Oops Soap Tutorial

 

When making soap it can be challenging to achieve ideas you have planned. Colors can often be difficult to replicate and this can lead to bags of what we call ‘oops soap’. Don’t let this soap dry out and go to waste, set it aside and get creative with it. We recommend you save all your soap scraps and wrap them in plastic. This will keep glycerin beads from forming and your soap won’t loose its moisture.   This tutorial will show you how to make amazing handmade soaps utilizing oops soap. Some of our favorite soaps are created by mistakes and so can yours!

Material

• Silicone Basic Square Mold

• Various colors of oops soap, soap that you may have from previous attempts stored away.
• 2 lbs of Extra Clear Soap Base
• Royal Blue Gel Soap Colorant
• Fragrance Oil of your preference, vanilla-free
• 2  Pipettes
• 32 ounce microwave safe measuring glass
• Optional: Soap Tool Kit (for arranging soap in spaces too small for fingers)

1. Pull out all of your oops soap and choose colors that you think work together. They can have different scents or all have the same scent(just try to complement the scents if you can!). If your soap scraps are scented, be sure the fragrance does not contain any vanilla. Set aside several pieces. The key here is planning but the level of detail in your soap is up to you.

2. Melt 8 ounces of extra clear soap base. Cut 1″ cubes of extra clear soap base and put in your 32 ounce mixing bowl. Place in the microwave for 45 seconds, this may not melt the soap all of the way but it is important to avoid letting the soap get to hot. Slowly mix the melted soap until all of the unmelted pieces are gone. Make sure to mix the soap in consistent and slow stirring motion so you do not increase bubbles in your mix. Occasionally spritz with alcohol to remove any bubbles.

3. After the soap has melted add 1 drop of Royal Blue Gel Colorant and slowly mix. Very small amounts of blue will make your extra clear soap seem more transparent.

4. Once your melted soap is ready, pour a 1/4″ layer in each cavity of the basic square silicone soap mold. You can also use one of our other basic shaped silicone molds if you want a circle or rectangle shaped soap. Wait 15 minutes and let this layer of soap dry.

 

5. When your thin layer has dried  you will need to score the soap and spray with alcohol before placing you oops soap. Alcohol and scoring will in a sense glue this layer to the rest of the soap.

6. Now for the fun part! Get the oops soap pieces that you selected and cut them in various shapes. You can get as creative as you like and even use cookie cutters or cut decorative shapes. You can place shapes upon shapes and even add texture to your scraps!

 

7. Start placing the pieces in each mold cavity. Make sure you leave a quarter of an inch on the top and all sides so that your pieces do not obtrude from the filler soap base. I like to use various tools from the 10 Piece Soap Decorating / Utility Set because my fingers aren’t small enough to get in the cracks and align.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          8. Once you’re happy with your design, cut 24 ounces of Extra Clear Soap Base into 1″ pieces and microwave for 1 minute. Make sure that you do not let the soap get too hot. Remember to slowly mix the unmelted pieces away so that you don’t add bubbles which make the soap less translucent.

 

9. Add 1 ounce of a fragrance oil that you like, I chose Agave Lime. For this soap I recommend avoiding any fragrance oil that contains vanilla so you can keep your base as clear as possible.

10. Again add 1 drop of Royal Blue Gel Colorant and gently mix. Make sure all of your ingredients are ready to go because you want to pour the soap around your design while the soap is warm. It is very important to pour the soap while it is warm but not hot,about 120 degrees. If the soap is to hot it will melt your pretty design you’ve worked so hard on!

11.When you have your soap base ready very slowly pour it into the mold. Spritz the soap after your pour each cavity to remove any air bubbles.

12. Pour all cavities and do not move or touch the mold. Let the soap dry for 45 minutes to an hour and enjoy!

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, visit our online stores for soap making supplies and kits.

Thanks you!
Sky, the soap guy