I finally got my hands on a gear tie and wanted to put it to use! You can find gear ties at the local hardware store. They’re used to hang stuff and organize things (especially in the garage). They are perfect for creating swirling tools for soap because you can bend them to fit your mold.

(Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

Here is a pack on Amazon that gives you multiple sizes to try!

This recipe features pumpkin puree!

Lavender Pumpkin Gear Tie Swirl Recipe

Basic Body Bar – More Moisture from Lovin Soap Studio Recipe eBook (Grab your copy for 50 cold process soap recipes + 64 essential oils blends!)

Base Oils

• Coconut Oil (76 degree) – 270 grams (30%)
• Shea Butter – 90 grams (10%)
• Olive Oil – 342 grams (38%)
• Avocado Oil – 72 grams (8%)
• Rice Bran Oil – 126 grams (14%)

Lye Solution

• Sodium Hydroxide – 126 grams (5% superfat)
• Pumpkin Puree – 252 grams (1:2, lye:water ratio)

Color

• Purple Vibrance Mica

Scent

Use your favorite slow-moving fragrance or essential oil blend. I simply used a blend of lavender essential oils and a pumpkin fragrance oil. If you’re looking for a good place to get essential oils, I HIGHLY recommend Appalachian Valley Natural Products. I love their products and their shipping is super fast!

• Lavender Essential Oil – 20 grams
• Pumpkin Fragrance Oil – 10 grams

Mold – This soap fits in a 10″ Silicone Mold from Bramble Berry!

Let’s make soap! If you are new to soapmaking, be sure to download our free guide, How to Make Cold Process Soap! Gear up in your gloves and your safety glasses.

Step 1 – Weigh out the lye into a container. Set aside.

Step 2 – Weigh out the pumpkin into another container.

Step 3 – Sprinkle the lye onto the pumpkin. Stir. The lye will liquify the pumpkin puree.

Step 4 – Weigh the coconut oil and shea butter into a container and melt.

Step 5 – Add the liquid oils to the melted oils. This helps to drop the temp. Add your fragrance and essential oil to the oils.

Step 6 – Wait for the oils and lye solution to drop to 90F. You can put the lye solution in the fridge or in an ice bath to drop the temp.

Step 7 – Prepare your gear tie and mold. Bend the gear tie to fit into your mold as shown. Cut cardboard to create two dividers the length of your mold.

Step 8 – Once temps have dropped to 90F or below, pour the lye into the oils.

Step 8 – Stick blend until emulsion has been reached.

Almost there…but there are still oil streaks.

Here we have emulsion. No oil is floating and the mixture is consistent in color.

Step 9 – Place a containers on the scale and hit tare. Weigh out 15.2 oz. of soap batter.

Step 10 – Add 2 teaspoons of purple mica and blend by hand.

Step 11 – Pushing down on the cardboard dividers, pour the soap into the mold. Pushing down helps to make sure the mixture doesn’t flow under. It helps if you have someone help you pour the soap all at one time. I couldn’t take pictures and pour at the same time. 🙂

Step 12 – Lift the dividers straight up and out of the soap.

Step 13 – Insert your gear ties all of the way down into the soap. Move the gear tie from side to side while pulling up.

Step 14 – If you want to swirl the top, use a wooden Popsicle stick or something similar to swirl.

Step 15 – Spray with alcohol to combat ash.

Step 16 – Let the soap sit overnight to saponify. Unmold and cut the next day. Cure for a minimum of four weeks.

The purple turned a bit brown because of the pumpkin and vanilla in fragrance. But I still like it! This technique is really quite easy to do. You could even do a three color swirl.

Happy Soaping!

-Amanda Gail