Using Soap Embeds in Soap by jaspersgarden 1

Ingredients/Equipment needed ~ for EMBED soap:
37 oz Clear M&P soap base
8 – 9 oz clear, short SOLO cups (PETE)
8 – .15 cc Scoops
Fractionated Coconut Oil
7 Neon Pigments – Blue, Purple, Pink, Green, Yellow, Orange & Red (Oil soluble & non-bleeding)
1 Mica – Rose Pearl (optional)
Packing paper to protect your counter – Neon’s will stain!
Measuring Spoons
4 cup Pyrex
1 Stainless Steel pot lid that fits over your Pyrex, it will be loose
1 Fat Popsicle stick (to stir soap base in Pyrex)
5 Qt Stainless Steel Pot filled 1/2 way with distilled water
Cutting board
Paring knife
Pot holder for counter
Scale
Embed molds – I used:
Tiny Cubes = tiny ice cube trays (easy to unmold)
Bottle Cubes = bottom half of water bottle ice cube trays (easy to unmold)
Circles = Wilton Candy Melting Plate (this was the hardest to unmold – go figure!)
Alcohol in a spray bottle
XACTO knife to trim embeds – if necessary

Instructions:
Cut up clear M&P soap base and place into a Pyrex cup. Place Pyrex into the 5 qt pot of water – don’t overfill or the water might get into your soap. Turn the stove on to Medium heat. I prefer to melt M&P with the double boiler method rather than using a microwave. Use the method you’re most comfortable with. As the soap begins to melt, stir it with the Popsicle stick once in awhile until completely melted.

While your soap is melting, place packing paper down on your counter. Set out 8 – 9 oz SOLO cups and 8 – .15 cc scoops. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Fractionated Coconut Oil to each cup. Add one .15 cc scoop of each Neon Pigment colorant to each cup. I used 1/4 teaspoon of the Mica in its cup. Using the .15 cc scoop, stir each one until there are no more lumps that you can see. (Note: The Blue & Purple Neon Pigments could have used two .15 cc scoops) Leave the .15 cc scoop in each cup.

While you’re waiting for the soap to melt, stir each colorant/cup again – just to make sure it has dissolved completely – we don’t want any lumps of colorant to show up in our embeds! According to Andee, this is called “Mulling Pigments” – that’s a new word for me!

Once the soap is melted, turn the stove down to Low, but keep the Pyrex in the hot water between pours to keep it melted. Pour some melted M&P into your first SOLO cup/colorant about half full (I’m going to guess around 4 to 4.5 oz for each cup). Put the Pyrex back into the hot water. Using the .15 cc scoop, stir the colorant/soap base quickly (but thoroughly) and pour into your embed molds. Spray with Alcohol to remove any bubbles. Repeat this until all 8 colors/SOLO cups are mixed and poured. Do NOT pour your M&P soap base into every cup upfront – it will solidify quickly! I could only do 4 colorants/cups a day because I did not have enough EMBED molds to complete this part! Save the SOLO cups after you’ve poured your colored M&P soap!

I waited 24 hours before unmolding my tiny cubes, bottle cubes and circles. Then I had to remelt my M&P to finish the last 4 colors…next time (next time?) I’ll buy more ice cube and bottle cube trays so that I can finish this in one day! After unmolding, I stored each colored M&P embeds in their respective (used) SOLO cup.

Ingredients/Equipment needed ~ for OVERPOUR soap:
52 oz Goatsmilk M&P soap base (should be white M&P but I didn’t have any)
1 Fat Popsicle stick (to stir soap base)
5 Qt Stainless Steel Pot filled 1/2 way with distilled water
3 Qt Stainless Steel Pot
Cutting board
Paring knife
Pot holder for counter
Scale
Milky Way Loaf Mold (12 x 3.5w x 3t)
1 oz Blowing Bubbles Fragrance Oil
1/2 teaspoon FDA Approved Brilliant White Mica
12 Embed Circles
120 Embed Tiny Cubes (15 of each color)
9 Embed Bottle Cubes
40 Embed Tiny Cubes (5 of each color)
Alcohol in a spray bottle
LOTS of ventilation!!

