This Chopped Embed Soap is inspired by Tania of Soapish. She created three batches of soap with fragrance oils from the Farmers Market Collection that had an embed design – Raspberry Jam, Cucumber Garden, and Blueberry Thyme. We decided to try something similar using bars from various projects, including the 10 Easy Ways to Texture Cold Process Soap video.
The exact colors will depend on what soap you have on hand. The embeds in this batch are made with Aqua Pearl Mica and Blue Mica. You can experiment with the size, shape, and number of embeds. They make up about 30% of the total weight of this recipe.
We used Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil to complement the blue color palette. It’s a favorite around the Bramble Berry office, with notes of raspberry, rose water, thyme, and musk. It behaves well in soap and doesn’t discolor. This recipe has a 10% water discount to prevent glycerin rivers.
Chopped Embed Cold Process Tutorial
What You Need:
5 lb. Wood Mold with Sliding Bottom
Silicone Liner for 5 lb. Mold
38 oz. Lots of Lather Quick Mix
5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
11.3 oz. Distilled Water (10% water discount)
2.5 oz. Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil
Titanium Dioxide
About 20-25 oz. Premade Cold Process Soap (cut into chunks)
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Find the supplies you need for this project below
PREP EMBEDS: Using a sharp knife, chop premade cold process soap into small chunks. The exact size and shape is up to you – our cold process pieces were roughly 0.5 inches. Don’t worry about the pieces being completely uniform – variety in size and shape adds interest.
We used cold process soap that was about 3-4 weeks cured for the embeds. Feel free to use newer or older soap.
If you’ve never made cold process soap before, stop here. We highly recommend checking out our FREE four part SoapQueen.tv series on cold process soapmaking, especially the episode on lye safety. And if you’d rather do some reading, Bramble Berry carries a wide range of books on the topic, including Pure Soapmaking. You can also check out the digital downloads for that instant gratification factor.
FRAGRANCE PREP: Measure 2.5 ounces of Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil into a small glass container and set aside.
COLORANT PREP: Disperse 3 teaspoons of titanium dioxide into 2 tablespoons of a lightweight liquid oil such as sunflower or sweet almond oil. Use a mini mixer to get rid of clumps.
Optional: To ensure the titanium dioxide blends smoothly into the soap, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Use a coffee grinder to break up any clumps of color and prevent streaks of white from showing in the final soap. We like to use a coffee grinder that has a removable stainless steel mixing area for easy cleaning.
SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices. That means goggles, gloves, and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, other distractions, and tripping hazards are out of the house or don’t have access to your soaping space. Always soap in a well-ventilated area.
ONE: Slowly and carefully add 5.5 ounces of lye to 11.3 ounces of distilled water. Gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved. Set it aside to cool. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add 2.5 teaspoons sodium lactate.
TWO: Fully melt the entire bag of Lots of Lather until it’s completely clear. Shake the bag to mix up all the oils. Measure 38 ounces into a heat-safe bowl. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees F or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend the mixture to a thin trace.
THREE: Add the 2.5 ounces of Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil and use the stick blender to mix in.
FOUR: Add all of the dispersed titanium dioxide. If the soap is still thin, use the stick blender to mix until you reach a medium trace. If the soap is already at medium trace, use a whisk to mix in the colorant.
FIVE: Add the cold process embeds into the soap and use a large spatula to thoroughly combine. As you are adding the embeds, separate any pieces that are sticking together.
SIX: Pour the soap into the mold. Tap the mold firmly on the counter to help get rid of any bubbles. Use a large spoon or spatula to smooth the top, and press down any embeds that are sticking out.
SEVEN: Spritz the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. We didn’t insulate the soap. The lower temperatures and water discount will help prevent glycerin rivers. If you live in an extremely hot climate, you may want to place the mold in to the fridge for several hours to prevent gel phase. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for 1-3 days. Once the soap is firm enough, unmold and cut into bars. Allow to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy.
- 5 lb. Wood Mold with Sliding Bottom
- Silicone Liner for 5 lb. Mold
- 38 oz. Lots of Lather Quick Mix
- 5.5 oz. Sodium Hydroxide Lye
- 11.3 oz. Distilled Water (10% water discount)
- 2.5 oz. Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil
- Titanium Dioxide
- About 20-25 oz. Premade Cold Process Soap (cut into chunks)
- Slowly and carefully add 5.5 ounces of lye to 11.3 ounces of distilled water. Gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved. Set it aside to cool. If you’d like a harder bar of soap that releases faster from the mold, you can add sodium lactate to the cooled lye water. Use 1 teaspoon of sodium lactate per pound of oils in the recipe. For this recipe, you’d add 2.5 teaspoons sodium lactate.
