Swirling M+P Soap?

[libuse]

Hello All,

I am a complete soap newbie, and tonight made my second batch of melt and pour soap. Most of tonight's batch, and all of my first batch, were experiments with colour, oils and fragrance, and my first batch got good feedback from the people I gave bars to.

My question is, as a small part of tonight's batch I decided to try and swirl two colours. Everything I've read talks about cold process, and I'm sure I'm not up to that yet, so I was looking for any tips regarding getting a nice swirl effect in melt and pour. Tonight I poured out a pale pink into the mould, then waited for it to set slightly before pouring some violet onto it and dragging it through with a chopstick, but it felt "claggy", almost porridge-y, so I'm sure I won't get a nice swirl effect when it sets.

I'm looking for any pointers really, I'm an extremely amateur but extremely enthusiatic newbie to soap, and would appreciate any pearls of wisdom from more experienced soap people

Thanks in advance :)

[libuse]

Just to update - I've now inspected my first swirl attempt and as I suspected it hasn't worked well, and has gone a sort of two-tone rather than a swirl.

Any advice gratefully received!

[Lou-Lou's Mum]

I also never managed to swirl M&P!!! It was always too liquid or too set to work, but never mind. I finally ended up melting & colouring a small amount then dribbling & swirling it with a spoon, into the moulds, as if I were decorating cakes with melted chocolate. Spray with alcohol & leave to set. Then melt and colour up the main portion of the soap & pour over the top.

Good fun!

[libuse]

Ah, ok, thanks for that - I wondered if I was missing something obvious. i'll try your swirl pattern tip and see how that goes......

Maybe my desire to swirl will give me the confidence to branch out into cold process!

[MelusineSoap]

Hi :)
I've been attempting to swirl m&p for a while now and I've only just managed to get it right!
It takes practice and timing, and temperature is key! I find that pouring between 115 and 120 is the magic temp, but that can very between bases.
I found the Soapqueen TV tutorials on Youtube really helpful.