Here’s  a great way to dress up an otherwise unassuming bar of soap. It reminds me of the painted heart soap technique that we learned at Soap Weekend Intensive 2011 (fun memories!) but with a twist. Adorable little apples dot the surface of this soap made with our newest Quick Mix oil recipe. Red Apple fragrance oil pairs perfectly with the cute and kitschy apple design! Yum to the eleventh power.
Recipe:
33 oz Basic Quick Mix Oil
4.7 oz Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
10.9 oz Distilled Water
2 Condiment Bottles
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PS – This technique, of course, works for all cold process soap recipes – not just ones with the Quick Mix Oils =)
If you’ve never made cold process soap before, stop right now and watch Cold Process Episodes 1-4 on Soap Queen TV (for free!), especially the episode on lye safety. I highly recommend you get a couple of basic recipes under your belt before attempting this technique. Bramble Berry also offers a number of books on soapmaking, including this downloadable e-book. Knowledge is power!
SAFETY: Get on your safety gear, that means gloves and goggles for sure! Make sure kids, pets, and other tripping/distraction hazards are out of the house or securely occupied for at least a solid hour. Always soap in a well ventilated area.
COLOR PREP:Â Disperse 1/4 teaspoon Green Chrome Oxide and 1/4 teaspoon Burgundy Oxide in 1 teaspoon Sunflower Oil (or any lightweight liquid oil) each. Mix with a mini-mixer until well combined. Push the dry powder into the oil to fully saturate it before turning on the mini-mixer or you’ll get a messy pouf of pigment! We do this to work out any of the colorant clumps.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and stir until clear. Set aside to cool.
TWO: Melt the entire bag of Basic Quick Mix Oil and shake well to ensure an even distribution of the individual oils in the mix. Measure 33 ounces of Quick Mix into a large container.
THREE: Once the lye water and oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below, slowly and carefully pour the lye water into the oils. I like to pour the lye water down the shaft of my stick blender in order to prevent air bubbles. Blend until you achieve medium trace.
FOUR:Â Fill each of the condiment bottles about 1/4 of the way full with the soap batter. Pour all of the dispersed Green Chrome Oxide into one condiment bottle, and all of the dispersed Burgundy Oxide into the other. Replace the caps and with a finger placed over the tip, shake the bottles until the colorant is fully mixed in. Point the tip away from your face when you remove your finger.
FIVE: Add the fragrance oil and whisk or hand stir in. Pour the rest of the soap batter into the 9 Bar Birchwood Mold. Insert the dividers.
SIX: Using the condiment bottle filled with red soap, drop 2 (or more, if you wish!) nickel-sized dots in each space created by the divider. Follow that with a much tinier drop of green soap, placed on the edge of each red dot. These are the beginnings of the apples and stems!
SEVEN: Using the tip of a skewer, drag a line from the top of the green dot to just inside the edge of the red dot. Repeat for all of the dots.
EIGHT:Â Next, add some texture and shape to the apples using the back of a spoon (I’m using a plastic spoon with the handle broken off).
NINE: Spray the entire surface of the soap with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and replace the Birchwood Mold’s lid for insulation. Allow to sit, insulated, for 24 hours and unmold in 2-3 days.