- Fully melt the entire bag of Lots of Lather until it’s completely clear. Shake the bag to mix up all the oils. Measure 38 ounces into a heat-safe bowl. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees F or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend the mixture to a thin trace.
- Add the 2.5 ounces of Crisp Cotton Fragrance Oil and use the stick blender to mix in.
- Add all of the dispersed titanium dioxide. If the soap is still thin, use the stick blender to mix until you reach a medium trace. If the soap is already at medium trace, use a whisk to mix in the colorant.
- Add the cold process embeds into the soap and use a large spatula to thoroughly combine. As you are adding the embeds, separate any pieces that are sticking together.
- Pour the soap into the mold. Tap the mold firmly on the counter to help get rid of any bubbles. Use a large spoon or spatula to smooth the top, and press down any embeds that are sticking out.
- Spritz the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. We didn’t insulate the soap. The lower temperatures and water discount will help prevent glycerin rivers. If you live in an extremely hot climate, you may want to place the mold in to the fridge for several hours to prevent gel phase. Allow the soap to stay in the mold for 1-3 days. Once the soap is firm enough, unmold and cut into bars. Allow to cure for 4-6 weeks and enjoy.
If I wanted to use Essential Oils instead of Fragrance Oils how much would I use because 2.5 oz. looks like a lot.
Thanks so much for this recipe 🙂
Do you think embedding milk or honey soap would work as well or would I run into issues with overheating the embeds? From my understanding if the milk soap has already gone through saponification it should be fine to force gel the rest of the wet soap, right?
Thanks for your help!
Yes, since the embeds would be made with already finished melt and pour soap that should be just fine. You won’t need to worry about scalding the milk or overheating the honey.
Hi Terah,
Would it not work well with already finished cold process milk soap then? I just have loads of that at home laying around so I would like to make use of it as embeds if possible.
You could use cold process as embeds as well, we typically shred them as use them for confetti type pieces instead. I am not sure how well larger pieces will stick but if you try it, let us know how it turns out.
Can you color the leftover soap before using them as embeds? If so, what do you recommend and will it bleed into the soap?
Our leftover soap bits were made using aqua pearl and blue micas. As long as the colorant you choose is non-bleeding, your embeds won’t bleed into the surrounding area.
Here’s a link to our non-bleeding colors: https://www.brambleberry.com/Non-Bleeding–C451.aspx You can use whichever non-bleeding color you like that is suitable for CP.
I am new to embeds. Please answer this dumb question for me. Do the embeds separate from the soap that it is embedded in when a person is using that soap?
Those bits of CP soap will stay embedded in your loaf and won’t separate away.
I don’t have a 5 pound mold, can I just divide the recipe in half?
Halving a recipe doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll also use half the lye and water. Use the ‘Resize Batch’ button on our lye calculator to adjust your recipe size: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx
What is the recipe for the lots of lather kit?
We have lots of great recipes that use our Lots of Lather blend, and you can find them in a few of our kits:
https://www.brambleberry.com/Exfoliating-Handmade-Soap-Kit-P6734.aspx
https://www.brambleberry.com/Modern-Floral-Cold-Process-Kit-P6862.aspx
https://www.brambleberry.com/Natural-Soap-Kit-for-Beginners-P6607.aspx
You can always create your own recipe as well using our lye calculator: https://www.brambleberry.com/Pages/Lye-Calculator.aspx Lots of Lather quick mix is built-in to the calculator as an ingredient.
I used the Over The Rainbow recipe and did this using soap that I didn’t like the looks of and it worked perfectly.
I’m excited to make my first batch of soap! I can’t find 99% alcohol, can I use 91%?
Thanks!
Jeri: I only use 91% that I buy locally and it works like a charm. I usually apply a second coat about 5 minutes later.
91% alcohol will still work, it’s just not as effective, so you may notice that you still get a little soda ash. If soda ash does pop up, here are some techniques on getting rid of it: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/explaining-and-preventing-soda-ash/
Can I put embeds in melt and pour soap?
Yes, you can! I found the tutorials.
Can I use MP for the embeds?
You definitely can, the best MP base for using as embeds in CP soap is the LCP (like cold process), also known as low sweat base. You can find those here –
https://www.brambleberry.com/SFIC-LCP-White-Melt-And-Pour-Soap-Base-P3190.aspx
https://www.brambleberry.com/SFIC-LCP-Clear-Melt-And-Pour-Soap-Base-P4383.aspx