Soap makers are creative folk. In recent years, new techniques of soap artistry have been developing at an astonishing rate. Numerous challenges among soap makers push the boundaries of design to ever farther limits. Through blogs and video, many soap makers share what they've learned about various ingredients used to make soap or how to create a particular design in soap. Gone are the days of ugly homemade soap. Today's soap makers are true artists who use the medium of soap for their unique art work. I enjoy seeing the results of their creativity and reading about different aspects of the science behind making soap. 

Clara Lindberg, a soap maker who lives in South Africa, recently participated in a plain soap challenge. That's right, no color or fragrance allowed. She had previously experimented with using different amounts of water in portions of her soap, as well as heat while the soap saponified in the mold, to create designs in her soap. She called this technique the, "Ghost Swirl," and her results were stunning. In reading her blog post here, I found her detailed explanations of how the process works very interesting. Kevin Dunn, the Elliott Professor of Chemistry at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, who specializes in studying soap, also contributed his thoughts in the comments section. She did a "Taiwan Swirl" to make the ghost swirl in her soap. And she inspired me to give this technique a try.

So I made a simple soap using spirulina powder as the colorant. Spirulina is a blue-green algae which has nutritional benefits and can be used as a natural colorant in soap. I used a small amount to add subtle color and specks to my soap batter. Per Clara's instructions, I added more water to part of the soap batter and poured it through the middle of the wet soap in the mold. I've not attempted a Taiwan swirl yet, so I simply inserted a knife and sliced it back and forth through the mold and swirled the last bit of soap batter over the top. The higher water soap was lighter in color and made a lovely textured swirl on top of the soap.

After putting the soap mold in a warm oven for several hours, and then unmolding the soap the next day, the difference in color was noticeable, especially in the pattern on the bottom of the soap loaf. When poured, the higher water soap was lighter in color. Now it was darker. The swirl wasn't too bad either.

Another aspect that influences the design of a soap is the way the loaf is cut. A Taiwan swirl should be cut horizontally to see the full effect. I cut my soap loaf vertically, so the swirl design was lost, however, another interesting design was revealed. The tone on tone variation of the pale green reminded me of the gemstone, jade, valued for centuries in the culture of China.

This unique soap will continue to harden and cure for several weeks before it will be available in my shop. Each bar is different in its subtle variation of color. The fragrance is Cypress Leaf essential oil, a fresh, green scent which will appeal to both men and women. If you would like to reserve a bar of Jade, please contact me. In the meantime, I plan to attempt another "Ghost Swirl" soon. Thanks for stopping by!

​~Debbie

Handmade Soap. What's so special about it anyway? For many years I didn't even know such a thing existed, at least not since the time of little houses on the prairie. After all, bars of Ivory or Dial soap are commonplace in stores, along with that green Irish Spring soap. Personally, I preferred body wash which came in pretty colors and scents all contained in a plastic bottle. No messy soap dish. No slippery bar to drop. And so for years I was content with body wash. But one day that all changed. I discovered handmade soap and learned how to make it.

Have you ever suffered from dry, itchy skin? As time went by, my skin, especially my legs, became itchy, itchy, itchy. Why it was so was a mystery to me. Until I learned about sulfates. Sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl ether sulfate, and sodium lauryl sulfate are powerful detergents, foaming surfactants which effectively remove oils and residues. Sulfates are commonly used in floor cleaners, engine degreasers, toothpastes, shaving cream, bubble baths, dish washing detergent, shampoos, and - body washes. Sulfates can cause skin and eye irritation. Mystery solved! The harsh detergents in the body washes I used were stripping my skin of its beneficial body oils resulting in dry, itchy skin. The detergents in shampoo work the same way and can cause a dry, itchy scalp or dandruff.

The natural alternative to these harsh detergents is something that has been around for centuries - ordinary soap. As explained by the FDA, "Ordinary soap is made by combining fats or oils and an alkali, such as lye. The fats and oils, which may be from animal, vegetable, or mineral sources, are degraded into free fatty acids, which then combine with the alkali to form crude soap. The lye reacts with the oils, turning what starts out as liquid into blocks of soap. When made properly, no lye remains in the finished product. In the past, people commonly made their own soap using animal fats and lye that had been extracted from wood ashes.

Today there are very few true soaps on the market. Most body cleansers, both liquid and solid, are actually synthetic detergent products. Detergent cleansers are popular because they make suds easily in water and don't form gummy deposits. Some of these detergent products are actually marketed as "soap" but are not true soap according to the regulatory definition of the word."  

Ordinary soap. Made from scratch. "There are very few true soaps on the market." But handmade soap is available from soap makers, like myself. Take a look in my shop to see what I have available now. 

Handmade soap. Simple, yet extraordinary. 
If you don't already use handmade soap, why not try a bar today? If you do, tell me why.

​~Debbie