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Making layer and swirl soap are fun ways to increase your handmade soap repertoire. For layering soap, you can make a batch with two layers or five. The layers can have different textures as well as colors and scents. For great examples of layered (as well as swirled and marbled) soaps, visit Soaptopia.Com.
To layer soaps, pour your soap into a mold (leaving plenty of room for additional layers), wait for the bottom layer to harden enough for the next layer to sit on top of it, then pour the next layer. The layers will bond together as the soap goes through its gel phase. To help the layers fuse together, lightly scrape a fork across the surface of the base soap before pouring the top layer. To make your layers even more exotic, put the mold at an angle as it hardens. Ensuring the base layer is firm, move the base to a different angle then pour the next layer, and so on. You can also make variable layered soap in a tube mold (such as PVC pipe) for a great effect.

Swirling, like layering, is a relatively easy way to spruce up your handmade soap. To swirl your soap, you'll make two batches of soap of contrasting colors. You'll pour the main or base colored soap into the mold, then you'll take a substantially smaller amount of contrasting soap and gently pour it in a drizzle manner over the top of the base soap. Then, very carefully, stir the two soaps together until it has the color blend you're looking for. Use a chopstick or plastic spoon to stir in the swirls. Your swirls will be more thin and incorporated into the base color if done at a light to medium trace. Your swirls will be more bold or chunky and less incorporated into the base if done at a heavy trace. Also, it is easier to swirl soap that is only one or two bars thick and in a shallow mold. To get a more marbled effect, do the same thing but just stir the two colors a bit more.
Other similar techniques include chunking and confetti. Chunking involves placing an array of differently colored and shaped chunks of soap into your soap mold then pouring a fresh batch of soap over them. You can best see the neat effects of the chunking if the soap is made in a large block then cut into bars (rather than being made in individual molds). You can cut your chunks in squares, triangles, and circles. Make sure that your soap chunks have had 4-6 days to cure before using them in a chunking project. If they haven't cured long enough, they will melt when you overpour the base soap. If they've cured for too long, they will not fuse well to the base soap.
To make confetti soap, just shred your multi-colored, 5-day-old soap. Instead of putting it in the soap mold, stir it in like any regular additive when the soap is at a medium trace.
For more information on this and other soapmaking topics, go to <a href="http://how2makesoap.net. This website also offers free soapmaking video tutorials, pictures of the soapmaking process, free beginner soap recipes, and a 50-page soap "how to" ebook for $12.99. The ebook includes 39 one-pound soap recipes, 60 soapmaking pictures, and details on how to make your own soap recipes.

Learn more about this author, Staci Marquez-Nichols.
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