Can I rematch my soap?

[littleginger73]

Sorry It should say re-batch. I made a batch of soap but I don't like how I cut the soap and I went and bought some molds,, can I just remelt the soap and pour into the molds? If so, will I have to add more of the fragrance? Thanks!

 

[Hazel]

Yes, you can rebatch. Chop the soap in small pieces and heat in a pan (be careful it doesn't burn) or crockpot. I prefer to use a double boiler.

There are several different ways to do it mentioned in this thread plus other links. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=30583

 

[littleginger73]

I read that it will not melt completely but be more goopy.. I'm wanting to sell these at a craft fair so I don't want to have to mash it into a mold and have it look bad. How Can get it to a pour consistency?

 

[Hazel]

I'm confused. You're posting in the beginner's section but you're selling? How many batches have you made?

Have you read this post in the General Business section? http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=16002

 

[Relle]

I'm confused. You're posting in the beginner's section but you're selling? How many batches have you made?

That would be Yes, Hazel.

Newbie here with question on first soap.
I followed a recipe exact and now I have a white dust on the outside of my soap and also small reddish specks on the bottom of my soap. No added fragrances or colors. It was a olive oil, coconut oil and green tea.. Not sure what those two things are and if soap is safe.. Any thoughts? Thanks.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showpost.php?p=458182&postcount=1

 

[littleginger73]

I am a newbie, I've made 2 batches. I have a craft fair at work and wanted to make some soap for it. Im still not sure they will be good enough to sell yet. It's still debatable at this point but I have time to make or re batch before then if they don't turn out perfect the first time. That's why I posted here.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I think the point that they are making is that it can be far too early to know how a soap will be after 3 months at this point. You can make a safe soap that is lovely at 4 weeks old but at 12 weeks is starting to go rancid and rotten, or lasts 2 minutes when used, things of that nature. You are asking if they are going to be good enough to sell when the much more important question is are they going to be safe to sell.

A lot of people would consider it bad form to be selling before you are much more comfortable with soaping in general and your recipes in particular, hence the responses. Personally, I feel that a year of soaping is a minimum. The post linked from Hazel (And there are others that are worth a read, too) make some very good points that need to be considered when it comes to selling soap.

 

[KatieShephard]

I am a newbie, I've made 2 batches. I have a craft fair at work and wanted to make some soap for it. Im still not sure they will be good enough to sell yet. It's still debatable at this point but I have time to make or re batch before then if they don't turn out perfect the first time. That's why I posted here.

Fellow newbie here too

Have you considered just giving some soap away for Christmas? (to people you are close with...just in case it does go rancid...they will be more understanding). Maybe by this time next year, with a year of soapmaking under your belt, you'll be better prepared to participate in this craft fair.

I've been giving my soap away...it makes me happy...and I've asked the people I've given it to to give me honest feedback. I've been using some of my soaps, and while they perform nicely, I have no clue if they're going to go rancid or not. And I'd be really embarrassed if I asked someone for money and then the soap went rancid. I hope to maybe sell one day...maybe...but there are too many ducks to get in a row before that happens...at least that's my point of view

 

[Hazel]

I like the suggestion for giving them as gifts at Christmas since you don't know how the soap will hold up over time. It's not only the possibility of rancidity but also to find how fragrance and colorants behave over time. It's very disappointing when a colorant morphs or a FO fades. FOs can even morph in CP. I've had a few FOs that smelled wonderful and after saponification, they lost the complexity of the initial aroma or faded. I've also had FOs change the color of the micas which surprised me. I didn't expect a color change since no one had mentioned discoloration in reviews.

How about making bath bombs for the craft show? Many people love bath bombs. They're easy to do and don't require a lot of ingredients.

 

[littleginger73]

I see your point, and although I know I can give them away for Christmas, and I plan on doing that as well, I wasn't aware that they could go rancid if you follow the recipe exact.. And I mean exact! I mean anally exact... Lol So if you are saying it can go rancid randomly, then it can go rancid for expert soap makers too who sell, right? So should I just not sell..period?

 

[cmzaha]

I see your point, and although I know I can give them away for Christmas, and I plan on doing that as well, I wasn't aware that they could go rancid if you follow the recipe exact.. And I mean exact! I mean anally exact... Lol So if you are saying it can go rancid randomly, then it can go rancid for expert soap makers too who sell, right? So should I just not sell..period?

Yes and no. We tend to know our recipes and know how they will hold up. Most of us will keep a bar if not from every batch and least one from each new recipe to see how it holds up. I just recently sold a soap I found I was less than happy with, my fault completely for not testing it, I emailed my customer and asked her to toss them and I would replace her order with a much better soap. She had already tossed them without notifying us. This was a very good customer of our, anyhow I replaced with double the amount and a well known good facial bar. That is what can happen when a soap is not tested properly. A few month ago I did a soap swap with all of using the same recipe with different superfats. Every one of the soaps turned rancid that I had and it was a recipe you would not expect it to happen. I attributed to the fact I had thrown them in a plastic bag and our weather turned humid. Even the extremely low superfatted turned rancid. Test Test Test

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

There-in is another issue - you're assuming the recipes are good enough but don't know if they are good. In fact, there are many instances of recipes having a mistake in them and it causing major issues for people who follow it. It's one of the reasons that it is very rarely that people will actually post a lye amount on here - it is better that people look it up themselves in a lye calculator.

Following on from that, if you are just following recipes, what if someone asks you a question about soap? Are you in a position to answer them based on your knowledge of soaping?

