Water Soluble Paper is an incredibly easy way to customize soaps without investing in custom -made molds. In this episode, I share my favorite tips and techniques for using this incredibly versatile product. Enjoy!
Soap Queen TV Episode 9: Water Soluble Paper from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this soap with me:
Thanks Amber. You can ignore my repeat of the same question somewhere else on here π I’m having a lot of trouble unmolding my soap. I have a plastic mold. I really want the lidded molds but you all are out right now. If you don’t get more soon as I can’t seem to find them anywhere I’m going to try again with a silicone mold. What’s happening is that the bottom layer (the top of the soap the clear part) sticks to the mold exposing the paper which comes off with the white section. I’ve been able to dismantle it and melt the base again and try again but this keeps happening. I even oiled the mold. No use. I know vaseline leaves a greasy layer but I’m willing to try it just to see if it’s really the mold or maybe I’m a ditz. If this doesn’t work I’m going to try the temporary tatoo paper instead. Seems I can get more vibrant colors that way anyway. And that way I can put it on top of the soap instead of having to do layers. Unless you have some unmolding suggestions, I’ll keep you posted!
I just cleared customs for the plastic molds so we should them in the next few weeks at Bramble Berry.
So, it sounds like your layers are coming apart?
Is there any space where it’s just soap-on-soap and not just soap-on-paper?
I’m a little confused about the advise you gave Kim last year. Your video says use a inkjet printer but you’re telling her to try a laser ject printer. I thought it would mess up the printer… What is the make and model of the printer you are using as I was unable to find any print shops that would print on water soluable paper or who had laser jet printers so I had to go buy a printer and I will be very very sad if I invested in a printer that will in the end not work for this project. Please advise dear Soap Queen!
Hi Missha,
When we first made this video our Water Soluble Paper was only safe for use in an inkjet. Since then the the way it is made has changed and it can now be used in a laser printer as well as an inkjet. We use an HP laser printer and an HP inkjet here at the lab when we use WSP. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Anne-Marie – About a month ago, I made some wedding favor samples for a friend of mine. She called me today to say the printing on the soap has disappeared! She hasn’t used the soap at all and it is still in the plastic wrapping and is nowhere near moisture. What do you think caused this? I used the BB clear and BB goat milk base. Her wedding is on June 25th so I need to find a solution or improvise! Thank you, Kim.
Hm, that is interesting. Did you use an inkjet printer or a laser printer? None of our laser printed ones have ever faded. I would try a different type of laser printer and see if that solves it for you. Keep me posted – it’s the first I’ve heard of that kind of issue with the WSP.
I use an inkjet printer. I did another test using another picture and have left it to sit for a few months. The picture has faded to a black mess. I guess I will have to look at getting a laserjet if I want to continue doing any more projects with wsp. Thanks for your help. LOVE your tutorials and vids. Kim.
A laserjet is the best option for sure =) Failsafe.
Chris- For the blueing technique, you’ll need to use a little less of the blue next time (blue and yellow make green). It takes the smallest amount to make the “clear” illusion.
I would also the Bramble Berry clear base. It’s naturally a little clearer than the LCP base. And, it’s much easier to craft with. The LCP base will form a skin sooner than the regular clear base.
Also make sure that the skin on the top of the soap isn’t to thick so timing is very important. Then let the clear layer cool and spritz with rubbing alcohol before pouring your second layer. I hope this helps. Also remember that it takes a little practice. Stick with it and let me know if you need more help along the way =)
Help me, help me, Soapy Queen! π
I tried my hand at this last night and got a little bit disappointed, as they didn’t come out as great as I wanted them to.
I used BB’s LCP Clear & LCP White MP.
I used BB’s Countryside Blue LabColor for my “blueing” and it looks kinda greenish…do I need to just add more blue or it is the type of blue I’m using?
I did wait for that thin film to form before I set my paper down, but a few of my papers were curled up around the edges (like the letter U, so only the center of the picture was touching the soap) and I wasn’t sure if I should push down the edges or not, or if it would mess up the clear underneath…so I let that sit while I melted my white and then just poured over the top of them, hoping the white would flatten them.
My end result was a slight greenish/yellow clear soap with some scattered spots of light cloudy-ness. Now, on one I obviously didn’t spray enough alcohol or something because the 2 layers didn’t adhere, but it did allow me to see the image on the white soap and it was very wavy..is this from pouring the white soap too hard? Should I wait for my clear to set up a bit more before pouring down the white?
I'll get to work on the water-white fragrances. That's a great idea.
Here's a link to all of our non-bleeding colors at Bramble Berry:
https://www.brambleberry.com/popupNonBleeders.aspx
I too have the paper and it's just been setting around. I did try a project before, but it didn't quite work. I'm glad you've shown us how easy this really is!
Hi Ann-Marie,
Great project!! Could you post a list of all the colorless or "Water White" fragrances for us?
Also, could you post an updated list of all the colorants that are nonbleeding?
Thanks so much,
Wendy
Woo Hoo! Anne-Marie!
I got some of this wonderful paper from you at Christmas last year.
Just like Soapy, I have been hesitant but now we are all jazzed!
Last night I had a great home party and when I mentioned wedding favors, the room was all astir..actually the corporate gifts got alot of attention too. Imagine the possibilities of making up a wonderful basket and taking it to a CEO or a human resources mgr. or well, the possibilities are endless!
Thanks so much! I hope you relax this weekend and enjoy your three day break.
Cheers!
I can think of so many things that I can do with this water soluble paper. Thanks for doing this video. I am definitely going to be placing an order :).
Can't wait to watch it with an ethernet connection tomorrow (not going to attempt it tonight with my on-again, off-again satellite connection at home). π
I love this video too. I've been trying some of your projects out and seeing them in action really helps a lot.
Thanks for this video! I've been playing with this paper with variable levels of success. Nice to see the correct procedure! π
Thank you so much for this video! I have a sheet that I've been too nervous to use, and now I see how super easy it is!
Great video, as usual!