You know what question Kate and I get a lot? “How do you girls do it it all??” Our schedules are full, just as many of yours are, and it comes with the constant struggle of balancing Mom-life with work-life. And like most other Mothers out there, when it comes down to it and one has to take priority, the Mom gig wins- no contest. If something has to fall through the cracks it’s not Mom thing; it’s usually the doing-laundry, cleaning-bathrooms, or showering-before-noon thing. So to answer the question, how do we do it all? Ha! We don’t! Those of you joining us at TOFW get to hear all about how we don’t do it all. In fact, most times sometimes we barely keep it together! The past few weeks have felt like that for me. I’ve been traveling a lot, and working on some huge projects (we finished our book!), so when I got home the other day after spending the weekend in PA (SO much fun- thank you East Coasters for a great time!) the last thing I wanted to do was pull out my big camera and cook. And then edit photos. And then write a big recipe post for today. What I did want to do? Play with my kids. Be goofy, be silly, be loud and crazy and do whatever they wanted to do. I asked them what they wanted to do, and lucky for me (and you) they picked something that I thought would actually be fun to share with you! So ironically, my intentions of turning off my blog brain back-fired, but it worked out in the end. I got to play with my kids, and you get a fun kitchen craft. Or something to entertain friends at the office when you’re tired of working. Since I had no intentions of making a big ol’ photography project out of this fun little activity, I just snapped some quick photos on my Phone and edited them right on my phone too, with the Thumba app. Come next Monday I’ll have my brain fully functioning again and I’ll bust out my big camera have an amazing recipe for you! Until then, let’s just play 🙂 This is sort of awesome.
We call these “Soap Clouds.” Where are all of our chemical engineers? I need to know why every awesome science project involving soap, hinges on the use of Ivory soap. Thoughts? Are there magical ingredients in there? I’ve always wondered that. I bet whoever came up with the original recipe never expected that so many science experiments would ensue with its use! I think the same thing about Elmer’s glue. Anyway, grab a bar of Ivory soap-yes, only Ivory! It’s cheap, but don’t worry, you can even use it as soap when we’re done here so we’re not being wasteful. So you don’t need to write us lengthy emails about being earth-hating-soap-haters.
Place a piece of waxed paper, parchment, plastic wrap, or paper towel in your microwave. Just don’t use foil, or we’ll have issues on our hands that are much bigger than your next burrito tasting slightly like a fresh mountain spring. This really doesn’t make a mess, so don’t be scared.
Start your microwave for a couple of minutes on high power. You don’t need to let it run that whole length of time, but you can just stop it when you need to. Want to see what happens?? It’s a little hard to see through my microwave door, but check it out (and ignore me when I say you need to turn your microwave turntable off, that’s for if you’re trying to video this experience:))
Ten bonus points for anyone who can reference my children’s ramblings about “the great devourer.”
I don’t know how it does it- but it starts growing! Sometimes the “clouds” are seriously HUGE, and other times they are sort of wimpy. I’ve noticed generally, the fresher the soap (as in the more recent I have purchased it) the bigger the result. We’ve done this a million times and my kids still get a kick out of it.
It looks like it should be foamy and wet, but it’s not. You can actually pick up the whole big chunk.
If you smash it, it will break into pieces and you’ll end up with soap dust everywhere, so be careful with little hands who like to smash things 🙂
It’s the weirdest looking thing. I love how it’s different every time.
Now. You have a giant blob of dried soap fluff and your kids were entertained for a total of 3.5 minutes. That’s a start! Sometimes I let my kids just take the whole darn thing in the bath tub and have at it. It’s one way to make sure they actually get cleaned in there. Or sometimes I hold it up over them in the tub and let it “snow” by smashing it and letting it sprinkle down like little snow flakes. Or, you can let them make their own little soaps. First, put the fluff in a bowl and let them do what they’ve probably been trying to do already- smash it to smithereens. It just kind of falls apart, so it’s actually kind of fun. And if it gets all over your counter, take my advice and sweep or vacuum it up first, then wipe it down. Otherwise you’ll end up with a big soapy mess.
Then, either in a bowl with a spoon, or with an electric beater, or in a food processor, like I’m using, add warm water, just until it comes together. Just like pie crust, folks! This is why I love kitchen crafts. To test it, grab some with your hands and hold it in your fist. If it holds together in a ball, it’s ready.
Take the mold-able mixture and let kids press it into cookie cutters. Make sure kids are old enough to know it’s not food, or they are likely to attempt to eat it!
These photos below are from a batch I made a while back, (and photographed with my regular camera) and I let my kids add just a couple of drops of food coloring to make colored soaps. After the soaps are molded, but still wet, you can gently push them out of the molds. Let them sit in a cool, dry place for a few days and soon you will have little soaps to wash (or play!) with. I would only use a small amount of food coloring as to not stain anything!
Funny how my kids are always very interested in getting extra clean when it’s with soap they’ve made themselves.
Now go have some fun with your own kiddos today! Or, just grab some soap and have fun in your office break room at lunch. C’mon- you know you want to.
Reminder: Once again, only use IVORY soap. Lots of people asking this in the comments, or commenting they have a burned mess in their microwave because they didn’t read it earlier in the post! Ivory!
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Questions & Reviews
Mind blown!! I cannot wait to try this! Thank you so much for the tutorial. I’ve included this in my weekly roundup of useful sites at http://www.doomestic.com Thanks again!!
that is awesome! i do have a quick question though. can you use another brand of soap or is it just thde ivory king of soap?
Definitely has to be Ivory…and it should be a new bar, not something that’s been hanging out in your linen closet for the last 10 years. 🙂
Rachel, most other bars are actually detergent, not soap. That’s the reason most soap projects specify Ivory. You may be able to use Fels Naptha or Zout.
