How do you get a rough top to your soap?

[stevie]

I saw a picture of some soap that had a very bumpy, rough top edge to it and was wondering what you did to achieve that sort of a look.

[Crafty1_AJ]

Make it hot process. Very easy to get non-smooth tops with HP.

Or pour your CP at medium trace. Wait until the batter's nice and thick in the mold, then go at it with a texturing tool such as a knife or chopstick.

ETA: You'll have to experiment to see what thickness works best for the look you're trying to achieve. Might be the thickness/texture of pudding. Might be the texture of cake frosting. Or somewhere in between those 2.

[MarieJeanette]

I don't know what everyone else does, but what I do is pour at a medium trace, then I wait a few minutes, and then I drizzle any left-over thickening soap in my soaping pot over the top of the soap that is siiting in the mold in a haphazard manner, along with any left-over colored soap for swirling that's still sitting in my measuring cups. After that, I move my rubber spatula around a bit to texture, causing hills and dips on the surface, somewhat like how one would frost a cake I guess you might say. Sometimes I'll even sprinkle some finely grated soap flakes on top just for an added flair.

MarieJeanette

[stevie]

Thanks!

[Darwin]

My HP comes out bumpy every time .

[wildangel112]

My HP comes out bumpy every time .

Like Darwin, my HP comes out slightly to mildly textured each time.

[Morganst]

I do CPOP. I pour at medium to thick trace. Then I'll either use the end of my stick blender and just make circular imprints on the top or i'll use a chopstick and make swirlies & peaks. You can almost use anything. Even if the pattern is very slight, it will hold.

[Kaybee23]

Also, Michaels has a Wilton plastic cake decorating tool, that is shaped like a triangle, that once in a while I use to texturize the top of the soap.

[arkangel]

I rarely do textured tops but on the rare occasion, I'll pour my soap at thin trace as usual (I like swirling it this way). By the time I clean up the dishes, I then go back to the soap and it's firm enough to get some really good peaks and swishes in it.

[stevie]

I poured at a medium trace and used a chopstick, worked like a charm!

[Grumpy Girl]

Medium/thin trace pour, let it set for about 5 min then work it over with a popsicle stick like you're peaking frosting on a cake.

Works great.

[maryann]

One not mentioned- I use a wooden skewer for texturing soap tops and swirling.

[stevie]

The one on the left is the oatmeal/honey and the one on the right is a cinnamon swirl that I made last week.