Sept 2016 Soap Challenge - Wood Grain Technique

I am impressed by all of the entries so far for the wood grain soap challenge! I love seeing people's creativity come through when the guidelines are flexible. I am really wanting a wood grain impression mat now. :D

I had actually attempted the wood grain technique before. The resulting soap is currently listed on my Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/listing/466843083/lumberjack-soap-cold-process-mens-soap?ref=shop_home_active_8) and is called Lumberjack soap. Here's a photo - doesn't look too bad, right?

I learned a few things from that first attempt:

1) The uncolored batter that I used ended up providing too much contrast against other bolder colors. It still looks cool, but not super realistic. 

2) I used a mold that required me cutting the soap horizontally. That was a bad idea! It took FOREVER to fill the mold, and a lot of soap ended up getting too thick to squeeze out of squeeze bottles. 

After how long it took to make that other batch of soap, I was not anxious to try this technique again anytime soon, hahah. Fortunately, though, I took what I learned from last time and applied it to this next attempt. :)

My pouring technique is a little different than Amy's - instead of going back and forth down the mold with a squeeze bottle, I only squeeze one line down the middle at a time. I had found a Youtube video from Haocheng Hou (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzNY7WjGIc) a while back that shows this technique.

As you can imagine, it can take a LONG time. I hand stirred my batter this time to make sure it stayed fluid as long as possible. I also used five colors (last time I used four) and added ground walnut powder for some texture. Finally, I used the same FO as the last batch - Tobacco & Bay Leaf FO from Brambleberry. This FO behaves very nicely, supposedly discolors to a light tan (which I have not noticed but would not hurt in this case), and pairs well with the wood grain pattern,

Colors from left to right: 1) uncolored, 2) brown oxide mixed with titanium oxide, 3) activated charcoal, 4) copper mica, 5) cappuccino mica

I added less colorant this time, hoping to achieve more of a natural look. In real life, wood grains are rarely bright colors.

I used a loaf/log mold and poured one layer deep. Here's a picture of the pouring, soon after getting started.

...Half an hour or so later, after all the soap has been poured, before any swirling. It already looked pretty cool just like that.

I forgot to take a picture of the wet soap after swirling - I guess I was in a rush to get it in the oven! This is what it looked like the next morning.

The colors mellowed out quite a bit and continued to get a little lighter after sitting out. After cutting and cleaning the bars, I think they turned out quite good! I like this technique of pouring one line at a time, because you end up with a layered ring-like pattern on the sides. :)

It looks pretty similar to this picture of worn ash wood, don't you think??

Finally, a few more close ups. 

I enjoyed this attempt much better overall. Now I just need to come up with a name for this soap - suggestions are welcome!!