How To Use Soap Stencils
Want to take your soap making to the next level? Try using soap stencils to make your gorgeous soaps extra appealing to your customers!
Using soap stencils is a lot of fun and it’s an easy way to add beautiful artwork to your creations.
Although some designs may look complex, they are probably a lot easier to make than you think - all you need are some stencils, colorants, and soap dough.
what is soap dough?
Soap dough is essentially soap that has been made pliable so that you can paint with it, meaning it’s stretchy and flexible so it doesn’t break as you’re creating.
When getting ready to use your soap stencils, first you’ll want to make some soap dough. To make soap dough, refer to our blog here on how to make soap dough.
Soap dough is a creative and versatile crafting material that combines the cleansing properties of soap with the moldable qualities of traditional modeling clay.
It is a unique medium that allows you to shape, sculpt, and mold your own soap creations.
Soap dough is typically made by combining soap flakes with water and sometimes glycerin to create a pliable, dough-like consistency. Once prepared, it can be molded into various shapes, from intricate soap sculptures to simple soap bars with embedded designs.
steps to add colorants & use stencils on your soap
- Once you’ve made your basic soap dough, then you’ll add your colorants. You can break the dough apart into small sections and color each section differently if you’d like a variety of colors.
- Now the fun part… stenciling! Place your pre-cut soap bars on some parchment paper and choose the first stencil you want to use. Gently lay the stencil where you want to create a design on your soap.
- Once your stencil has been placed, take a small quarter size piece of the colored soap dough you’d like to use. As you hold the stencil on your soap with one hand, use your free hand to begin pressing the soap dough along your stencil with firm pressure until the entire stencil is filled with an even amount of colored dough.
- Once the colors are to your liking, take a small scraper tool or our rubber spatula to remove excess dough from the surface of the stencil.
- Gently lift the stencil from your soap and let it cure for 24 hours.
Tada! Once your soaps have cured you’re ready to sell, gift, or use them as you wish! As an added bonus, you can use your remaining soap dough to make mold embeds, handmade shapes, or cookie cutter cutouts to add to your collection as well.
show us your soap creations
We love sharing fun new ways to get creative in your soap making adventures. Show us how you stencil your creations by posting a photo on Instagram and tagging us @makesy - they’re sure to inspire other makers around the world!
Interested in other fun soap making action? Check out our video on how to use eco glitter in candles and soaps!
Happy stenciling & happy making!
