# FINALLY a good rebatch



## newbie (May 9, 2014)

In four years of soaping, I have never once had a rebatch that I liked. Never. They all have looked like a khaki booger. Ha! My day has come. This looks better than the original. Lost a little of the scent (Moroccan Fig and Sandalwood) but I think I can fumigate some in somehow. Maybe. Made with a double dose of Maiboch beer (which, as you may have guessed, contributed to the reason I had to rebatch. Hot hot hot.)


----------



## CaraBou (May 9, 2014)

Wow, that looks like a marble countertop, way better than boogers!  Freaky, man!


----------



## jules92207 (May 9, 2014)

seriously awesome looking!


----------



## newbie (May 9, 2014)

Well, my son told me that this looks like hardened vomit and two other people told me it was ugly. I'm not certain why I like it but maybe it's like one's own children; you think they're cute when they are not. I was going to delete the thread but it doesn't allow me to! I think that ought to be changed, oh admins!


----------



## Dennis (May 9, 2014)

It's a winner.  A successful rebatch.  Is your son a teenager?


----------



## green soap (May 9, 2014)

The lapidary look.  It gets even more interesting and beautiful as the soap gets used up.  Good job!


----------



## newbie (May 9, 2014)

15, but I also had an adult tell me it is ugly and also a very polite girl. It's strange. I keep trying to look at it with objective eyes and I can see how the brown could be off-putting but I can't quite see it as ugly. It's got lots of variegation in it that you can't see in the picture but maybe it is just kind of yuck. I'll have to keep going back to it.


----------



## eyeroll (May 9, 2014)

Def not ugly. Looks like granite, as a pp said.


----------



## Dennis (May 9, 2014)

I figured teenager as soon as it was compared to dried vomit.  Read Zits everyday; it's the survival guide for parents of teens.  
It's good soap.  Looks great and will get better as you use it.
Was the very polite girl a very polite teenage girl?  Same thing.  Still a teenager. As for the adult perhaps that person has bad memories of childhood after helping his dad rob a bank and was then force fed brussels sprouts his dad bought with the ill gotten gains.  You just never know. :Kitten Love:


----------



## newbie (May 10, 2014)

Well, when he was a kid, his mother did chase him down the hall, beating him with powder blue tennis shoes she had bought from him to wear. He refused. So does the refusal make him sane, so I should believe him, or was the beating with powder blue shoes so humiliating that he is permanently incapable of recognizing beauty in the unconventional?


----------



## eyeroll (May 10, 2014)

newbie said:


> Well, when he was a kid, his mother did chase him down the hall, beating him with powder blue tennis shoes she had bought from him to wear. He refused. So does the refusal make him sane, so I should believe him, or was the beating with powder blue shoes so humiliating that he is permanently incapable of recognizing beauty in the unconventional?




Oh man, it's him against the whole world (and your soap).  He's the classic antihero.


----------



## Dennis (May 10, 2014)

Poor kid.


----------



## kikajess (May 10, 2014)

It looks really organic and earthy and beautiful to me. Nicely done!


----------



## newbie (May 10, 2014)

Oh no. They were more like this, but they were powder blue Keds, which on a boy in the 70's was practically a death sentence. Now, why the plaid pants didn't toll the death knell is beyond my ken. 

I am assuming everyone is being honest, because I think they look funky and stony as well. I can't find them ugly, even if I try.


----------



## cmzaha (May 10, 2014)

newbie said:


> In four years of soaping, I have never once had a rebatch that I liked. Never. They all have looked like a khaki booger. Ha! My day has come. This looks better than the original. Lost a little of the scent (Moroccan Fig and Sandalwood) but I think I can fumigate some in somehow. Maybe. Made with a double dose of Maiboch beer (which, as you may have guessed, contributed to the reason I had to rebatch. Hot hot hot.)


LOL, I am with you on rebatch, which is why I turn them into scrubby mud bars or charcoal soap!! I hate rebatching. The fragrance sounds like something I would like. Is it usually a strong fo? The look of them really fits the fo


----------



## Dennis (May 10, 2014)

newbie said:


> oh no. They were more like this, but they were powder blue keds, which on a boy in the 70's was practically a death sentence. Now, why the plaid pants didn't toll the death knell is beyond my ken.


----------



## newbie (May 11, 2014)

Oh god, our family pictures from then are just classics. Such dreadful fashions. Shudder.

I love the mix of BB's Moroccan Fig and their Sensuous SAndalwood (1:1). It's fairly strong so you don't need to add a lot. The Fig really moves though, even at the 1:1 ratio.


----------



## Ael (May 11, 2014)

I am likely to get jumped on for this, but on forums like this no one is going to give anyone anything, other than praise, no matter what the end product looks like.

