Using Soap Flakes in Arts and Crafts Projects

Many people ask us questions about using Soap Flakes in their arts and crafts project recipes.

Questions like: What are Soap Flakes made of? (100% pure vegetable soap made from palm and coconut oils.)

Can Soap Flakes be used in a particular recipe that requires soap flakes as an ingredient? (Uh, yes!)

Are Dri-Pak Soap Flakes like Ivory Soap Flakes? (Very much so, except Dri-Pak Soap Flakes are a 100% vegetable based soap - no tallow. I believe the old Ivory Snow and Ivory Flakes used a tallow-based soap. Tallow is made from animal parts, fats and so on. Also Ivory added a fragrance to their soap, Dri-Pak does not.)

Are Dri-Pak Soap Flakes like LUX Flakes? (Yes, almost exactly, except LUX Flakes had perfume sprayed on them whereas Dri-Pak Soap Flakes do not.)

The most asked question is how many cups of Soap Flakes are in a one pound bag? (About 4.5 cups.)

There are many craft and art-related recipes that call for using Soap Flakes to make soap-on-a-rope, soap finger paints, or other easy soap making craft or art projects. Often these projects are crafts for kids.

Advice

We notice that some recipes that mix Soap Flakes and water suggest using way too much water.

It doesn't take much water to bind Soap Flakes together. So whether you are making a soap bar from Soap Flakes, or whether you wish to create a block of soap you can carve into a soap sculpture, here is the approach we recommend...

Do this little experiment first to get a feel for how things work.

1. Put a little pile of Dri-Pak Pure Soap Flakes in the palm of your hand. If you have sensitive skin perhaps gloves are in order, however Soap Flakes are very gentle.

2. Add just a little hot water from the tap, maybe half a teaspoon, maybe a little more.

3. Work the soap around in your hands as if you are making a snowball, or a meatball. Alternate between making a ball and then flattening it out into a pancake with your hands. Then, roll it, squeeze it, work it back into a ball, then back into a pancake and so on. Before long there are no more soap "flakes", only a moist clump of soap. (Your hands get kind of sticky and messy in this process but when you rinse them off with water -- Wow. Clean, and soft.)

4. Shape the soap into the shape you want and let it dry. Just let it sit somewhere undisturbed. Within a few days the soap becomes quite hard. At that point, you are either done -- because the soap shape you made was how you wanted the soap to end up -- or, it's time to carve the soap into a sculpture.

5. If sculpting, try using a bent paperclip, a fork, any object really, and gently carve away; creating the form you wish.

It is almost impossible to screw-up unless you use way too much water. (Even then, if you have enough Soap Flakes you can add them and thicken the mix.)

Always start by adding a little bit of water to your Soap Flakes and see what you've got. Then add a little more water. If your mixture is too moist, add a little more soap. Go by feel. It is very easy -- and your hands end up impeccably clean. (MSO)
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