Soap Challenge Club October
Ghost Swirl Technique
My entry for the October Soap Challenge Club the Ghost Swirl Technique. This technique relies on the differences in water content and heat, not colorants, to produce a design. Thank you to Amy and Clara from Auntie Clara’s, inventor of the technique, for the chance to learn about the nuances of only water!
When soap batter is heated it undergoes a process called gelling. The process of gelling can be used make a color brighter. With higher water content, the soap heats up faster for a quicker gel. The trick to this technique is to get the high water content soap to gel without the lower water content soap also undergoing the gelling process. There’s a balance of controlling temperature and soap batter thickness known as trace. With a more concentrated lye solution (low water content), the soap making process (soaponification reaction) happens much faster and the batter gets thicker faster than the lower lye solution (low water content). For more information you can check out Auntie Clara’s site where she explains some frequently asked questions about this process, it’s really interesting.
Since you could create any design this challenge using the Ghost Swirl Technique, I used the chance to try another technique I had been wanting to try, the mini drop swirl technique. With winter just around the corner, this led me to dripping icicles. I used two lye concentrations, 30% for the high water content that went through gel phase (icicles), and 45% for the low water content (background) that did not gel. No colorant was used, just the natural color of the oils. I lightly scented this soap using Candy Cane fragrance oil from Bramble Berry. I soaped between 85°F and 90°F with the oven at 170°F (it’s lowest setting ) and the door half open, shelf pulled out. I turned off the oven, and once only slightly warm let it set overnight closed (with only a small reheat the next morning to 120°F for 2 min when I caught my husband preheating the oven — close call to ruined soap).
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Update 10/25/2020:
Grand Prize Winner - Beginner Category
I’m so excited and honored to share my grand prize win for the October Soap Challenge Club- Ghost Swirl Technique! Thank you to everyone who voted for my soap, to Amy Warden Soap Challenge Club and Auntie Clara for hosting and teaching this amazing technique, and to Baraka Shea Butter for sponsoring this amazing challenge!