I was sent this fugly bar of soap from a professional shop, the pic is likely still in the review area someplace, and people had no trouble telling me it was ugly, nasty, and, according to a couple, looked like something a 6 year old would make. I've seen some closely resembling bars since that time and no one has anything other than extensive words of praise for them.

I think, at times, people get too caught up in not potential hurting someone that they withhold what they really, truly think. I've been a victim of this (not here) before, too. I would have rather had the truth from the beginning, than had a bunch of untruths thrown at me. A teenager's opinion shouldn't be dismissed purely on the basis that he or she did not like the design, and an adult shouldn't be called rude, for not liking it, either.

I think the scent sounds lovely, but I don't think the rebatch looks that great to me. It kind of reminds me of melted concrete or something. Now, that doesn't mean I'm saying "ewww! Never soap again! Awful!" because I'm not. This particular batch just is not aesthetically appealing to me. That's all.


----------



## eyeroll (May 11, 2014)

There's a difference between soliciting opinions ("Tell me what you think, be honest!") and saying you're proud of what you made, even if others don't like it. OP did the latter. 

Of course, everyone has their own opinions, preferences and tastes. If you don't like someone's product, there's no need to say so unless someone requests honest feedback. I agree this forum is Pollyanna-ish at times and some posts I've read gave me sugar shock, but I'd rather come here than go to a forum that prides itself on being "honest" but is really just a group of mean-spirited people using the anonymity of the Internet to insult others. 

I never post that I love someone's soap unless I mean it, nor do I feel any pressure to do so. If I think someone's soap is ugly or unimpressive, I just don't respond. I find not answering questions that haven't been asked is generally a good policy online and IRL.


----------



## newbie (May 11, 2014)

I am not insulted or hurt by Ael's opinion, actually. I agree with both Ael and eyeroll on most things. This is probably the most supportive forum ever, not that I'm on a ton of forums, and there are times when truth is desired but you can't really tell if people are just bolstering you up or if that is truly their opinion. I didn't feel Ael's opinion was mean-spirited or posted to take a dig. I've seen that and his/her reply was NOT that. Did I specifically ask for feedback? Well, no I suppose I did not but I am always appreciative of honesty. This soap does indeed look like stones in concrete which clearly does not appeal to some. I was just happy not to have flat brownish gray mucky looking soap with no texture or variation- that was a relief to me.


----------



## jules92207 (May 11, 2014)

I guess I will blame my liking it on the fact that I minored in geology and it reminds me of the rocks I studied. I know I am not the popular opinion in most cases though.

I don't understand why anyone would post that they like something if they didn't though. This forum is pretty anonymous really, I guess I assumed that would leave the door open for honesty.


----------



## newbie (May 11, 2014)

I don't know why someone would post they like something they don't either, but I do know that this forum seems to have a culture of support, which is fabulous. I could see that leading to bolstering a person up and perhaps coming across as too "pollyanna-ish". THat's not necessarily a bad thing. It only is if someone is seeking out true constructive criticism and people don't give it for fear of coming across as negative when the poster is in need of a critical eye.

I like rocks too. Not a geologist but I have a big bowl of rocks I pick up from various places. That's why I like this soap too.


----------



## eyeroll (May 11, 2014)

newbie said:


> I didn't feel Ael's opinion was mean-spirited or posted to take a dig. I've seen that and his/her reply was NOT that.




Agreed. Ael was v. respectful and polite; I guess I just don't see the point of turning on that critical eye unless it's requested. 

Maybe that attitude also contributes to the Pollyanna vibe - but again, there's a difference between blowing smoke and just not getting involved in the discussion.   Anyway, now you know if I say I like your soap - I mean it.


----------



## Belinda02 (May 11, 2014)

I think it depends on the audience. In the quilt world holding up a quilt will get awwws from quilters but the general public being less sophisticated not so much. I like soaps and enjoy most colors and shapes which is also true of quilts. But the general public will react with horror at a red and orange quilt or a soap looking like rocks. BTW I like rocks and the soap.


----------



## newbie (May 11, 2014)

I'm like you, eyeroll. And yes, being in the world of X gives you a very different appreciation for products, doesn't it? You have a better idea of what it takes and what can and cannot happen easily. It's hard to appreciate unless you are in the thick of it.


----------



## fuzz-juzz (May 13, 2014)

They look great.  And they really do resemble rocks which I don't think it's a bad thing. It is still soap and usable.
Charcoal soap I made for husband was a bit oozy (too much water mixed with colours kind of a mistake) so it ended up as a rebatch. It turned out sooo lovely, I'll be making next batch as HP as well. I might not get a similar effect, but bars looked like pieces of black granite, black with grey and white specks throughout.


----------

