This is one of my favorite soap swirls! I actually introduced it to soap making community in 2012 when I introduced the peacock swirl! Both swirls are adapted from paper marbling techniques. I love looking at other art mediums and adapting them for soap making.

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To accomplish this simple swirl, you’ll need a rake of some kind! The easiest thing to do is to make your own rake. I like making my own because I can make it to the exact length of my mold.

I simply use a piece of cardboard (corrugated) and run skewers through it. Corrugated cardboard has the little channels running through it. So all you do it cut to size and stick your skewers through the channels. I stuck mine in every third hole. Easy peasy!

Rosemary, Mint and Spruce Soap Recipe

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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)
  • Water – 252 grams (1:2, lye:water ratio)

Scent

Use your favorite slow-moving fragrance or essential oil blend. I used a blend of rosemary, mint and spruce essential oils. 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!

  • Rosemary Essential Oil – 15 grams grams
  • Peppermint Essential Oil – 10 grams grams
  • Spruce Essential Oil – 5 grams

Color

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: Create a lye solution. Weigh the water and lye into two separate containers. Slowly pour the sodium hydroxide into the water while stirring. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside to cool. Your solution will start off cloudy and will clear up as it cools.

Step 2: Prepare the base oils. First, weigh any solid oils and butters into a container and melt. You can melt using the microwave or low heat on a burner. Next, weigh each liquid oil into the melted oils. The liquid oils will cool down the melted oils and leave you with a base oil mixture that is about at the correct temperature to make soap. It might still need to cool down a bit. 

Step 3: Weigh your essential oil or fragrance oil into a glass or stainless steel container and add to your base oil.

Step 4: Prepare your mold. If you need to line your mold, line it.

Step 5: Check the temperatures. You should now have a container containing liquid base oils and a container containing lye solution. Take the temperatures using an infra-red temperature gun. Be sure to stir each mixture before taking the temp. You want your temperatures to be between 80-110° F.

Step 6: Once you have reached desired temperatures, pour the lye solution into the oil mixture and mix to emulsion.

Step 7: Divide the soap into containers to color.

Step 8: Add colorants to each cup and mix well using a mini-mixer. I poured four cups to color, but then decided to just color three, so I dumped one back into my base. I used Winter White mica for my base and for the three swirls colors I used Winter White + Laurel Green, Laurel Green and Savage Garden. Use your favorite green micas!

Step 9: Pour the base into your mold.

Step 10: Rotating through each color at least three times, pour your soap in lines the length of your mold. Try to keep your lines straight and make sure a bit of each color pokes through when you get to the top.

Step 11: Now for the fun part! Run your soap swirling rake through the lines.

I actually did a bit of a spin swirl, but I regret it! LOL! I should have just let it be. But that is why my pattern is a bit wonky below. I literally spun my mold to see how the force would manipulate the soap. (I don’t recommend it!)

Still beautiful!

Step 12: Allow your soap to sit for about 30 minutes and the spray with alcohol to combat ash. Spray again in an hour.

Step 13: Let your soap harden and saponify for at least 24 hours.

Step 14: Unmold and cut!

Step 15: Cure your soap for 4-6 weeks.

Thanks for reading!

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