Tips for multiple color
cold-process and melt and pour soap
Melt & Pour Coloring Tips
These tips are only a suggestion, so please do be creative with your soap molds and
explore the endless possibilities with Fine Art Molds. Please send us your photos for our
Fine Art Soap Gallery.
The Angel Collection: I pour a thin layer of white making sure the angel is completely
full. I like the area around the wings thin, so when I pour the second color, the wings
look translucent. I like to use pastel and bright colors, but remember some colorants
bleed, so you need to pour a clear coat of about 1/8th of an inch thick or more before
pouring the color. Remember to spray with alcohol between layers!
Lighthouse, Sailboat, Dolphins In Flight, Dolphin Tray, Whale Tray, Seal Tray, Lighthouse
Tray, Mermaid: I start again with a thin layer of white, making sure the lighthouse,
dolphins, sailboats, etc. are full. Next, I cutup leftovers of blues and greens and fill
up the cavity. I fill up the cavity with a light blue clear base. The blues and green
pieces show through the thin layers of white creating an ocean scene!
The Cameo Collection: I pour the white opaque mp base directly into the image cavity,
being careful not to go outside the image. Once, the white is set enough to pick up, I
turn the mold over and check to see if I poured outside the image. The first time I
started doing this, I would over pour, but with practice, it's a very rare occurrence. So,
when the mp is set enough to pick up the mold, pick it up and turn it over to see if
you've poured outside the image a bit, take a plastic knife, never metal and carefully
trim. Be gentle as not to scratch the mold. Then pour in your choice of color. If the
color is intense and it bleeds, pour a clear coat of approximately 1/8th of an inch first
before adding color.
For "Louzomae", "Galatea", the "man", the "woman",
and "Esthema", I prefer not to only pour into the image, so I pour a light
coating of white over the bar and fill up the image. I repeat the above process. Some
color does come through the bar, not the imagined it gives a nice muted effect.
Cold process coloring tips brought
to you by Autumn Windz Soaps & Supplies
While it looks rather complicated at
first glance, coloring your decorative soaps is actually quite easy.
Make your usual CP batch and at light trace remove a little base to your palette and add
your desired color.
Now take your paint brush and paint the colored base from your palette directly onto the
mold. Normally just a light coat of the color into the design is all you need before you
move on to your next color and unlike MP it does not need to set up before you continue.
Now that you have the smaller areas painted into your mold it is time to put in your white
base. Take a spoon or medicine dropper and place your white base into the design and fill
the design about 1/2 to 2/3rds full. Again using your paint brush, gently pull your white
base up to the edge of the design thereby leaving a small well in the design. The purpose
of this is so that when you pour your next color the white base will not be pushed out of
the design.
Now we are on the final background color and this is where you want to add any fragrance
oil you plan to use. By waiting until the final background color to add the fragrance you
don't need to be concerned with any discoloration or acceleration of trace that may be
caused by the fragrance. Take a spoon and slowly drizzle the final background into the
mold cavity until the design has been covered. Once the design is covered you can pour a
little faster. The drizzling helps to keep your colors where you want then without pushing
them out of the design.
Now that you have your final color in you can smooth the back of the soap by using a ruler
or other flat sided object and go over the top of the mold. Let your soap setup in the
mold for 24+ hours.
To remove your soap from the mold I recommend placing it in the freezer for about 30
minutes. Once you remove the mold from the freezer turn it upside down on the counter. If
the soap does not slide out on its own you can help it along by applying light pressure in
the center or along the edge of the cavity with your thumb to allow a little air to get
inside the mold.
