Beating Soapy Love Heart

Intro: Beating Soapy Love Heart

The soapy love heart will thrill and amaze the one you love. Ignoring safety concerns of course.

This project combines the simplicity of a LED throwie (minus the magnet), some glycerine soap and some hot glue.

To make the heart unique I used a flashing LED. You can customise your soap by adding a fragrance - for this I used strawberry fragrance oil but if you've got cool love why not try tea tree and peppermint?

It flashes quite fast but you can fob your dearly beloved by saying 'my heart always beats faster when I'm around you'. I'm sure it'll get her in a lather!

STEP 1: Your Equipment

The equipment is very simple.

- Pyrex jug/dish though any small based container will do (less surface area less wastage of glycerine)
- Plastic mould/mold (ebay)
- fragrance oil (health food shops/ebay - check it is for cosmetic use)
- glue gun & sticks preferably clear
- 10mm flashing LED - I chose red, though initially when making a non-heart soap I used a multicoloured one!) - you could use smaller
- 2032 battery
- glycerine melt and pour soap - clear can be used (as in this tutorial) but other styles such as opaque would work better

The only addition I added was a fork, sellotape (clear sticky tape) and plastic bag (not shown).

This is my first instructable, so be kind!

STEP 2: Customising the LED

Simply twist your LED contacts round in a U shape on both sides. I used a tiny bit of clear tape to secure them to the battery.

BTW Customising is spelt with an s in England! (Though my spelling is usually very attrocious this isn't something I'm compromising on. Similar issues to colour)

STEP 3: Waterproofing the Battery

Lithium batteries don't like water. there's a fair few examples of what happens when you get one wet. Be careful!

Currently I can see hundreds of scared for life girlfriends/wives/etc having washed their face using a wet lithium battery.

The clue here is to make sure every single bit of the battery and underneath of the LED where it meets the battery is covered. Check, check and check again. Then of course advise them never to use this gift without special supervision in the bathroom! What could be more romantic than taking an interest in their safety? ;-)

We're making it waterproof y'see! (Check out the aryldite coment at the bottom about other ways to do this - my father told me it is how he used to do it for the military many years ago...)

STEP 4: Prepare the Glycerine

This is probably the one dangerous point for the soap maker!

Tear off an approximate amount of soap from your glycerine block and stick in the microwave. This is a two step process so you'll repeat it. Stick it on high (100%) for about 30 seconds max at a time. When the soap has completely disolved (no lumps & difficult to tell without your fork!) you can add your fragrance.

Many fragrance or essential oils are very potent - you'll only need a few drops. Watch out for peppermint, it can bring a man/girl to tears if you use too much and they use it on their privates!

STEP 5: Pouring

When pouring the liquid in, be careful (gloves alert) it's very hot and will probably burn you. I can't confirm this as I've never been stupid enough to pour it on myself, but safety first!

You only need to pour to the level you wish the LED to be fixated at. If you just dropped it in, it would sink to the bottom which in this case is the top of the soap, looking rubbish. Leave to set hard before placing the LED on top.

If you want to, you could add colouring to this project and have two different colours. I prefer transparent though. Don't use food dye - it stains.

If you've heated the soap too high it will get bubbles in the mix - avoid at all costs. If like me you get this, you can explain that like normal hearts it is not pure red, but has layers of white fat to protect and encase the electrical nerve impulses... (yeah...)

STEP 6: 2nd Pour

We now reheat the soap taking the same precautions as before. Add the LED and pour the remainder to fill the mould. As you can see by the pics your beating heart is already defusing through the soap - the more opaque the better!

STEP 7: Cool, Relax and Er... Give

Lets face it, how many girls (or boys, I'm not going to discriminate here...) can be woken at 4am (it simply has to be dark to get the full appreciation!) to be given their valentines gift! (checkout the video!)

(WARNING: PLEASE NOTE SOAP IS A HARD OBJECT AND I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU BEING CLUBBED TO DEATH, NOR AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY 'BATTERY' RELATED INJURIES)

Hopefully you've enjoyed this instructable - it's not hard and only takes about 10 minutes if you ignore the cooling times. You can use a freezer to speed this up, though be careful you don't leave it too long. At this time of year (feb in England) you can leave it outside for the ultra quick carefree treatment!

