Beginners guide to cold process soap making: Episode 7 - Creating a simple in the pot swirl in soap

Welcome to our "Soap making for Beginners" guide! Over the next 7 days, we will be uploading a mini series of videos focusing on soap making for absolute beginners. We will cover things such as equipment, lye safety, soap making oils, terminology and how to make your very first soap.
We have put together this guide as we have had a lot of questions from people asking how to get into soap making and how they can learn to make soap. We are not the first people to put together a guide like this, but we know that when you are new to soap making it helps to have as many different resources to learn from as possible!
We have tried to cover everything that we can think of in our guide and if you watch each of our daily episodes they will hopefully give you a basic understanding of how to begin making soap safely. We will be covering a different soap making topic each days for the next seven days.
Well here we are, day seven already! Today is the last of our beginners guide to soap making mini series and in today's video we will be showing you how to use the in the pot swirl technique to create a simple, swirled soap loaf in two colours. This technique creates a really beautiful swirl and the best thing is, it is actually very easy to create! As with our other videos, we will be taking things slow so that if you are a beginner you will hopefully find out videos easy to follow.
If you are unsure about any aspect of the soap making process then it is important that you stop and do not attempt to make soap and instead research things further until you do feel confident!
If you are planning to follow our recipe, then you will need the following ingredients:
221g Water
110.5g Sodium Hydroxide
560g Olive Oil
200g Coconut oil
40g Castor Oil
1g "Burlesque" mica (or any other colour mica)
24g "Rockin' The Stars" fragrance oil (or another scent, optional)
If you have any comments or questions along the way, please do let us know so we can do our best to help you learn how to make soap!
If you enjoy our videos and soap making tutorials please do give us a like and subscribe :-)
In addition to this special, one off mini series, we also upload new soap making videos every Friday and new behind the scenes/business tips videos every Tuesday.
You can also follow us and find our soaps here:
www.sussexsoap.co.uk
sussexhandmadesoap
sussex_handmade_soap
If you do head over to our website, we offer our KZbin friends 20% off purchases if you enter code "youtube20" at checkout :-)

[@diddymen1]

Yes would like to see more mini series, very interesting and you make it look fun.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Elaine, we are working on a few at the moment, so hopefully will have another one out soon :-)

[@Weeflowerofscotland]

I have now made 4 bars of soap. But still very much a beginner!! I love rewatching your beginner videos! Great information when I forget something. I’m watching this as I am going to attempt the in the pot swirl tomorrow. 😁. Your instructions are so clear and easy to understand. Thank you so much .

[@Nobodyspecial849]

Thanks for posting your method and recipe. Brilliant for anyone starting. X

[@tonysoames1369]

Hi, I would like to thank you for creating these Beginners guides and of course all your other videos, I have been thinking about starting my own business from home for a while now but never took the plunge. After getting covid back in November I am wondering if I will ever be able to return to my old job as I am still suffering breathing difficulties. Your videos have spurred me on and I am getting all the equipment needed to make my first bars of soap. Quite excited about starting a new hobby which will hopefully lead to a business. Thanks once again

[@fbasil5177]

Thank you! I enjoyed your series.

[@myiridescentlovecandleco.5399]

Thankyou so so much for helping us all, you guys are so generous to share all your knowledge with us 💕 Am new to the soap making community and I just wanted to say what a lovely bunch you all are - worldwide too 🤗 Thanks again xxx

[@debbiewidner8791]

Thank you. Trying to learn. Very interesting!

[@lovelylandscape]

Amazing 🤩 great work !

[@spiralesdargent]

Brilliant and informative series. I can't wait to have a go now. But there is one more video I would of liked to see in this series! Can you do a video on how you safely clean everything, wash up the bowls, spatuals, jugs and pans etc. I'm assuming you cant just wash up like you normally would your food dishes. I will have to be careful as the water will be going into a septic tank, so I don't want to be clogging up the drains. So a demo video of you washing up would be fabulous! 😃🤣

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you for the video suggestion, we will add it to our list of videos to make! If you are only making one batch of soap it is easiest to wait until the next day to wash up, that way any leftover mix will have started to saponify and can be washed much easier!

