Making Soap Dough Decals ( Soap Dough )

When you think of soap decorations or design, as a soap maker; you're usually imagining something beautiful, colorful and will match the theme of your bar soap! With the Way of Color Bar Soap, I had ocean creatures in mind; whether fictional or real life sea dwellers to add to the soap. 

I began, with designing my soap, thinking of a color and fragrance that would coincide with what I had envisioned and what would capture the essence of what I was trying to portray within the soap itself. 

With the left over soap, I actually made my soap decals! The process is simple and easy. You simply take soap that hasn't been cured and still loose and cut all air from it. Some make an entire loaf and leave that covered or, like me; you can pour the unused soap and add it to Ziplock or sandwich bags and leave them in the refrigerator overnight. This process should slow the saponification process down and keep the soap soft and moist so it can easily be molded. 

When you're ready to actually make the soap decals, keep an imagine in mind of what you want your embellishment to actually look like. I recommend for beginners to start with some playdough as practice. Making soap decals is very time consuming and for a beginner it can be a frustrating ordeal if your decal doesn't come out the way you want it, so remember to practice! 

The next step is to add a dry ingredient so it can absorb the remaining water in the soap and harden as the soap saponifies. You can use corn starch or a clay that will not change the color of your intended soap decal. I like to have mine already colored but you can always take a soap colorant with a small amount of oil and knead your moldable soap until the color is dispersed evenly and then add your powdered drying agent.

 

Once the soap has started to take on a dough-like texture, you're now ready to mold. Make the soap into your desired shapes and set aside. You may need to keep some starch on your work surface to keep from sticking. Keep in mind, this is similar to making bread if you bake so the soap may be sticky. Add your drying agent a little at a time to prevent from drying out soap before it's molded and not pliable enough to make into your decorations.

After you've completed your desired soap figurines, you'll want to prepare your "glue" to adhere the soap decals to the actual bar soap itself. To do this, I usually take a clear melt and pour soap that has been melted, paint it on the back of the decal and adhere it to the bar soap. Allow it to dry and then begin to allow your soap to cure as normal. The decals nor the melt and pour soap will hinder the bar from fully curing and becoming it's hardest. You can also add the decals to the tops of the soap if they are made and dried prior to making your loaf. These can be made with soap decals or melt and pour soap if you have a desired mold to create the look you want.

Soap making and embellishments are super fun to make at home for yourself and your family or the general public. However you soap, I hope you try to make soap decals to enhance the look and appeal of your soap!

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Signing Off,

Deborah

As Always Be Well and Stay Blessed...Until Next Time, Keep Creating xoxo