A Couple Of Questions

[bjsalas]

1. What is a blind swirl? I've read about them on here a few times and know what they look like, but I don't for the life of me understand how they're done. I used the search, but couldn't really find anything to explain it.

2. When adding butters, mango, shea etc. does 5-10% really make a difference or is it more of a marketing thing? And at what point is adding "more" just a waste of money?

I've been doing alot of reading on here and those were a couple of things that just made me wonder.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Thanks much

Bobbi Jo

[Angel91805]

Let's see...

Blind Swirl - Now, I am not 100% sure on this, but this is what I've deduced it is.....if you have an FO that discolors...say anything with vanilla....you pull off some soap to swirl, add FO to the rest of the soap and then blind swirl in your unscented soap. Since the FO hasn't discolored yet, they are the same color and you are "swirling blind". Only when the FO scented soap discolors do you see the swirls. Clear as mud?

In my opinion, more than 10% of butters is a waste of $$, but I've seen where people go up to 20% and love it. To each his own, I guess. I haven't tried a higher percentage, but I might one day.

Hope your Xmas was great too!

Donna

[Meridith]

1. What is a blind swirl? I've read about them on here a few times and know what they look like, but I don't for the life of me understand how they're done. I used the search, but couldn't really find anything to explain it.

A blind swirl is when you are soaping with an FO that will discolor your soap, i.e., any FO with vanilla, and part of the batch you scent and part of it you don't. You swirl these 2 parts together. One of the best examples of blind swirl was given by Sara. You can find it in the gallery but I'm not sure if it is on the current CT or in the archives. I am wanting to say the current.

2. When adding butters, mango, shea etc. does 5-10% really make a difference or is it more of a marketing thing? And at what point is adding "more" just a waste of money?

It depends on the butter or oil used to some extent. Like when using shea butter, it has a lot of unsaponfiables (properties that will remain in its natural state and not be affected by the lye) so I don't use over 10% and usually stick around 5% because it is not necessary IMO to use any more to get more benefit.

I've been doing alot of reading on here and those were a couple of things that just made me wonder.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Thanks much

Bobbi Jo

I hope that answers some of your questions. I think there comes a time when you just have to experience some things to truly understand. Once you start soaping, you will learn what different oils and butters bring to your soap and the % at which you like them. Soaping is so much fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I hope you had a good Christmas as well.

[bjsalas]

Thanks for the replies. I think I understand the blind swirl now. It's "blind" because you won't see the actual swirls from the fo til the soap cures. Don't know why I didn't think of that. :undecided

[eugenia]

Thanks for the replies. I think I understand the blind swirl now. It's "blind" because you won't see the actual swirls from the fo til the soap cures. Don't know why I didn't think of that. :undecided

It's also blind since you can't really see it as you are doing it. Here is a little trick that I learned that takes all the guesswork out.

Take out some soap for the swirl. Add your FO to the rest. It will discolor anyway, so add a little cocoa powder. Magic! Your swirl is no longer blind!

As for lots of butter, it cuts the lather. I use 5-8% in all batches, which adds a nice factor with no drawbacks.

e

[Peachdream]

Thats a great tip, thanks Eugenia!