Fish in a bag soap is not a new idea by any means, in fact, it's so popular it's hard to know who to credit with the idea. Spencer and I tried our hands at it and it was pretty fun, and turned out really well. Here are our final fish in bags:
If you follow my blog, or my shop products, you'll know that I'm a fan of a good word play. When I ordered the plastic fish for this project from Amazon, I was initially upset because there were very few actual goldfish in the assortment.
Holding up the bag of fish, it occured to me that the blue and purple fish look like beta fish. So while we didn't end up with a lot of carnival-style goldfish in bags, we did end up with cute beta fish bags instead. Â
If you have seen the other Fun and Son posts and videos you will know that I'm typically on the lookout for things that I can do with Spencer that are interesting enough to keep his attention, and interesting enough that I want to do them too. 🙂
This is a great soap project to do with kids. The fish in a bag soap uses melt and pour soap, so unlike cold processed soap (see my DIY soap video for basics), there is no use of lye or inherently dangerous ingredients. Obviously, there is melting and pouring to be done, and there needs to be supervision, but Spencer said he would definitely do this project again, so that's a good sign that it was enjoyable!
Below is a brief step by step for how to make this fish in a bag soap, but there is also a link to a video tutorial below. Â
Not surprisingly, to make fish in a bag soap, you need fish, bags, and soap. 🙂
Microwave in 30 second bursts until all soap is fully melted. If you want, you can add a little blue colorant to make the soap appear more clear. This is also when you would add fragrance if desired. In the video you can see how adding the blue turns the melted soap from a yellowish color to a more clear color.
You will also want a spray bottle of 91-99% rubbing alcohol to pop the bubbles on the surface of the melted soap.
While your soap cools, prepare your bags for pouring.
Next, you need to insert your fish. I will warn you, this sounds like it's going to be the easy part, but it's actually quite tricky. The fish toys naturally wanted to float upside down....which is not a good look for a fish in a bag soap. 🙂
Glycerin is a widely used ingredient in skin care products. It's water-soluble, odorless, colorless, and is a natural humectant. Because it is a humectant, it draws moisture to itself (which is one reason it is so popular in bath and beauty products!)Â
Because glycerin draws moisture to itself, glycerin soap has a tendency to "sweat". This "glycerin dew" is totally normal and is a result of the glycerin pulling moisture from the air around it.Â
If you want to keep your glycerin soaps from sweating (assuming this bothers you at all...I personally don't care), you can wrap it in plastic wrap or put it in a container once it's dried in order to keep moisture out of it's way.Â
In the case of the fish soap, I would recommend a small soap dish since it's probably not going to last long in your house because little people will want to get to the fish inside as quickly as possible!
If you love the look of this fish in a bag soap and don't want to make your own, they are for sale in my shop here:Â https://shop.amandatoryactivity.com/product/beta-test-fish-in-a-bag-glycerin-soap/
I think they would be a natural choice for a party favor for a carnival-themed or fish-themed birthday party! We ended up getting 5-6 fish out of each 2lb block of soap base, so if you are making these for yourself, plan accordingly when you order supplies for favors. I will list supplies for you below.
Finally, here is a link to the video tutorial. You can laugh along with the fish stuggles...getting that little plastic fish to stay put was laughable.Â
https://youtu.be/_JLCRhecJy4
Plastic fish: https://amzn.to/3gvnDNz
4x9 cello bags: https://amzn.to/2M91G8V
Soap base:
The one I used is from Brambleberry (where I get my other soap supplies) and can be found here: https://www.brambleberry.com/shop-by-product/ingredients/bases/stephenson-ultra-clear-soap-base/V000794.html#q=stephenson%2Bclear&lang=default&start=1
If you are an Amazon shopper, this one may be more convenient with no shipping costs: https://amzn.to/3eymeUi
Blue color (totally optional):
I used the one from Brambleberry (again, I was already ordering a bunch of other stuff, so shipping wasn't a concern): https://www.brambleberry.com/shop-by-product/ingredients/colorants/dyes/brilliant-blue-lab-color/V600002.html
If you are an Amazon shopper, I have also used these soap dyes, which are food grade and skin safe (and can also be used to color slime if that's something you're into!): https://amzn.to/2M9Tmpt
We did not fragrance our batches, but you could obviously fragrance yours with a small amount of essential oil or fragrance oils. This set of fragrances offers some fun scents including an ocean breeze scent: https://amzn.to/2MbYKbK.
I personally think plain glycerin soap has a nice clean smell without any additives. Spencer suggested "fish scented", but I didn't think that was a great idea. 🙂
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