Only Ivory.
hi your love site. but i need to let you know that i am in the process of a patent application for the soap cloud since 2011. would really like to talk to you about tks T.neece
That is AWESOME! I can’t wait to try this!
I plan to do this with my Grandsons next time they come in. Thank You. I love your site…
I tried Jergens Mild and it worked too. Then I tried doing Fels Naptha. It didn’t fluff like the Jergens but it did look like bread. It is now my preferred method to make soap powder for homemade laundry detergent. I have pictures of how I did it.
The Fels Naptha is a hard soap bar and has a higher lye content than softer soaps like Ivory. That’s probably why it didn’t fluff as much.
We just did this and what fun!!! My 3 year old broke my soap dispenser today, and I was sad for a second…stumbled upon your site! Thank you so much for sharing!!! Who needs a soap dispenser, we have two green snowflakes, a blue train and a green and blue owl drying! Thank YOU! : )
Dearest Sara,
I cannot hardly wait for my grandchildren to come over and try this. This is the coolest things I’ve ever seen. We love to do crafts and what a mess it becomes at times. However, they are kids once and the time will come that they push the grands away for their own friends. I’ll let you know how it turns out. And thank you so much. May you and your family have a wonderful New Year.
Debbie Sawyer
Thank you for posting!!Did this today with my 7 & 10 year old… So much fun & super easy…Bonus: Kitchen smells so fresh & clean 😉
Thanks for sharing. I tried and it worked for me. Please check out my version here:
http://byebyesoccermom.blogspot.com/2013/01/homemade-soap-with-kids.html
I only added minor changes.
Maya
The reason that only Ivory soap works, as I have recently found out from Pintrest, is that Ivory soap is made with lots of air bubbles in it! That’s why you can do this experiment 🙂
My children are grown and I will become a grandparent in April (first time) but this looked so amazing I had to try it by my self! The soap did as said and “grew” very large in my microwave. I added the food coloring and pressed it into my cookie cutters… my problem was getting them out. If you have any “tips” on getting them out of the cookie cutters whole? I want this fun project down pat by the time my grandchildren are old enough to do this with me!
Christine, try spraying a little non-stick spray on the cookie cutters first; that would probably help!
A thin coating of Vaseline should work well. I use it in my regular soap molds.
This is a great Idea can’t wait to try it, but what did you use for the coloring just food coloring, will that stain there hands? Or did you use something else?
I just used a tiny bit of regular food coloring, but you can buy coloring specifically for soaps at craft stores if you prefer that.
Thanks for the neat idea! I think this will be perfect for my Girl Scout troop!
Well this didn’t work for me … My soap was quite old tho it sort of just split into prices and burned
I don’t want to use food coloring. Are there natural dyes that can be added?
Of course…..as one Lego mom to another….the Great Devourer is from Lego Ninjago!!!!
This looks like a fun project for my grandkids and I to try! Thank you for being creative.
We were so excited to do this with the kids today. Got Ivory, put it in on some wax paper, stuck it in the micro and it barely puffed, but it did burn. Smoked and burned. A lot. Not sure what went wrong.
i could use this for my science project thanks
cool! LOL!
We just need a science teacher to chime in on why this works, and this will be a great learning experience too!
We did this, and it is as awesome as is it sounds.
However, once it got crumbly and snow-like, we all started crazy sneezing!
Any recommendations?
It happens! A mask maybe? lol
Be aware… if you have asthma or copd DO NOT try this. At the point of this writing I am contemplating taking my mother to the hospital.
Made this today with my kids. So fun!! Now they have their very own homemade soaps!!
I am going to try this with my sons asap! I do have a question though, I didn’t see it asked so I will 😀
Does this affect your microwave at all? (Leaving a soapy smell, or tainting the flavors of food that goes in there) That is my only concern. I don’t want to microwave a bowl of corn and it taste like soap.
Any thoughts on those who have done this would be appreciated. Thanks so much for posting this!!
I’ve had more soap stuff in my microwave during the last decade than any sane person should and I haven’t had a problem. A good way to remove odors from your microwave is to put 1 cup water and 1 cup white vinegar in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high for about 10 minutes (you want it to boil for a few minutes). Carefully remove the bowl and wipe the inside of the microwave with a paper towel or soft cloth.
Will the food coloring turn their skin colors?
In small amounts the food coloring is fine and won’t color your skin.
Can you actually form this by hand into something? I was thinking that this would be a cute way to make a 3-D snowman ornament.
Does it make the food you microwave after this taste like soap?
Thanks for sharing!!!! This brings back many memories of Christmas when I was a child. My mother used to create this same effect by using a box of Ivory “flakes”. (People I mention this to, have never head of it.) I have not been able to find how she made the “snowy” consistancy. All I remember is that she used water (i think?) and ivory flakes and whipped them until soft peaks formed. We would then put our hands in the bowl and spread the foam on the branches of our Christmas tree. This would harden on the branches and look exactly like “snow” and I will remember always the great smell of the snow and the pine together and laying aside the bright lights…the only thing missing was SANTA!
From Wikipedia: This soap powder was used by many people at Christmas time after World War II to create a fake snow to put on live Christmas trees. A box of Ivory Snow combined with boiling water, mixed and whipped up with an electric mixer, produced a “mock snow”. It was applied by hand wearing rubber gloves and rubbing the mixture all over the tree. It dried to a firm consistency and dripped down, looking like real snow. Mica flakes or white glitter were then sprinkled on top of the snowy mixture. The tree sat for about an hour before the garland and ornaments were added. Commercial aerosol cans of fake faux snow replaced this method starting in the 1960s.
this is very cool