This lesson will explain the simple process of working with embeds. Embeds, which can include soap, luffa, or toys, are a great way to jazz up soap and make interesting design effects.
Soap Embeds
To embed shredded soap, curled soap, pre-formed soap embeds, and soap chunks into a new soap, simply spray generously with rubbing alcohol, place in mold and pour soap over the embeds. Be sure that the melted soap is close to, 125° -130° F. Shredded Soap: Soap can be shredded using a cheese grater to create shredded coconut-like confetti embeds.
Example:
Egg Hunt SoapCurled Soap: You can use a potato peeler to make soap curls, which can be embedded into a new soap.
Example:
Blue Heart MP SoapPre-formed Soap Embeds: There are many types of embed molds on the market. Some are sphere shaped, such as this
round ball mold, and some create
long soap columns that can be embedded into a loaf.
Example:
Apple Balsam Pine Tree LoafSoap Chunks: You can also chop up soap into chunks, which can be embedded into a new soap.
Example:
Sea Glass Soap
Luffa Embeds
To embed luffa into soap, you can place a piece of luffa into each cavity and pour the soap over the luffa.Luffa looks amazing embedded into soap. Once the gourds have matured, they are picked and allowed to dehydrate for over 6 months. The remaining insides of the gourd plant are cleaned and sold to the cosmetic industry as luffa. Luffa is considered an all-natural exfoliant.
Example:
Sliced Tomato Luffa Soap
Toy Embeds
To embed toys into soap, place the toy in the mold and pour soap over it or place the toy on top of hardened soap and pour soap around it.You can embed toys into an
MP Soap Base to create fun soap for kids. Toys range from ducks to fish and snakes to monsters,
Click Here for toy embeds.
Examples:
Snow Globe Soap,
Duck in MP Soap
Some Considerations When Adding Embeds
Temperature
The pour temperature of the soap that you are pouring over soap embeds is very important. Keep the temperature at about 125°-130°F to avoid the soap embeds from melting.
Spray with Rubbing Alcohol
In order for the soap embeds to adhere in the soap base, you must first spray them with rubbing alcohol. If you don’t, they can fall out as the soap is being used.
An Example of the Process
To walk you through the basic process, I am going to use 44 oz. of MP Soap Base and embed a star column into a
Regular Loaf Silicone Mold. This design also uses layering techniques.
Click Here to learn about layering soap.
Step 1: First we will need to make our star shaped embed. To do this, pour 7.4 oz. of MP Soap Base with color and fragrance into the
Star Column Silicone Mold.
Step 2: Allow the star column to harden and remove from the mold.
Step 3: Melt 9 oz. of MP Soap Base. Allow to cool to 140° F and incorporate scent and color. Pour into the regular loaf silicone mold and allow to harden.
Step 4: Melt 27.6 oz. of MP Soap Base. Allow to cool to 140° F and incorporate scent and color.
Step 5: Check that the first layer has hardened enough to continue. Spray the first layer with rubbing alcohol.
Step 6: Once the melted soap has cooled to 125-130° F, pour about a half an inch onto the hardened layer of soap.
Step 7: Spray the star soap column generously with rubbing alcohol and place into the melted layer of soap.
Step 8: Continue to pour the rest of the soap into the mold. Spritz the surface with rubbing alcohol to pop any surface bubbles.
Step 9: Once fully hardened, you can remove the soap from the mold. To harden the soap faster, you can place it in the refrigerator but never put in the freezer. Wear gloves when you unmold your soap to reduce fingerprints.
Step 10: Slice the loaf into 1" bars with a soap cutter. Make sure it is completely hard or you will have the center ooze out when cutting.
Step 11: Wrap your soap in plastic wrap to prevent condensation and sweating.
