Soap Challenge Club Combing Technique November

The Combing Technique Challenge was a wonderful challenge for me because I had the opportunity to learn this new technique, it amazed me because I got to see how the colors were combined by swapping the comb through the colors and see them mixing marvelously and having the wonderful result. Using this technique is very easy and quite fun to do with millions of possibilities to end up with different results.

1. This was a very fun adventure for me, because I had to find a perfect material that worked as a mold, which was a see-through acrylic and had to find a place were someone could cut the acrylic, which had to be wide and high enough and I design a mold (slab mold) that was perfect for the technique.

2. Design and find adequate materials to do the combs. I decided to choose the easiest way. I bought and used a 4mm – 30in x 36in white corrugated plastic sheet, I cut 2 different pieces with different measures, one of 9in x 2in and I inserted 9 small bamboo sticks 1in apart. The second one was 7in x 2in and I inserted 7 small bamboo sticks also 1in  each apart. One comb is for the wide and the other one for the length. I made a pair of additional plastic-stick combs but I decide to use bamboo because they were more efficient.

3.I prepared 8 different colors in 5ml of glycerin with 1/2teaspoon of mica and Brambleberry colorants (Green chrome oxide, Cellini blue mica, electric bubble gum colorant, Ultramarine violet oxide, Tangerine wow colorant, wellow mica, Ultramarine blue oxide, Cappuccino mica, violet: half bubble gum and Ultrmarine violet and titanium white)

4. I made the slow-trace recipe and I prepared my first bash of soaps with Celine Blue Mica and White Titanium and the second one with Electric Bubble Gum and White Titanium. I used an Essential Oil blend fragrance using Lavender, Orange and Patchouli.  I did not use EO in the soap bottles with colors.

5. In the first and 2nd soap  I use the serpentine comb technique as show us in the greatcakessoapworks challenge, following the instructions from http://greatcakessoapworks.com/

Tips & Tricks for the Serpentine Swirl:
a. Use two different combs with 1″ spacing. One to fit the length of your mold, one to fit the width of your mold.
b. Lay down thick lines of color so that your swirls don’t get too muddy.
c. DO NOT add fragrance to the soap in your squeeze bottles!!
d. Once the colors are laid down horizontally in your mold, drag your length-wise comb perpendicular to the lines, then drag it back up between the lines you just created.
e. Turn your mold 90 degrees and repeat this pattern with your smaller comb.
f. Turn your mold back 90 degrees and draw S’s down the soap like a snake would move through the soap. These lines should not touch each other!

6. In my 3th batch of soap

1. Use just one comb  with 1″ spacing. One to fit the length of your mold, one to fit the width of your mold.
2. Lay down thick lines of color so that your swirls don’t get too muddy.
3. Once the colors are laid down horizontally in your mold, drag your length-wise comb perpendicular to the lines, then drag it back up between the lines you just created.

4. I take 3 bamboo sticks at same time  and make a free design

5. Finally I decorate with some drops of soap (different colors)

7. I’am very happy with the results :0)