Advice Regarding Embeds

[Orchidgirl]

Hello,

I am planning on making my first soap with embeds tonight, and could use your input!

The embeds are already made. I have a silicone heart mold that makes a long "log" of heart shaped soap...and I've used this mold twice now; so, I have two such heart "logs" ready to be used.

One of the heart logs is from a batch I made a few days ago. It's still in the mold, and is currently sitting in the freezer b/c I forgot to add any sodium lactate to its batch and didn't want any issues with being able to unmold it cleanly. So, first question: after I unmold it, is it important to let it come up to room temperature first? Should I spritz it with distilled water or do any other preparation to it before it gets embedded in fresh soap?

The second "log" is a whole 'nother issue. On this batch, I completely forgot about it after pouring it into the mold, so it sat on a shelf, still in the mold, for an entire YEAR AND A HALF. (Had a baby, got distracted). I was surprised when I unmolded it a few days ago that it looked ok. However, some of the soap that had seeped out of the sides of the mold (and that was exposed to the room air) had a very funky, almost rancid smell, though it looked the same as the soap within the mold (which smells completely fine). I would love to be able to use it, just as an experiment, but I'm concerned about that. So, second question: would you bother using this? And for future reference, will using such an "old" embed cause problems? Specifically, does it make the soap very difficult to cut once it's embedded in a fresh loaf of soap?

And last question (I promise! ): how "fresh" should soap destined for embeds be, optimally?

Thanks so much! I hope to post pics on this thread once my effort(s) are unmolded.

 

[Kittish]

Personally, I don't think I'd use the old log as an embed. Trim off the funky smelling bits and cut it (if you can, it might be like a rock) for personal use.

My biggest concern would be that old soap going rancid inside the newer one, and ruining the entire batch.

 

[Orchidgirl]

Yeah, I was thinking that it would not be a good idea to use it in a full batch. But I do have one or two iffy F.O. samples to use up, and had thought about trying it in a very small batch--kill two birds with one stone, there. Probably your idea is the safest course of action, though! Thank you!

 

[KristaY]

I agree with Kittish, don't use the old batch since you smell a bit of rancidity. It would ruin the new batch.

For the one that's in the freezer, I'd bring it to room temp. If you gel soap I think the frozen log would mess with that a bit and create an odd partial gel. It might look sort of cool though if you got a heart shaped partial gel in the center of your new loaf!