If you’re ready to move beyond simple soap layers and try something a little more artistic, a mantra swirl is a beautiful next step.
This cold process soap design uses thin lines of contrasting colour to create flowing, repeated swirls throughout the bar. For this version, we’re pairing soft matcha-inspired greens with creamy neutrals and our Matcha & Mellow Fragrance Oil for a calm, modern soap that looks just as good as it smells.
The mantra swirl does take a little more planning than a basic pour, but the technique itself is surprisingly simple once you understand how to keep your soap batter fluid.
And if you'd rather learn the technique with us in person, we'll be teaching it step by step in our upcoming Mantra Swirl Soap-Making Workshop in Victoria, BC.
Matcha & Mellow Mantra Swirl Soap Recipe
This recipe makes approximately 12 bars of soap.
Oils
- 1 900 g bag of Soap Maker Oil Blend
or
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250 g Coconut Oil
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325 g Olive Pomace Oil
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325 g High Oleic Sunflower Oil
Total oils: 900 g
Lye Solution
-
342 g Distilled Water
-
127 g Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
Additives
-
1 tbsp Sodium Lactate
-
Soap-safe mica or oxide colourants
Suggested Colours
For a soft matcha-inspired palette, try:
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Cream or natural soap batter
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French Green Clay
You don't need four dramatically different colours. In fact, mantra swirls often look more sophisticated when the colours are variations of the same tone.
Try making one green slightly darker than the other and leave part of the soap batter uncoloured for contrast.
Equipment You'll Need
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Digital scale
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Heat-safe containers
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Silicone spatula
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Gloves and eye protection
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Chopstick, skewer or thin swirling tool
Before You Begin
Cold process soap is made with sodium hydroxide, so proper safety precautions are important.
Wear gloves and eye protection, work in a well-ventilated area and keep children and pets away from your workspace.
Always add lye to water, never water to lye.
Step 1: Prepare Your Lye Solution
Measure your distilled water into a heat-safe container.
Slowly sprinkle the sodium hydroxide into the water while stirring gently.
The solution will become very hot.
Set it aside somewhere safe to cool.
Step 2: Melt and Combine Your Oils
Melt the coconut oil gently.
Add the olive pomace and high oleic sunflower oil and mix thoroughly.
Allow your oils and lye solution to cool to 40°C-50°C
For a detailed swirl like this, working at a lower temperature can help give you more time before the soap thickens.
Step 3: Prepare Your Colours
While everything cools, prepare your mica colours.
Mix each colour with a small amount of liquid oil taken from your measured soap oils.
This helps prevent clumps and gives you smoother colour throughout your soap.
For this design, divide your colours into three or four small containers.
Step 4: Add sodium lactate to cooled lye solution
Add 1 tbsp sodium lactate to your cooled lye solution and stir to combine.
Step 5: Bring the Soap to a Very Light Trace
Pour the cooled lye solution into your oils.
Use your immersion blender in short bursts.
For a mantra swirl, you want to stop blending earlier than you might for a regular soap.
Aim for a very light trace.
Your batter should still be fluid enough to pour easily.
This is one of the most important parts of the entire technique.
Step 6: Add Your Matcha & Mellow Fragrance
Add the Matcha & Mellow Fragrance Oil and stir it in gently by hand.
Avoid excessive stick blending at this stage.
You want to preserve as much working time as possible.
Step 7: Divide Your Soap Batter
Divide the soap into your prepared colour containers.
You may want to keep the largest portion natural or cream and divide the remaining batter between your green shades.
Stir each colour gently until evenly incorporated.
Step 8: Create Your Lines
Pour a thin layer of your base colour into the mould.
Next, pour narrow lines of your contrasting colours lengthwise through the mould.
Alternate the colours as you work.
For example:
Cream
Soft green
Dark green
Cream
Matcha green
Cream
Continue adding thin lines until you've used your soap batter.
Don't worry if the lines aren't perfectly straight. Slight variations actually help create movement in the finished swirl.
Step 9: Create the Mantra Swirl
Insert a thin skewer or chopstick into the soap batter near one side of the mould.
Move the tool slowly back and forth across the width of the mould while gradually travelling down its length.
The idea is to drag the coloured lines into a repeating wave pattern.
Try not to over-swirl.
A few deliberate passes usually create a cleaner design than repeatedly stirring the batter.
Step 10: Finish the Top
You can leave the top smooth or add a subtle swirl using the remaining coloured soap batter.
For this Matcha & Mellow design, we love keeping the top simple so the pattern inside the bars becomes the star.
Step 11: Let Your Soap Set
Leave the soap undisturbed in the mould for approximately 24–48 hours, or until firm enough to remove safely.
Cut into bars once the loaf is firm.
Cold process soap then needs time to cure before use.
The Secret to a Beautiful Mantra Swirl
The biggest challenge isn't actually the swirling.
It's keeping your soap fluid long enough to create the design.
A few things can help:
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Avoid over-blending
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Work at cooler temperatures
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Prepare all colours before you begin
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Have your mould and tools ready
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Choose a fragrance oil that gives you enough working time
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Work confidently once your batter is mixed
Preparation makes decorative soap making much more relaxing.
Want to Learn the Technique in Person?
If you've been looking for a soap-making workshop in Victoria, BC that goes beyond basic soap making, our upcoming Mantra Swirl Workshop is a great next step.
We'll walk you through how to control trace, divide colours, pour precise lines and create the repeating swirl pattern that gives this soap its distinctive look.
You'll also be able to customize your soap with your own colours and fragrance choices.
→ Register for the Mantra Swirl Soap-Making Workshop
Prefer to Make It at Home?
You can find the oils, sodium hydroxide, sodium lactate, soap colourants, fragrance oils and soap-making equipment needed for this project in our DIY ingredient shop.
Be sure to check out our Matcha & Mellow Fragrance Oil if you want to recreate this exact version.