Horizontal Cut Soap Swirls: Mantra, Taiwan, Lotus & Spinning Designs

Horizontal Cut Soap Swirls: History & How-To

One of my favorite parts of cold process soapmaking is the surprise that comes when you cut into a loaf. Most soaps are sliced vertically and show swirls that run top-to-bottom. But when you plan a design to be cut horizontally, you reveal sweeping patterns that fill the whole face of the bar — and that’s where some real showstoppers live.

Below I walk through four horizontal-cut swirl families: Mantra (Infinity / Figure-Eight) Swirl, Taiwan Swirl, Lotus (Circling Taiwan) Swirl, and Spinning Swirl. For each I give a bit of history, a step-by-step, practical tips for batter trace and color management, and a full video tutorial so you can swirl along with me! I have additional videos available in this YouTube playlist for you too.

What Is a Horizontal Cut Soap Swirl?

A horizontal cut swirl is a soap design technique where the swirl pattern appears when the loaf is cut horizontally instead of vertically.

This technique allows soapmakers to create intricate designs such as spinning swirls, lotus patterns, and layered movement within the soap.

Mantra Swirl (Infinity / Figure-Eight Swirl)

The Mantra Swirl was introduced to the soapmaking world with a tutorial by Nicole Benitez published in Saponifier Magazine (now known as Making Soap Magazine) in January 2009. You can use 2 or more colors for this design, and I typically use two colors. This was also my first successful cold process swirl design!

How to do it — step by step:

1. Prepare a loaf mold with at least two compartments/dividers.
2. Mix and color your batter into contrasting shades.
3. Pour the colors into the lanes so each lane is a distinct color or a stacked stripe of colors.
4. Remove dividers so the lanes sit side by side in the mold.
5. Using a skewer or chopstick, draw an infinity (∞) or number-eight pattern lengthwise down the mold. Repeat while moving the skewer along the full length of the loaf.
6. Allow to set, then slice horizontally across the loaf to reveal looping, infinity-shaped patterns across each bar.

Tips:

• Aim for thin to medium trace — thick enough to hold a looped line but not so thick that the skewer drags clumps. As you’ll see in the video below, I prefer a thinner trace for whispy interactions with the colors.
• Play with keeping your figure-eights even and smooth vs. abrupt jerks that make more whispy uneven loops and create interest with a thinner trace.
• Strong color contrast helps the infinity lines read clearly on the bar face.

A quick giggle: I keep calling the Mantra a Taiwan swirl! It’s like a swirly brain-fart 🤣 These swirls feel similar at setup (same dividers, same tools, same attention to trace), so it’s an easy slip. No one ever corrects me — probably because we all confuse the terms! That little mix-up was actually the inspiration for this article. The real difference is in the tool path: Mantra is figure-eights; Taiwan is systematic straight pulls; Lotus is the Taiwan pulls altered by perimeter circling.

The Taiwan Swirl technique was popularized by soapmakers in Taiwan (hense the name) and gained international acclaim for its ability to produce stunning visual effects with swirling colors that intertwine yet remain distinct.

How to do it — step by step:

1. Set dividers in your mold (at least three lanes).
2. Pour narrow, even stripes of contrasting colors into each lane.
3. Remove dividers so stripes sit side by side.
4. Using a skewer, drag in an “s” or snake pattern to swirl each color.
5. Let the loaf set, then slice horizontally to reveal long, feathered ribbons across the bar face.

Tips:

• Thin to medium trace is usually best here so you can pour even stripes and let them level before you do the pulling. As with the mantra swirl, the thicker the trace the more defined / less blended your edges will be.
• Keep tool pulls deliberate and evenly spaced — that spacing is what creates the rhythm in the finished ribbon.
• Contrasting colors will help define the swirl.

Lotus Swirl (Circling Taiwan Swirl)

The Lotus Swirl is a variation that appears after the Taiwan technique; public examples cluster the first development of the design in the mid-2010s. It’s sometimes called a Circling Taiwan Swirl because the effect is produced by circling the skewer around the Taiwan-style pulls.

How to do it — step by step:

1. Build and pour your mold exactly as you would for a Taiwan Swirl: set dividers, pour narrow stripes, remove dividers.
2. First, perform the Taiwan-style pulls across the length of the mold (the “S” or snake pattern).
3. Then, take your skewer and drag it around the outside perimeter of the Taiwan pulls — like you’re running laps around a track.
4. Those circular perimeter drags bend the previously straight Taiwan pulls into curved petal shapes.
5. Allow to set, then slice horizontally to reveal lotus/mandala-like petals across the bar face.

Tips:

• Do the Taiwan pulls first — they form the “bones” you will bend into petals. The perimeter circling is what turns ribbons into petals.
• A thinner trace helps with the initial Taiwan pulls; when you switch to perimeter circling, a light touch prevents over-mixing.

Spin Swirl

The Spin Swirl was introduced to the soapy community in 2014 by Mulan Hua. It’s a playful design where the entire mold is rotated to move the soap batter itself into radiating patterns.

How to do it — step by step:

1. Place your mold on a rotating surface (like a lazy susan)
2. Pour multiple colors into your mold using drop-swirl, in-the-pot swirl, or layered pours — don’t worry about neat lanes for this one. You’ll pour colors down each corner of the mold so the meet in the middle.
3. Spin the mold sharply in one direction, then stop. The centrifugal action pulls colors into arcs and radiating streaks. You can repeat small spins or vary force for different effects.
4. This cut for this one will depend on how thick you poured your slab mold. If you poured thick enough for one bar, then just slice into loafs and bars. If you poured thick enough for multiple bars, slice horizontally, then slice into loafs and bars. See the video for a clear visual on this one!

Tips:

• Leave headroom in the mold; the batter must be able to shift without overflowing.
• Light to medium trace usually works best — it flows under spin but still holds shape when it stops.
• High-contrast colors show the motion most clearly.
• Be careful when spinning so you don’t splash soap out of the mold!

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Wrapping up & next steps

Horizontal cut swirls are hugely satisfying because the loaf becomes a reveal-machine — every bar feels like a secret revealed. I plan to post a video soon demonstrating all four moves so you can see the Taiwan pulls, the perimeter circling for Lotus, the figure-eight for Mantra, and the spin in action.

If you want extra help with your swirls, join the Best Friend Club! We have live video chats and demonstration sessions where I’ll be happy to walk you through your favorite design step by step, and share my tried-and-true recipes for a perfect soapy swirl.

Quick Summary

• Horizontal cut swirls reveal designs when the soap is cut horizontally.
• This technique creates complex patterns that aren’t visible until cutting.
• It is often used for advanced swirl designs.