This past summer in art camp we tried something totally different and new: soap making! I researched heavily, relying on the trial and error of other bloggers. I loved the goat milk soaps made by the kids at Purple Twig – especially with their use of flowers and herbs – but ultimately I decided to try some clear glycerine soap instead. It was actually pretty easy! And the colors turned out really well. We had a few hiccups, which I will share with you. But overall, it was so successful that I’m going to make them with my own kids this holiday season and give them out as teacher gifts! We’re pretty excited.
Read on for the supply list and tutorial…
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SUPPLIES:
~ Small bowls and dull knives
~ Silver bowl for melting over stove // or plastic tupperware for melting in microwave
~ Loaf pan
PROCESS:
(First I read this tutorial from Confessions of a Homeschooler. She used a microwave, so I had to improvise a bit since I don’t own a microwave!)
1. Cut glycerine into little bits. The kids loved this part. How often does one get to handle a knife in art class? Don’t worry, they were very dull. But they did the job nicely!
2. Melt glycerine. I used a double-boiler technique.
3. Pour melted soap into a bowl and let the kids add a few drops of color and a few drops of fragrance. Go heavier on the fragrance than you think! Stir quickly, the soap starts to solidify right away.
(Each color “batch” was 1/4 of the soap base. So basically, each stripe was about 250 grams. For each stripe we put in 5 drops of essential oil, but in hindsight we could have doubled that.)
4. Pour the color into the pan that is lined with wax paper.
5. Wait patiently for the layer to harden. Then pour the next layer, and the next layer, until you have about 8-10 layers.
6. I let the soap harden overnight just because I wanted to cut it when the kids came back the next day. But you can cut it before that, like an hour later or something. I used a butcher knife to cut the slices.
7. Voila! So cool, right? I intend to wrap each bar in wax paper and tie with a little bit of yarn and maybe even a small pom-pom. I think the teachers will really love these.
Oh, and just an FYI. Don’t put any of the bowls or knives that you used into the dishwasher without rinsing off all the soap residue. Imagine this soup puddle above times 50, and oozing out of the sink. It covered my whole floor! It was funny, not funny.
Let me know if you go for it!
xo, Bar
I just made with my kids and it’s so pretty but our layers are not sticking together! Did you run into that? How do we fix it? I bought diff glycerine soap at the store b/c the kind you posted wouldn’t get here in time for teacher gifts : )
oh dear Kelli! this didn’t happen to us, but i’m sure it’s not because it’s a different glycerin. it might be because it wasn’t hot enough when you poured it on top of each other. or maybe you let it dry too long before cutting? i don’t really know, but there are some serious soap makers on the internet who swear by spritzing a little rubbing alcohol in between each layer. can you separate them, melt and start over? i’m so sorry you ran into trouble after all that work! let me know if you try again and what you did differently. best of luck! xo bar
Mine also separated. So I made a new batch with these instructions and it still separated. I think its to do with the cutting. Is there a specific knife you used? Or a technique? Did you warm the knife or dip it in water/oil?
hi Zoe, I’m sorry but I do not remember, this was from so long ago. I didn’t have any issues with separating, but maybe you can “score” the surface before pouring a new layer by making some light hashmarks — like you would when joining clay. I used a butcher knife so maybe just making sure it’s really sharp! I hope you find a way to make this work! ~ Bar
Hehehe Thanks for the tip. I want to make this for my son and will be sure NOT to put the dirty bowls in the dishwasher lol
ha!! glad to be able to alert you to this mistake, Marielle. have fun making soap! xo Bar
If you spray each layer with 99% alcohol once after poured and again before you pour the next layer. The alcohol also removes the air bubbles.
ooh, thanks for the tip Gloria!!
How much glycerin did you use, and how many loaf pans did it make?
I am going to try this with my Spark (youngest group in Girl Guides of Canada) and want to make sure that I have enough for each of them (about 20 girls).
Hi Jennifer, good question! I had to look back in the post. I think each block of glycerin (the ones in the photo with the supplies) filled one loaf pan, which made about 7 or 8 soap slices. Hope this helps! Best of luck! xo Bar
Thank you so much. That does help.
Do you think the glycerine could be cut by plastic knives? I can’t wait to do this with my daughter’s Brownie troop.
hi Wendy, I am not sure plastic knives will be strong enough but you can try! We used butter knives, so not sharp – just sturdier. Let me know how it goes! xo Bar
I’m 9 and I don’t have that supplies at home
Hi Allie, there is a supply list so ask your parents and maybe they can get it for you! xx Bar
How long does it take before pouring the next layer?
Hi Becky, if I remember correctly, it didn’t take too long. Maybe 10 minutes? It dries pretty quickly. You just want to make sure it’s hard so that when you put the next layer on it doesn’t blend with the previous layer. Good luck!! xo Bar
never mind! found it!
Hello. May I ask how you did this with a group of kids and kept them all busy? Thanks.
hi Sherry, well there was definitely some times where they all had to wait their turn. But they were all very intrigued about the outcome so they didn’t mind 🙂 – Bar
I am slightly confused at the layers. You say each color had 1/4 of the base and the bar had 8-10 layers. Did you just reheat to make another layer later with each color? Or did you use more than one soap base? We will be attempting this today and my daughter is wanting to make each layer different colors so I am the thinking I will cut the base into the appropriate amount for how many layers she wants to make.😊
hi nikki – yes I had more than one soap base. but if you just have one, then yes you can cut it up in a pile and then equally distribute between the colors. good luck and have fun! xx bar
Hi Barbara:
This looks like a great craft idea and I’m thinking about trying it out with my girls youth group. Just for clarification, did you scent each layer differently as well, or did you just colour them differently, but use the same scent for the whole thing? Seems like the scent would be overpowering if one were to put a different scent in every layer…?
hi Saundra, thanks for emailing! I scented each layer the same and we just made different batches. so each batch a different scent, but same scent within the layers. hope this makes sense! best of luck, and have fun! xx Bar
Barbara,
Yours is GORGEOUS! Where did you get the colors that you used? It’s great that people are commenting, and asking questions almost 5 years later 😉
Thanks in advance.
hi Jaime, they are special soap dyes – I put a link in the post 😉
i thinking of making these for a school project in year 10 are any of the materials flammable or not allowed at school
oh gosh, I don’t think so? it’s just soap and dye! have fun! xx Bar
thnx heaps
i think it will be fun
Could you just make one layer? I don’t have much time to do this and they are a last-minute gift.
sure! It would just be one color, but it’s still soap!
Thank You!!!
this looks like so much fun!!!
hehehe so much fun i had i slumber party and my friend was not wathing were he put his hand and it got stuck in the soap hahaha
Do you perhaps know if one could use gel food coloring to color the soap?
I would say YES to that. I don’t think it matters if it’s liquid or gel. Good luck! ~ Bar
Can you just use regular dove soap?
Hi Kate, I don’t know the answer to that. The glycerin is melted down, so I don’t know if you could melt down Dove. You can google it and see! ~ Bar