The colors I used in this soap swirl reminded me a bit of the Milky Way! It is no secret that I love a good tiger swirl in cold process soap. If you are new to swirling, it is an easy and forgivable swirl to try. You can combine it with a hanger swirl for stunning results. Let’s get started.

(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.)

I used a 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold from Nurture!

This fun design uses a hanger swirling tool to break through the lines of a tiger stripe design! You can find hanger swirl tools from soap suppliers (I’m using one from Bramble Berry) or you can make your own by bending a hanger. You can also use a gear tie from the hardware store.

Pink and Purple Drop Swirl Soap Design

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

Scent

Use your favorite slow-moving fragrance or essential oil blend. I simply used a blend of lavender and litsea 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!

  • Lavender Essential Oil – 15 grams
  • Litsea Essential Oil – 15 grams

Colors

  • New Purple Neon (Nurture)
  • Espadrille (Muddy Micas)
  • Charcoal
  • Winter White Mica (Nurture)

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.

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 slow-moving 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 80-100 degrees F.

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

Step 7: Once emulsified, divide your soap to color. I divided my soap into 5 parts, the black being the bulk.

Step 8: Add colorant and mix.

Step 9: Pour 1/2 of the black into the mold.

Step 10: Pour your first color into the mold in a straight line the length of the mold, right down the center. Repeat with some more black.

Step 11: Repeat with your next color. Then more black. I poured black between each color. Keep your pours right down the center of the mold in as straight a line as you can.

Check out the video!

Step 12: Use a hanger swirl tool to swirl the soap. Use the motion in the picture below. The hanger tool will break up the tiger stripes and swirl nicely.

Step 13: Swirl the top of the soap with a skewer. Allow your soap to sit for about 10 minutes and spray with alcohol to combat ash. Spray again after an hour.

Step 14: Allow your soap to saponify and harden for at least 24 hours. After 24 hours, you can unmold and cut. Cure your soap for 4-6 weeks.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

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