Remember to tell them about the lithium batteries - it can easily be used a few times for light washing before you'll expose the battery but the glue should take care of that.

Don't forget the traditional flowers and chocs. I find this is a nice present wrapped in some light cloth (a square will do) tied off with some plain ribbon. When you hand over the goodies she'll see it beating in the bag and instantly wonder what it is! The battery should last longer than a normal throwie as it's flashing. Have fun and if you make one, post a pic with the appreciative recipient!

Comments

[FlaScubaMan]

Here's a thought for a new idea. Instead of using the flashing LED, buy one of those musical greeting cards. I would suggest buying a romantic one. Then cut the small musical electronic circuit out of the card. Attach a magnet and reed switch as mentioned above to turn the romantic music on and off when you pick up the heart out of the soap dish.

[Gamernotnerd]

Wet lithium battery? Explain the dangers, please. I really would like to know. =D

[tim_n]

have you ever added lithium to water? as in the pure metal. if not, search on YouTube for it! hopefully that'll help you understand.

[Gamernotnerd]

Oh, now I remember. lol.

[sharlston]

you gave me one of them now and i would take it outside and smash it up im going through a hard time !!!!

[Babyshoes]

To get rid of the bubbles simply spray the top with surgical spirits (rubbing alcohol in the US) immediately after pouring the soap - it reduces the surface tension of the soap and gets rid of most bubbles. I am currently writing a 'melt and pour soap' instructable - flashing lights aren't the only thing you can put in soap, but probably one of the most original! Mind if I link to this instructable?

[tim_n]

bit late, but go ahead!

[Oscelot]

hehe! I was about to quote your tutorial. ;)

[tim_n]

go for it

[sjrSpike]

How about a not-flat-on-the-bottom version? Pour in 2 layers like in the instrucable, but have the 1st layer almost to the top of the mold, let harden, then add the LED and more soap to the top of the mold - the LED should stick out of the top about half its height. Let harden again. Remove from the mold. Now, turn this first side over to place it flat side down into the mold and mark or remember where its level is - how far down into the mold it goes before the mold slant is too small for it to sink further. Pour a new soap layer in 'til it's at the level mark from the first side, place the first side, flat side down, onto the still-liquid soap and let dry/harden. This should make a soap that is a rounded heart shape on top and bottom.

[Miss World]

great tutorial.. thank you so much! I'll have to try this :)

[spid]

I made one with a reed switch inside and stuck a magnet under the soap dish, so that the soap was only lit when it was picked up.

[tim_n]

yeah we've been experimenting with different methods to get it to light up so that it can be switched off. A reed switch was one, but we're experimenting with a few others too ;-)

[HurdyGurdyMan]

a reed switch is perfect. there really is no better way. a reed switch can be hidden away and the soap can be used, any other type of switch would cause possible shock and wouldnt allow it to be used.

[Zujus]

Congrats!!! Really that is very cool project. Also how about to make vibrating soup?

[tim_n]

I have a flashing LED in my pocket which whilst very much dimmer is still flashing after three weeks. (hope that answers some questions)

[toonbug]

Here's the answer to 'what? LED? Single flashing?'
http://www.ballumination.com
less than $2
No, I don't work for them and not trying to spam anyone - sorry if this is poor form. Trying to help...;)

[RobbyTheSheef]

I like this concept! Nice and simple use of LED, which is good for me because I'm not electronically gifted in the least. Only problem is I don't have a mold and don't feel like buying one. Hmmmm, could I make one? Sure why not?

[gaea]

Ooh, neat! I'm going to try to make some, too. Thanks. : )

[tim_n]

Well to be honest the idea of the soap is to be used (prolly 10 full body washes) - it'll only take a few washes and the soap itself will only last two weeks at most imho. The battery will last longer than the average throwie (which usually last two weeks) because it is flashing rather than being on all the time. You may get as much as a month. By then I'm sure you won't be worrying about how long the light will last! You'd need a waterproof switch which aren't very small afaik and probably a resistor if you're going that way. I'm working on simplicity. Make it a day or so before valentines and you'll be fine whatever happens.