Hanger Swirl Lavender Cold Process Soap DIY

I make Lavender cold process soap fairly often at home. It is my daughter’s favorite and I love the aromatherapy. I use Lavender 40/42 essential oil for this soap most of the time because it smells sweeter than some of my other favorite lavender essential oils. I enjoy making Lavender essential oil cold process soap because it is so easy to work with and I can make intricate designs, it does not accelerate and gives me enough time to pipe if I want to.

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Pinterest pin for the lavender essential oil cold process soap DIY with four soaps top view, soaps are blue with gold hanger swirl design and white piped top.

For this soap, I decided to use the hanger swirl design using a lovely light blue color and a light swirl of a gorgeous sparkling gold color. Just enough to make it intriguing and beautiful.

The hanger swirl technique creates beautiful and intricate swirls that give each soap unique and gorgeous designs. For the hanger swirl technique, a medium trace of the soap batter is best. It is important to use a fragrance oil that behaves well and gives you enough time to pour. For this soap, I used lavender essential oil but I’ve made several other soaps (you can find in the archives) with fragrance oils that behave really well as well.

There is no discoloration of the soap when using Lavender essential oil for cold process soaps.

My favorite cold process soap additives

Two of my favorite cold process soap additives are kaolin clay and colloidal oatmeal. I add them to almost all of my soaps because of the wonderful properties they add to the soaps.

Kaolin clay

Kaolin clay is a very gentle clay used in many cosmetics and face masks. It is not only gentle on the skin but it is also great for anchoring the scents in the soaps. I also think it gives a great slip to the soaps that make the soap super luxurious.

Colloidal oatmeal

Colloidal oatmeal is also used in several skin care products and is considered a skin protectant. It helps retain moisture on the skin. It is very soothing and is usually recommended for people with dry skin. You can skip it but I like it in my soaps because of its excellent skin properties.

Another additive that I tend to add to the soaps is tussah silk. I love how it makes the soap so much smoother and with a lovely silky glide.

The hanger swirl technique for cold process soaps is more advanced. With this technique, you want to pay good attention to the trace and move quickly to make sure you have enough time to pour all the batter. This soap design technique is one of my favorites, even though it is considered advanced is fairly simple. Each soap will be unique in its design.

Another thing to pay attention to when making this soap is to make sure you use good micas. Sometimes mica colorants can accelerate the batter. For this soap, I used celestial blue, from Wholesale Supplies Plus and gold sparkle from Brambleberry. However, the ones I recommend below are great for soapmaking.

Also, in this soap, I decided to keep a portion of the soap in white to pipe the top. Just to give it an even more sophisticated look.

Making soaps using the hanger swirl technique for cold process soaps

Lavender essential oil cold process soap DIY with four soaps top view, soaps are blue with gold hanger swirl design and white piped top.

Additional equipment needed for cold process soap making at home

Close up view of one lavender essential oil cold process soap with gold swirls on a light blue base with piped white top.

Recipes and techniques for making cold process soap at home

Check out the posts linked below for several free cold process soap recipes and techniques. I hope you find one that is perfect for you.

Clamshell Technique Cold Process Soap DIY

Handmade Cold Process Soap Making

All Natural Aloe Vera Cold Process Soap

In this Kiss Pour and Handmade Mold DIY I not only give you a recipe and another fun technique to use, I also share how to make a mold using a cardboard milk box.

Summer Vibes Double In the Pot Swirl Cold Process Soap DIY

Coconut Milk & Coconut Water Cold Process Soap

Mahogany & Amber Cold Process Soap

Hibiscus Guava Fresca Cold Process Soap Layers – Tiger Stripe Technique

Ready to start making your own cold process soaps? Then this eBook with 25 different cold process soap formulations is the perfect resource. With so many formulations, you will have lots of inspiration to experiment and find the perfect one.

This eBook also includes best practices to modify the formulations to your liking.

I want the 25 recipes!

Step by Step cold process soap DIY – using the clamshell technique for cold process soaps

Weigh out the butters and coconut oil and melt them in the microwave
Add the liquid oils to the melted butters
Weigh out the water in a separate container
Weigh out the sodium hydroxide (lye) needed for the soap in a separate container
Sprinkle the sodium hydroxide (lye) into the water and mix well, then allow to cool to 85-90 degrees F
Add the lye water solution to the melted oils and butters
Mix using the immersion blender for only a few seconds until you achieve a light trace
Split the batter into three separate containers and mix in the mica colorants
Pour the blue color soap batter first, this is the largest amount of soap batter.
Pour the gold soap batter from side to side.
Use a hanger insert on the soap batter on the mold. Make swirls using an infinity sign motion from the bottom to the top of the mold. A few 3 to 4 times is more than enough to get great designs.
Pour the white soap batter into a piping bag. Then pipe the white soap on top of the swirled layer.
Allow the soap to go through the saponification process for at least 24 hours
Cut the soap and allow it to cure for four to six weeks

I hope you enjoy making this lavender cold process soap using the hanger swirl technique for cold process soaps.

Learn more about cold process soap making in Cold process soap making most common questions answered in one place. This post summarizes all the questions I get about cold process soap making.