Batman Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial:
Webmaster's Note: I thought this was the coolest
when I found it, immediately the thought popped into my head that if they
had soap this cool when I was a kid, my Mom would have had more trouble
getting me OUT of the tub than getting me INTO it!!
When I was trying to come up with a great gift idea for my good friend
Michelle (whose birthday is coming up on Monday) I immediately thought of
knitting her something, since of course thats the craft Ive been doing a
lot of lately. I should also mention that Michelle loves Batman. (Thats
kind of an important point to this story.) So then I was thinking knitting +
Batman. (Awwe, knitting + Batman forever!) I came up with the idea of
knitted washcloths with the Batman logo on them. And then I remembered how I
made basic soaps back in university and envisioned a way to incorporate the
Batman logo into the project so that I could create a Batman cloth and soap
set for Michelle. So now you have the back-story, and now I can get on to the
DIY part!
Materials:
First of all, lets talk about materials. I mentioned that this is very
basic soapmaking. It is. Its very easy. Were talking about melt, pour and
voila here, people. I made my first Batman soap last night in about 15-20
minutes, including prep time. Head on over to Michaels (or your local craft
store) and find the soapmaking aisle and pick up the following items:
- Glycerin - bricks of
clear or creamy white glycerin is sold usually in 2lb plastic containers
like you see in the materials photo. (Click
here to see what mine looks like.) Pick up some of the clear, since you
want to be able to see the Batman logo when youre done.
- Soap coloring - this is
packaged similarly to food coloring and the little bottles of color look
just like it. It says its specially formulated for soap making, though, and
since food coloring stains my hands and Im not sure if the color will stain
your skin when you use the soap, I go ahead and pick up specially
made/packaged soap coloring instead of risking food coloring, just in case.
Grab a little bottle of yellow. Youll only be using a few drops per bar, so
this stuff will last a long, long time.
- Soap mold - there are
likely several various plastic soap molds there in the soapmaking aisle - I
just chose a plain and basic rectangular soap mold shape; approximately 4
inches wide by 2.5
- Black foam - in the kids
craft aisle I found a single sheet of black craft foam. Its around the
thickness of a piece of posterboard, maybe a little thicker, for $0.99. This
is what well make the logo out of.
Thats all you need from the store. You most likely already have a
computer at home to grab the
logo
template for printing, scissors for cutting out the logo, and a small
container or liquid measuring cup to microwave and stir hot liquid soap in.
It's also recommended to grab a little spray bottle with rubbing alcohol in
it. These spritzer bottles can be recycled from an old one you have at home
(make sure it's been thoroughly cleaned!) or you can get a cheap one in the
travel aisle of your local grocery store or Wal-Mart, for example. Rubbing
alcohol can be found in the beauty/pharmacy department of your local store,
too. It's commonly found with peroxide. Ok now let's get started!
Directions:
- Print off the
logo
template Ive made onto regular paper. I made my logo to be around 3
inches wide x 1 inch tall so that it will fit nicely in the center of my
rectangle of soap.
- Cut out the logo
carefully. Lay it on the black craft foam and trace with a pencil. It may
seem like you wont be able to see the pencil lines, but trust me - you
will.
- Cut out the logo shape
from the black craft foam. This is getting very Batman very quickly.
- Open your brick of clear
glycerin. Its usually scored for you so you can cut off even sized chunks.
I found that one complete slice along the short side of the brick was the
perfect amount for one bar of soap. See the materials picture to see where I
cut mine if I dont make sense. Using a butter knife (this is where kids
will need help if kids are involved!) slice off a chunk of glycerin.
- Microwave your chunk of
glycerin in a small microwaveable bowl OR liquid measuring cup. I recommend
using something like your Pyrex or plastic liquid measuring cup since it has
a lip that will make pouring the hot liquid soap later much easier. For the
amount I sliced off, this only took around 30 seconds on high. You will have
hot liquid soap in no time! Do a little Batman jig while you wait. Im not
sure what a Batman jig would look like, but if you do one, please be sure to
YouTube it.
- Squeeze 5 drops of yellow
soap coloring into the liquid soap and stir. I found 5 drops to be adequate
to get the color I was looking for, but feel free to use more or less as
desired.
- Now pour (see why using a
liquid measuring cup was recommended) your yellow liquid soap into the soap
mold BUT ONLY FILL IT HALFWAY. Reserve the remainder of the yellow liquid
soap and set it aside. If you see any air bubbles in your mold, gently use a
toothpick or the end of the knife you used to cut the glycerin with to swirl
them out. You can also use the spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and lightly
mist the surface of the soap to remove air bubbles.
- Wait 10 minutes. You
could put the mold in the fridge while youre waiting if youd like, but
its not necessary. Youd be surprised at how fast this stuff hardens! This
is also an excellent time to upload that YouTube vid of you doing the Batman
jig from earlier.
- The soap in the mold
should be solidified enough for the next step at this point. If the reserve
liquid soap has hardened during the 10 minutes (which it will have), pop it
back in the microwave to re-liquefy it for 15 seconds or so. Now were going
to add the logo. A note on that:
Basically what youre doing is layering; creating two layers of soap and
placing the foam Batman logo in between the two. You let the first layer
harden enough to add the logo, then pour the remainder of the liquid soap on
top and let the whole thing harden so that your logo is trapped between
the two soap layers and therefore in the middle of the soap.
**FIRST** Using your mini
spray bottle of rubbing alcohol, gently spritz the hardened surface of
hardened layer one. This will ensure the two layers don't separate later. OK
now on with the show...
- Pour a DROP of hot
liquid soap in the center of your mold, on top of the hardened first layer.
This drop of liquid soap will act like glue to hold your logo in place.
Gently place your logo on top of the first layer, pressing on it gently so
the liquid soap spreads out and helps the logo stick to that first layer.
Now gently pour the remainder of the hot liquid soap on top of the logo to
fill up the mold and create the second layer. Again, if there are any air
bubbles on the surface, swirl them out with a toothpick or something so that
the soap hardens as smooth as possible. Again, you can also use the spray
bottle of rubbing alcohol and lightly mist the surface of the soap to remove
air bubbles.
Let your soap sit overnight to completely cool and harden. In the morning
you will be delighted to see your finished soap! Turn the mold over and
gently pop it out. Voila! You now have awesome Batman soap.
This method would work for lots of things, so use your imagination! I
hope you enjoyed the tutorial And I hope Michelle loves her handcrafted
Batman soap! Here is a pic of the finished soap with the washcloth. (Side
note: I was unable to find a knitted dishcloth pattern of a Batman logo, but
the Batty Dishcloth by
BlackRayne is pretty close and looks good in yellow cotton!)
Tutorial provided by Lesley A.
Karpiuk/Pinktoque of the
Pink Toque Craft Blog - Check out her Blog and show your support!!
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