Felting soap.

[JacquiO]

I just purchased a few ounces of merino roving yesterday to try my first attempt at soap felting. Has anyone tried this?

I've been surfing through google images for some inspiration. Now I'm off to find a bamboo sushi roller before my wool arrives.

Edited April 23, 2010 by JacquiO

[JacquiO]

Here's some more I'll never get talented enough to emulate but wow!

[JacquiO]

These are the wools getting to start. I'm so excited!

If anyone wants to attempt it with me this is where I found the roving and at around $2-3 an ounce so it's not to expensive to try: http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/store/home.php?cat=574

Edited April 23, 2010 by JacquiO

[Meridith]

The soaps are beautiful.

I felt soap. Its not as hard as you think to do those types of pictures on your soap either. Give it a try. I bet you could do it. At holidays, I will do a few soaps with a holiday pattern like a Christmas tree, sleigh, wreath. I don't make too many of them though as they are time consuming and time is money. I find felting to be very relaxing. It helps too that they sell well for us.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Meridith

[barncat]

I tried it a few years ago and I just couldnt get it to work right. Best of luck!

[TexasBrat]

I did and it was interesting but the soap got yucky over time as it was used. It is fun to try for sure.

[singleyellowrose]

Yucky, how?

Wouldn't you put it up the same way you would a reg soap to dry?

[Meridith]

When felting soap, it takes some time to figure out how thick you need your felt to be. If you felt too thick, the soap can't dry out all the way and can get a bit mushy. But if you get the correct thickness, there's less chance of that happening as the soap and surrounding wool (or whatever animal fiber blend you use) can dry out between showers. Plus, the thicker the fiber, the harder it is to felt and the longer it takes.

[Kitn]

that soap is gorgeous, so are your rovings,all the best with felting your soap.

[JacquiO]

:yay:My wool came in the mail today. I can't wait to start tonight!

I opened one of the packages to see how long and how much was in a 1oz roving. Then I put it back in the bag and put it on the ground and walked away. I came back a few minutes later to find my cat rolling around in the my brand new wool! That cat hair in there's no extra charge. LOL.

[Sharon in KY]

I came back a few minutes later to find my cat rolling around in the my brand new wool! That cat hair in there's no extra charge. LOL.

Now that's funny...

I felted a few bars last year, I think it was. First it wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. Maybe if I had bought the beautiful wool you did. Get the wire brush or what ever it's called. I know I needed one and was too cheap to buy. All I have to say is make sure your soap bar is a high bubbling one. What I used wouldn't even suds much. Maybe the wool was too thick? Good luck..

[CellarDweller]

I am getting ready to try this as well. May I ask where you are getting your instructions from?

[JacquiO]

I am getting ready to try this as well. May I ask where you are getting your instructions from?

These two video tutorials have helped me the most although there's more out there. I did a Google video search for felting soaps.

http://video.about.com/candleandsoap/How-to-Felt-Soap-With-Wool.htm

I did my first six today and I thought they were easy and fun. It didn't take me 10 minutes like Suzanna Anna said but I got better as I moved from one bar to the next. First I think the hardest thing was gauging how much wool to use. I found that it was best to take a strip of roving that is long enough to wrap all the way around your bar lengthwise then split that up into 2 to 4 thinner strips and then try to flatten and stretch those strips out as thin as you can. I think I can get about four bars out of 1oz of roving.

If you buy the roving like the one at Vogue Fabrics you don't need to comb it. It comes in finely combed strips about 4 feet long.

http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/store/home.php?cat=574

I took photos of my progress today but it's getting late so I'll post them some time tomorrow.

[CellarDweller]

Thanks for the info...I'll check it out! Can't wait to see yours.

[JacquiO]

My first felting adventure...

I first started with the heart shaped soap but since I only made them about a week and a half ago they felt too so soft beneath the felt so I decided not to do anymore of those or the flower shapes until they firm up more. So I switched to some HP soaps I had that were older and nice and hard.

I started out using the knee high stocking to hold my felt together during the first phase but by soap number four I stopped using it. The thing I realized after doing it for a while is that you don't want to rub too vigorously whether it's in your hands or on the mat. You want to keep it gentle and smooth. I used tap water as hot as I could stand it. Tonight I'm going to wear rubber gloves since my hands are pretty dried out from yesterday. I feel like I washed my hands 50 times over last night. which I pretty much did.

The mat I used is a bamboo place mat I found at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I wanted a sushi mat but they didn't have any but for $2 the place mat worked just fine. The colors bled a little at first but now after being soaped up and rinsed out 5 times it doesn't anymore.

My favorites were the round soaps. I think they felted the best. The rectangle ones were a little challenging around the edges and I'm still not entirely happy how the ends turns out.

In the last photo showing all six that I completed last night the top row were the first three and the bottom were the last. You can kinda see my rate of improvement.

Edited April 27, 2010 by JacquiO

[adirondack]

Those look fabulous!

I love the multi colored ones the best

[tmarcusen]

Never heard of this until I received one from a friend who does this out West. These work really nice...love the idea...may have to give this a try.

[kyme1911]

This is on my list of "To Do's"...Thank you for sharing! I'd been checking out wool on Ebay. Thanks for sharing the link were you purchased the roving.

[JacquiO]

This is on my list of "To Do's"...Thank you for sharing! I'd been checking out wool on Ebay. Thanks for sharing the link were you purchased the roving.

Let me know how it goes. I've haven't felted since then. I tested some and the soap did end up getting mushy inside. They may have been felted too thick. I purchased some wooden soap saver dishes to see if that helps them dry out better but ya know, so much soap and so little time to shower. lol

Edited August 25, 2010 by JacquiO

[kyme1911]

Let me know how it goes. I've haven't felted since then. I tested some and the soap did end up getting mushy inside. They may have been felted too thick. I purchased some wooden soap saver dishes to see if that helps them dry out better but ya know, so much soap and so little time to shower. lol

I seen were they felt a rope on it, I was thinking about doing that. We'll see, I will be sure an post.

[Noodle]

I did and it was interesting but the soap got yucky over time as it was used. It is fun to try for sure.

I honestly have never used one to find out. But I can see where that might happen...

Not to be a wet blanket, (no pun intended), but, while I think they are beautiful to look at, the whole concept of felted soap grosses me out. I would never use a washcloth for a month straight in the shower. I just think that there is bound to be a ton of bacteria lurking in used felted soap- particularly between felt and soap. There certainly is a market for it though. Many love it, and many feel as I do. There is no denying that felted soap is eye appealing and interesting.