Cherokee Soul Soap

I’m moving a little outside of my comfort zone and entering a soap making challenge. The competition is fierce, with soap makers from all around the world.

The challenge is to create a soap using a technique called a Circling Taiwan Swirl. Not only have I never entered a competition like this, but I’ve never attempted this design before – so this is my first ever Circling Taiwon Swirl. However, with the help of seasoned soap makers, I think I understand the technique.

I made the soap with favorite soap recipe using a heat transfer method of mixing the oils and lye solution. The oils are olive, coconut, palm and castor. For color, I used Rhassoul Clay, Sea Clay, Turquoise Teal Mica, and Black Oxide. The fragrance/essential oil blend features cedarwood, clary sage and petitgrain.

I divided my fragrance into 4 equal parts and dispersed the clays & colorants into each part.

I used a hand blender to bring the soap batter to emulsification, then divided the batter equally into 4 pouring cups. I hand stirred the fragrance/colorant mixtures into each cup of batter.

I poured the batter into each of the divisions in the mold a little at a time, starting with the black, then the teal, rhassoul clay, and finally the sea clay. Then I pulled out the dividers. Since this was my first time to do this, I had not realized how much space the dividers used in the mold, so I lost some of the batter. Next time, I will try to scrape down the sides of the dividers as I pull them out.

I ran a chopstick through the batter, up and down across the mold, then circled the chopstick around the edges three times. I was afraid, if I continued with more circling, that my soap bars would not be consistent when cut.

The fresh batter looked beautiful! I put the soap in a box and wrapped with a blanket so it would keep warm and go through a “gel” phase. This will help the colors be more vivid.

I waited 24 hours to unmold the soap. To cut, I divided the 8″ loaf of soap into three parts. I had to turn the soap sideways to cut so that the design would show best. The first cut of each section was to remove what had been the top of the soap. I got 6 bars of soap that weighed an average of 5.25 oz. each at the time of the cutting. I was a little disappointed that the soap had stearic patches throughout, but it only affects how the soap looks and does not cause the soap to be unsafe.

I have decided to embrace the rustic look of this soap, and think it actually looks great! The design and colors remind me of feathers with a Native American look. Since the fragrance is a “good for the soul” blend, I decided to name this soap Cherokee Soul.

CLICK HERE to read about other batches I’ve made in preparation for this competition.

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