Soap Making Instructional: Glitter Soaps
We receive numerous email requests on how to make glitter soaps. Yes, there is an art to suspending glitter in melt and pour soap. With a bit of practice and a few tips, you will master the technique in no time. We used a five-point star for our project. It has been embedded in our Extra Large Rounded Oval novelty soap mold. The face of each star is embellished with glitter. A sprinkling of glitter is then suspended in the clear soap base.
Here's what you need:
Extra Large Rounded Oval Novelty Mold
Glycerin Soap- both clear (2-lbs will yield approximately seven 5.5 oz. soaps) and white (approximately 3/4-1-lb for the stars).
Fragrance Oil- If using our fragrance oils, we recommend 2 to 3 teaspoons per pound of soap base. You may need to adjust the amount if using another supplier's fragrance.
Soap Thermometer- absolutely essential when working with embedded soap
Melting Pot or microwave
Clear Plastic Wrap, Poly Bags, or Shrink Bags - for wrapping your finished soaps.
Cosmetic Grade Glitter- we used Medium Purple and Glitzy Red for this project.
Getting Started:
Step One
Place white glycerine soap in a melting pot. Place the melting pot inside a pan partially filled with water. Never melt the soap over direct heat. We do not recommend using the microwave to melt your soap for this project. You will need to gauge an exact temperature when pouring your soap into the mold. It is much easier to monitor the soap's temperature when using the double-boiler heating method.
Step Two
As the soap begins to melt, clip your thermometer inside the melting pot so that the tip of the thermometer is touching the soap base. Reduce heat to very low once the soap reaches a temperature of 160 degrees. Add fragrance (we did not add fragrance to the stars), color and glitter to your soap. We added approximately 1 tablespoon of glitter per pound of soap. Be certain that the glitter is completely incorporated into your soap base. You do not want the glitter sitting on the bottom of the pan when you pour.
Step Three
Slowly pour soap into star molds. Allow the soap to cool completely before removing from molds. As the soap cools, the glitter will gravitate downward to the face of each star. Set star soaps aside as you prepare the clear soap base.
If small bubbles begin to form on the soap once it is poured, spritz lightly with rubbing alcohol or witch hazel. The bubbles and (smell of alcohol) will disappear.
Step Four
Melt clear soap base in the same manner as described above. Add fragrance. Allow the temperature of the soap to reach approximately 145-150 degrees before pouring into oval molds. IMPORTANT: You will be doing four pours into each oval mold. Your first pour is 1/4 the height of the mold. Spritz lightly with rubbing alcohol after each pour to remove any air bubbles. Center a star (glitter side down) in each oval mold. Allow soap to sit for several minutes before beginning your second pour.
After each pour, lightly sprinkle a dusting of glitter over the clear soap base. You will need to wait for the soap to cool just a bit, otherwise, the glitter will float to the sides of the mold and will not be evenly dispersed.
Step Five
Again, pouring at a temperature of 145-150 degrees, pour another layer of clear soap into each mold. The second pour should fill your mold to about the halfway point. Allow to cool and then sprinkle another light dusting of glitter over the soap. Continue in this manner for two more pours or until the soap reaches the top edge of the mold.
The art of keeping the glitter suspended in the clear soap base is timing and temperature. Don't try to speed up the process by making one pour. Your need to make several pours to keep the glitter evenly distributed throughout the soap. Additionally, you don't want your soap too hot. The star embed may melt if the clear soap is poured at too high of a temperature. USE A THERMOMETER for best results
©2001-2011 Nouveau Designs
All Rights Reserved.