[@brookzucha3993]

Thank you so much! I loved the videos and would love to watch another series. Different topping techniques would be awesome. Like how to pipe soap etc. thanks again!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Brook. You are the second person to request piping and topping ideas, so I think this may have to be our next mini series :-)

[@karentucker9445]

Beautiful

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Karen :-)

[@karentucker9445]

@@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany you welcome

[@ggyhtau2338]

Love your beginner series! Thanks for the informative videos

[@patr4342]

Thank you, that was a great series, love to see more x

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Pat, we will be back with something else as soon as we work out what to do next and have the time to film!

[@lorrainecarroll5806]

I have loved this series. I have just been on a soap making course and came away with my head full of information. Your videos have really helped me to understand the process. I really liked the texture made using the fork. Would love to see more decorative techniques and how to make soap on a rope 🤞thank you xx

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Lorraine, so glad you liked it :-)

[@theterifox]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I love that you go with the flow. I watch all your videos!❤️

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Teri! I do tend to just go with things really, if I can see something isn't going to work out quite right I would rather change things up midway and try and salvage something from the mistake!

[@wendyangel6534]

Thank you . Great video.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Wendy :-)

[@gozdetak5730]

This serie is very helpful. Hope to see more series :) Thank you

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Gözde, we have more planned for the future, just need the time to record them!

[@marymcandrew7667]

I really appreciate all the time you took to shoot this series! I've been watching yours and many other videos to learn about soap making, and I made two small batches with mixed results. I feel more confiden now and will make these soaps before I try other ones. But I think I'll make it half batches until I see what scents I like etc. Did you do a video about using these ratios of essential oils and fragrances? It's now the only thing I feel I don't know how to do yet. Oh yeah, meant to tell you I love your giggle laugh! haha Makes me smile too.

[@sonjacohn2303]

You are a great teacher! Very well explained! And of course I love your soap again..

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Sonja, I actually worked in a school 15 years ago and wanted to train to be a science teacher! Then I had my Son and never quite followed that path. I guess KZbin provides an outlet for teaching online instead! :-)

[@nancydeadman8525]

Hi, have watched your series, and enjoyed it. I have been watching your videos for awhile now, and enjoy them. Am a senior and want to make some soap for family and friends. Thanks for explaining everything. take care, and have a great day. :)

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

You are very welcome Nancy and thank you for taking the time to comment, I am very glad that you enjoy our series and good luck making soap for your family and friends. Take care :-)

[@mayara6785]

Hi Anne, I’ve been watching all the series, really informative, you’ve been a great tutor! Love your tips and patience to explain everything very well. Looking forward to the next one! Salt bars maybe, or body butter, whatever you can share with us would be lovely ☺️ very inspiring! Xx Mayara from Peterborough 🇬🇧

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Mayara. We do sell a range of salt bars, so creating a video series on them is definitely a possibility!

[@juditvereb-voros2633]

Thank you for all the information, tips and tricks, and motivation and for all! It was a wonderful video series, I have learnt a lot! :) Can't wait to get my equipment! Thanks again! I would love to watch you guys in a mini series of all kinds of soap decoration. :) A huge thumbs up for your work!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Now I love the idea of a mini series on decoration! I think that may have to be done at some point :-) Thank you for the idea!

[@mayara6785]

Yes! Mini series for soap decorating please!!! Strongly agree with you!

[@ellenbutlers999]

very interesting i watched them all, very informative, perhaps some ideas for packaging would be good

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Ellen, we will add a packaging video to our to do list!

[@sahanamehta4863]

Being a newbie... Just loved yr video and all doubts got cleared n confident now. Thank you dear.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

You are welcome Sahana. I am glad that we have managed to help with your doubts and good luck with your soap making adventures!

[@janlee-buxton857]

I've loved your videos! Great to watch while I'm on the treadmill- entertainment, knowledge and exercise is an unbeatable combination!😁 I'd love to see more swirling and top decoration techniques please. 😊

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Jan :-) I like the sound of that! I am trying to plan out a few more decorative soaps at the moment, so hopefully some will be on the way soon!

[@avalontampsett5023]

Just love this mini series. I am going to try this cp method. As I have used melt and pour before. Do you do in store tutorials.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you! We don't do in store tutorials I am afraid, but in the future this is something we would love to be able to offer.

[@anacatarinaferreira5108]

Thank you so much for your great explanations and videos!! You are very generous!! Loved this mini serie. Following your words, I would like (so much) to learn something more about natural colors on soaps (clays and plants based in oils). I already saw your videos about it, bu my struggles are concerned with the amounts to use when calculate your recipe. Thank you again!!