Instructions:
Cut up Goatsmilk M&P soap and place in the 3 Qt stainless steel pot. Place this in the 5 Qt pot of water – don’t overfill or the water might get into your soap. Turn the stove on to Medium heat. Stir M&P soap with the Popsicle stick. While this is melting, add 1/2 tsp of the Brilliant White Mica into a shotglass. Add the Fragrance Oil to the shotglass and stir until it is mixed thoroughly.

Once melted, add the Mica/FO to the soap base. Stir well. This really didn’t whiten my Goatsmilk M&P base that much. Should have used White M&P, then I wouldn’t have to use any whitener. Turn the stove down to Low.

Important: Figure out your layout in the mold before you start!

Are you ready??!! You can not afford ANY interruptions for this part! OK, here we go!!
1) Pour small amount of Goatsmilk M&P soap into Loaf Mold – about 1/2″ thick.
2) Spray with alcohol.
3) Spray each circle with alcohol liberally and place on top of Goatsmilk M&P soap, flat side facing you — do this quickly before the M&P has a chance to set up. Also, push each circle down into the Goatsmilk M&P soap.
4) Once you have all 12 circles in, spray with alcohol again.
5) Wait 15 minutes.
6) Make sure you keep your Goatsmilk M&P soap in the water between pours to keep it warm/melted.
7) Pour large amount of Goatsmilk M&P soap.
8) Spray with alcohol.
9) Grab a handful of tiny cubes and spray liberally with alcohol and dump into Goatsmilk M&P soap.
10) Spray and dump – spray and dump — try to remember where your last dump was!
11) Keep doing this until all tiny cubes are gone (I used 120 tiny cubes).
12) Spray top with alcohol again.
13) Wait 15 – 20 minutes.
14) Spray a bottle cube with alcohol liberally and place on top of loaf, flat side down.
15) Keep doing this until all bottle cubes are gone (I used 9 bottle cubes).
16) Spray the loaf with alcohol again.
17) Pour the rest of the Goatsmilk M&P soap into loaf.
18) Spray with alcohol.
19) Grab a handful of tiny cubes and spray liberally with alcohol and dump into Goatsmilk M&P soap.
20) Spray and dump – spray and dump — try to remember where your last dump was!
21) Keep doing this until all tiny cubes are gone (I used 40 tiny cubes – could have used more than this).
22) Spray top with alcohol again.
23) Ta Da!! You’re done! Now let it sit for 48 hours – do not move it!

Now you’re ready to unmold and cut!

Supplies needed:
Wooden Loaf Cutter (or whatever you have – a miter box might work!)
Crinkle Cutter
2 – 4 x 6 Shrink wrap bags (for ends of loaf)
10 – 6 x 6 Shrink wrap bags
Heat resistant cutting board
Heat Gun
Impulse Cutter/Sealer

After cutting your bars, place each bar in a 6 X 6 shrink bag. I had to cut the bags on the sides and top. The 4 x 6 bags were just too small for my bars. After cutting the bag, I wrapped it against the bar and taped it shut – like wrapping a present. Or use an Impulse Cutter/Sealer, if you have one. Turn the heat gun on Low. Shrink the sides first, then the top and back last. Do this quickly or you run the risk of melting your soap. I don’t worry about this with CP, but M&P is a whole different beast!! ;o)

Enjoy!

Notes:
If you don’t have the tiny ice cube trays, pour your colored, M&P soap into drawer dividers about 1/2″ thick. Let it cool then cut into strips, then cubes ~ wish I had thought of that on Day 1 ;o)

If you use the double boiler method, I found that melting M&P in a stainless steel pot melts a lot quicker than using a Pyrex cup.

I did not use the freezer for any part of this. The freezer method tends to leave dew on the embeds, plus it’s too cold to use as embeds in a warm/hot over-pour.

Remember ~ alcohol is your friend! If you don’t use alcohol, your layers will come apart. The alcohol dissipates – so don’t worry about using too much! You cannot smell any alcohol whatsoever – just that wonderful fragrance oil!

Do not scent your Embeds ~ I have alot left over which I can use on another batch. It’s best to over-scent your overpour soap.