Soap Carving - Tool Set or Thai Knife?

combination of geometrical and floristic designs in soap carving

Q.: What do you use for your soap carving, tools or a thai knife?

A student of mine said that tools don't give the fine effect on soap. I was sad to hear that she was dissapointed with soap carving after trying to carve an elegant design using a carving tool set. I understood that she made some mistakes which caused the dissapointment. If you feel the same about soap carving, this article should help you.

Mind the soap texture

Remember that soap texture differs from fruits and vegetables. Don't 'cut' soap. Often you are enough to 'press' a knife in and 'turn' it to make a shape. Choose designs and carving style depending on soap softness and texsture flexibility. I don't carve thin details in my soaps because they are easely broken ( I mean don't carve in acute angle).

Tools and thai knife work in tandem

I combine tools and thai knife in my carvings. Use tools like U-shape knife for making geometrical designs, and thai knife for carving flowers, waves, hearts and other details. 

Ability to carve details in the same size is very important in soap carving art. So tools helps you in the work at your first steps. 

At Malisa school lessons we used a special soap carving tool set like on the picture below. I saw beautiful designs made with the knives from the set. The cutters from the set can add a cute effect to your soap.

Soap carving tool set,
the knives from the set can add a fine effect to your soap carving work