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Ana, we will look at doing a new set of videos going more in depth into natural colourants and clays :-)

[@anacatarinaferreira5108]

@@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany Cool! Thank you so much!

[@SudsNSkinNaturals]

Good morning

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Good afternoon :-)

[@wilmafindlay7145]

Thank you so much for this well detailed tutorial.i had a couple of failures until I tried this. Happy with my first successful batch. Can you tell me where are the best online shops to purchase supplies please (I'm not doing this as a business just for my own use? Thanks again x

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Hi Wilma, I am so glad that you have had your first successful batch! If you are in the UK I would definitely recommend The Soapery for your supplies. They are very quick, offer great service and postage is free too which is an added bonus!

[@davebrown8091]

Thank you for taking the time to post the videos. I was looking online, it's recommended that you don't use more than 10% coconut oil because it dries out the skin? Could I get your thoughts on this please? Thanks guys

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Hi Dave, I would disagree regarding coconut oil as 10% is quite low. We did a lot of research when we first started soap making and it seemed that the general guidance was to use at up to 30% or, if it is to be used by someone with sensitive skin to use at 15% or lower. Obviously everyone is different but we use it at higher levels that 10% in the soaps that we sell and we haven't yet encountered comments from people saying that it is drying - quite the opposite in fact! This is all based on the soap being superfatted at between 5% and 7%. We actually make salt bars with 90% coconut oil but superfatted at 20% and these make for really mild, gentle soaps, so the superfat amount really does make a difference to how the final soap feels on the skin and whether it feels drying or not.

[@user-qr7zb1kr4t]

Can we do this recipe with frozen goats milk? Would we just half the water?

[@habibekeskin8983]

Thank you for the amazing videos. I have made a batch, cut let it wait for a while. Some of my soaps have a different weight size e.g. 95, 105 , 120, 99,101 and so on. I even used a Stabila to make sure that the surface is level. But still no luck. I want all my soaps to be between 101 and 105. Yes I know I have a tick - must be exact weight. However, how can i resolve this challenge please.

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I am afraid I cannot help with how to get the weight exact as all of our soaps fluctuate in weight too. I don't think we have ever found a way to get soaps to regularly weight exactly the same amount.

[@yoanna031190]

I tried this recipe but with 10% shea butter and I runed everything through the soapcalk. Everything was great until I combined both mixtures. At the moment I added my lye water into the oils (at 37 degrees Celsius) the mixture immediately got very thik and I was able to use the mixer for like 15 seconds. 😔 So after that was really hard to add my colors. I was able to "pour" it into the mold but I guess I am gonna have to throw everything in the garbage. I really don't know what I messed up... 😔

[@Badoura]

challenge accepted .... I'd like to see how to deal with variations for an assessment ... still can't get my head around what is the base and what can I add as a variation ... knowing what you know now to right at the beginning of your journey what would you differently? I'm enjoying my micro batch journey but if for example I decided to include 'tussah' silk into the base mix or kaolin clay into the base mix is that the base mix or included in the variations? ... so many questions ... so little space .... argh!!!!!!!!!!! ... love your series ... btw

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

Thank you Wedny-Lynn I think a video detailing variations on assessments is a great idea, as I know how confusing it can all be! I will try planning out a video on variations as I think it could be helpful to a lot of people :-). If you were to put Kaolin clay or Tussah silk in your base mix you would have to use it in all of your soaps, so if you only wanted it in one or two it would be best to include it in the variations.

[@irmawest3732]

I would like to see how to prepare and do piping?

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

I will add that to our "to do" list as I like that idea :-)

[@Mrs_Canary]

Will the soap be white without any color?

[@gozdetak5730]

Can we use all the ingredients at room temperature? I thought preparing lye solution a day ago?

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

We personally don't tend to soap at room temperature but it is certainly possible to do so and many soapers do soap at room temperature :-)

[@moonflower9193]

I can't get blue color in my soap when I add it it becomes a green with a touch of blue I don't know why?

[@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany]

What are you using to try and colour your soap? If it is mica then some micas will change and take on different colours in cold process soap so it may be worth trying another shade.

[@moonflower9193]

@@TheSussexHandmadeSoapCompany Yes it is mica actually I think the reason of this is because of shea butter as I use the yellow one so it affects the final color