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Layered soaps allow you to build a thing of beauty—or a thing of wackiness—one color at a time.
Step 1: Cut base into cubes
Cut your base into 1-inch cubes to allow for easier melting. You can estimate the amount to melt by seeing how many chunks fit into each mold. In general, a pound of soap base should make about 3 medium-sized bars of soap, or numerous smaller ones.
Step 2: Heat soap base
Place your soap base into the glass bowl or measuring cup, cover the top with plastic wrap, and heat it in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. If the base isn't completely melted, remove it, stir it with a whisk, and re-heat it at 10-second intervals, stirring in between, until it is. Don't forget to replace the plastic wrap each time.
Step 3: Stir gently
Remove the melted base from the microwave and stir it gently, to avoid creating air bubbles.
Step 4: Pour into bowls
Separate the soap base by pouring it into as many bowls as colors you plan to use.
Tip
For the best results, plan out the pattern you'd like to make ahead of time: whether it's a rainbow of colorful stripes or just alternating bands of two or three colors, or anything in between.
Step 5: Add dyes
Add the dyes or colorants to each of the separate bowls and stir.
Tip
Be sure to use only soap-safe dyes and follow any special instructions on the package.
Step 6: Pour first layer
Pour the first layer into your mold.
Tip
You can use a loaf mold to make multiple bars that will all have more or less the same pattern, or multiple single molds to create unique patterns.
Step 7: Spray with alcohol
Spray the layer you've already poured into the mold with rubbing alcohol to eliminate air bubbles and help the layers adhere. Let it cool until a "skin" has formed.
Tip
If the colored bases are starting to cool and harden, pop them in the microwave on high for 10 to 15 seconds until they've re-melted.
Step 8: Continue layering
Slowly pour another colored layer over the first layer. Spritz it with rubbing alcohol and let it cool, allowing a skin to form over the top. Continue in this way until you've added all your colors in as many layers as you like.
Step 9: Let cool
Let your creation cool for several hours or overnight, pop it out of its mold in the morning, and you're ready to bathe in ribbons of color.
Did You Know?
Clay cylinders containing fat boiled with ashes were found during an excavation of ancient Babylon--suggesting that soap making could have started as early as 2,800 B.C.
