SAFETY FIRST: Suit up for safe handling practices! That means goggles, gloves and long sleeves. Make sure kids, pets, and 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.

COLOR PREP: To ensure that the Titanium Dioxide blends smoothly into the soap batter, we recommend micronizing it before dispersing it in oil. Please note this is an optional tip but it does help with the titanium dioxide clumping in the soap =) To micronize colorant, simply use a coffee grinder to blend the colorant 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. Then, disperse 3 teaspoon of each colorant into 3 tablespoons of Sunflower or Sweet Almond Oil (or any other liquid oil). Disperse 1 teaspoon Black Oxide into 1 tablespoon light weight liquid oil. Then disperse 3 teaspoons of Tangerine Wow! Colorant and Neon Blue Raspberry into 3 tablespoons light weight liquid oil in separate containers. Finally, disperse 4 teaspoons Ultramarine Violet Oxide Pigment into 4 tablespoons light weight liquid oil. Use a mini mixer to get clumps worked out smoothly. Prepping your colors in the beginning will allow you to work quickly and give you more time to work with your soap.

MOLD & COLUMN PREP: Before you begin, be sure to line the mold with freezer paper. Click here to learn how to line the mold yourself. If you choose to use the squeeze bottle to create the column pour, remove the caps from the squeeze bottles. Wrap the top of each bottle with tape to cover the opening. Try to make the tape as smooth and even as possible, as large creases could effect the design as the soap moves down the bottles. If you don’t have squeeze bottles, you can use any other cold process safe column shape. Just keep in mind that the size and shape will effect the patter and size of the layers.

• Slowly and carefully add the lye to the water and gently stir until the lye has fully dissolved and the liquid is clear. Set aside to cool.
• Fully melt the Swirl Recipe Quick Mix and pour into a large container that holds 200 oz. Once the lye water and the oils have cooled to 130 degrees or below (and are ideally within 10 degrees of each other), add the lye water to the oils and stick blend until thin trace. 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 about 8 tsp. sodium lactate.
• Once you’ve reached a thin trace, split the batter into three large containers of about 5.5 cups each. Then, split off the remaining soap into two smaller containers of about 900 mL each. To these containers, whisk in the dispersed colorants using the amounts below.
  Container A (5.5 cups): 3 Tbs. Tangerine Wow! Colorant
  Container B (5.5 cups): 3 Tbs. Neon Blue Raspberry Colorant + 1 tsp. Titanium Dioxide
  Container C (5.5 cups): 4 Tbs. Ultramarine Violet Pigment + 1/4 tsp. Black Oxide
  Container D (900 mL): 3 Tbs. Titanium Dioxide
  Container D (900 mL): 1 tsp. Black oxide
• Add the fragrance oil proportionally into each container of soap. It’s okay to eyeball it! Use a whisk to thoroughly mix in the fragrance oil.
• Decide on a color order and stick with it for the entirety of the pour. The order that I used was purple, white, orange, black, and blue. Pour the first color in the center of the squeeze bottles while counting to 3. Repeat this step with the other colors, again counting to three during each pour to keep the layers a similar size. Repeat the process until the containers have been emptied. Whisk each color after a few pours to help keep the soap fluid and avoid any graininess.
• Once all the soap has been poured, slowly and carefully remove the squeeze bottles from the soap. Have a container waiting nearby to set the bottles in. Once the bottles have been removed, firmly tap the mold on the counter to help settle the soap. Because the mold is so large, you may want a soapy helper for this! Finally, if you have a few drops of white soap leftover, add a dollop of white soap in the center of the layers. This is optional, but the white soap on top gives a nice contrast.
• Clean off your chopstick or dowel, and insert it into the center of each circular pattern. Do not insert the swirling tool all the way through the soap, only swirl the top. Drag the dowel straight to the edges of the mold. Repeat this process for the other circular pattern created by the pour.
• (Optiona) Finish the soap by inserting the 36 bar divider set. Click here to learn how to assemble the divider sets for birchwood soap molds.
• Spray the soap with 99% isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash. To help the colors pop, we promoted gel phase by placing the lid onto the mold, and setting the mold on a heating pad set to medium for 30 minutes. Allow to stay in the mold for 3-4 days, and cure for 4-6 weeks.