More Shimmies

As promised, here are the first two attempts at the shimmy.  I am going to elaborate a little more here on the technique.

First, I made some Tall & Skinny molds out of foam board.  Along with the Shimmy Soap Technique, Amy Warden, of Great Cakes Soapworks, also gave us a link on how to make these soap molds - both the technique and the mold are taught by a guest instructor Tatiana Serva - click here to see her blog showcasing her amazing soaps!. 

These molds hold a little over 1 lb of soap, which is great for playing around and not using a large amount of ingredients - in case it doesn't come out as expected. 

Craft Foam Soap Molds

So, after making the molds, I modified my soap recipe to fit.  I set up my area with seven cups, and added a bit of color to each.  For the Harvest Shimmy I used charcoal, rose clay, oil infused with annatto seed, oil infused with alkanet root, red Moroccan clay, sea clay, and cocoa.  For these first two batches, I prepared two separate pots of soap - one was left uncolored, the other was made with oils infused with alkanet.  These were then mixed into a gradient of hues from dark purple to a natural "white".  Once the soap was at a very light trace, I divided the batch into seven equal amounts (by weight) into the prepared cups.  For the second batch, I just used up what was left over, which was really just "natural white", a darker purple and a medium purple.

I did not take photos of the process as I went.  I will have to remember to do that next time, easier said than done when you are busy with so many processes, and learning a new technique to boot.  I'm sure that is why many people video tape the process for these challenges :) 

The way you make these soaps is by propping one side up on a pencil and pouring down the other side in a back and forth motion until it is all in.  You then prop the other side up and pour the next color down the other side.  Repeat this process, alternating sides, until it is all poured.  I poured the entire 1/7 th of the batch for each color, although others have done a varying amount to create a different effect.  If you google Tall & Skinny Shimmy and look at the videos, you will get a better feel for how this technique is accomplished.

Here is the soap after pouring into the molds.

Shimmy 1 & 2 After Pour

And now for the unmolding of the soaps and cutting them into bars.  The soap did not want to release from the mold right away, so I decided to place them in the freezer for a few minutes.  This worked wonderfully for removal from the mold, however the freezing process seems to create small fractals in the soap, which are visible in the the photos below, taken the following day.

Shades of Violet Shimmy

Blueberry Shimmy

Pretty neat technique, all in all.  I really enjoyed doing this, and I have to say that my results were fairly decent as well.  I look forward to participating in future soap challenges, and hope you come back to see the attempts I make.