a means to earn advertising fees through advertisements and links.