Teach Soap

Quick question. I want to do some cold process in a 1" PVC, about 12 inches long, then embed it in a 3" PVC and pour melt and pour around it. Must I cure my cold process for 4-6 weeks before I can embed? If I do, will I still be able to cut it? Any suggestions?

Welcome!
Since CP soap shrinks as it cures, I would let the CP soap cure for about one week, then embed. How fast the soap gets hard depends on your recipe.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Funny.. I was just debating if I wanted to order some embed molds today, since flexiblemolds.com has 10% off and free shipping if you spend $120.00.

BUT, the thought of the M&P soap melting in the shower, BEFORE the CP soap.. it kinda made me rethink using embeds... I mean, Yeah. It's cute.. but if theres going to be sink holes because the M&P soap melted much faster than the CP.... I'll pass.

I guess I could always make a small batch of CP to make embeds... but M&P would be so much easier.

I often see people using MP embeds as decorations on top of their CP soaps. It looks really beautiful! And if the decoration on top melts faster in the shower than the CP who cares?

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about by Shieh Design Studio: http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com/201 ... -lava.html

Aria is correct... M&P on top or swirled into CP works ok, but to imbed CP into M&P not as good. I purchased a soap at a flee market that did that and it fell apart into pieces. Since CP will shrink some for up to about 6 months this could be an issue. I use M&P for imbeds on occassion, the only concern is the gell stage.... it can melt the M&P (my gel stage is 150 to 170 degrees). So it can also depend on the design you are going for. Now swirling M&P into the CP has never given me a problem, but I don't do this very often.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Can I decorate the top of a CP loaf with mica-colored M&P to get a glittery, metallic river on top? I was afraid it might come off the top so I was going to do a light swirl. Any tips or warnings?

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Linda

I learn so much when I can't leave well enough alone!

I have not tried this yet??? I have added sparkle mica to an oil and poured this on top of my soap to get a river of sparkle. The oil will soak in leaving the mica behind. But because you do not have light going thru the soap it does not 'glitter' as much as we would like. I have not tried adding glitter to a 'river of oil'. That would be interesting. You could try both methods, one with the M&P poured on the top and another with the M&P swirled into the top. I look forward to hearing the results you get!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!