 

[OliveOil2]

How long has your first batch had to cure? You won't know how good or bad the recipe is until the soap is fully cured. Although asking more experienced soapers here can give you some great feedback.
You won't know about DOS for many months., you might want to post your recipe to receive helpful feedback. Remember that your recipe will only improve with advice from those with experience, and don't take the comments personally.
To me soapmaking is a journey, I thought my soaps were good a couple of years ago, but now I know that my soap is much better. You need time to test different ingredients, and compare recipes.

 

[littleginger73]

I used the soap calc when I made my soap so if that is accurate, then my soap is as accurate as that is. I did the zap test on my soap and all is good there... But when you say soap can go rancid, are you talking harmful or just discolored and smell off? I definitely don't want to get into soap making if it can randomly get harmful, but as far as color and scent, then I will at least feel better about doing this as I can ask my friends who I give them to to use them and not stash them away and use much later. Can I do that so that they should be. Fine, as long as they are used fairly quickly? Thanks!

 

[SplendorSoaps]

I'm a newbie at this too, and I'd recommend giving the rebatch a try. I just did my first rebatch yesterday, and it was way easier than I thought it would be. I think it's a good learning experience for finding out how different factors affect your soap. I did have to "mush" the rebatched soap into the mold, but it turned out better than I thought. It's not as smooth as a standard cold process batch (I like to think of it as a "rustic" feel LOL), but I liked the overall effect. I just blogged about the rebatch process (see my blog link below in my signature line) if you'd like to check out the pics.

I also agree with some of the other posters about giving away your soaps "in exchange" for some feedback from friends and family. Everyone has different skin, and it's cool to find out which recipes work best for different skin types. And let's be honest, everyone loves handmade gifts, especially when it's something as personal and luxurious as handmade soap!

Lastly, if you're still wanting to sell the soap and don't have time to really hone your CP soap skills, maybe explore some melt and pour projects? That way you can put your creativity into the project, but don't have to wait for the soaps to cure. Bonus, no dealing with lye!

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

Well, you sound pretty determined to sell, so I won't bother trying to dissuade you. However, I can tell you that I sold several soaps to friends before I completely understood the process, and I regret it--not because they were unsafe, but because they were poor quality. I personally feel bad that I took money for poor soap when now I know I can make kickass soap. Rancid soap isn't dangerous as far as I know, but it smells nasty and looks ugly. YMMV.

It also is possible to make unsafe soap, even if you've been doing it a while and think you have your recipe and process down pat. Just this past weekend, as a matter of fact, I made a lovely batch of goat's milk soap with shea butter for an upcoming Christmas craft fair. At least I thought it was lovely--smelled divine, and my test piece lathered well. I cut it and noticed a few suspicious whitish specks with a tiny bit of fluid in several bars. Because I didn't have ph test strips, I licked, er, tongue-tested, a bar and got zapped, hard. Then I remembered that some of my lye had crusted in the bottom of the lye pitcher. I thought I had broken it up and dissolved it all, but apparently not. I shudder to think what might have happened had I not tongue tested it.

Anyway, to your question--yes, you should be able to rebatch it, but you may not be satisfied with the result. Is this cold process soap, or melt and pour? I know nothing about MP soaps, but my experience with cold process is that you shouldn't expect it to look pretty. I also wouldn't bother using any sort of detailed mold, because it's going to be more like mashed potatoes than your smooth lovely original pour. It will have to go through an extended period of cure because it will have extra liquid in it from the rebatching process--if you add more liquid to make it smoother, then that will extend this cure time even further. Some people use sodium lactate to help with the rebatching process, but as far as I know, nothing will really restore that original smoothness and detail. Sorry.

Lastly, if you're still wanting to sell the soap and don't have time to really hone your CP soap skills, maybe explore some melt and pour projects? That way you can put your creativity into the project, but don't have to wait for the soaps to cure. Bonus, no dealing with lye!

I second this suggestion. If you're committed to providing soap for your event, you might consider melt and pour. SoapQueen has a ton of tutorials that really showcase some of the lovely, creative things you can do with MP soaps: http://www.soapqueen.com/ Or there's cookies. People love cookies.

Please don't take any of this as criticism, though--just people talking from sometimes regretful experience. Most likely your soap will be fine (although you may want to consider how you'll feel if a co-worker gives your possibly-not-ready-for-prime-time soap to someone special, and has it turn rancid on them. If that doesn't trouble you, then probably you're good to go).

 

[Hazel]

While I was writing my reply, I see you got more answers.

I didn't say soap can go randomly rancid. Six different people can use the same recipe and end up with six different soaps. They will not be the same because of a range of factors which will affect the final result.

It doesn't have anything to do with the recipe unless it's a badly formulated recipe. Which I don't know if it is since I don't know what recipe you're using. Trust me on this - there are a lot of bad recipes floating around on the Internet and there are also bad recipes in books. It's more to do with the oils, fragrances and colorants; even additives can affect a recipe. Expert soapers know the properties of oils and everything else connected with their recipe. They know the shelf life, how fresh the ingredients are and so on.

How old are your oils?
Are you using oils with a short shelf life?
What is the lye discount?
What are the additives?
Is the fragrance you're using of good quality?
Also, is the fragrance skin safe?

I'm not picking on you. I just want you to be aware you can ruin your chance of growing a business if you jump into selling without knowing the basics and quality of your soap. Customers can be very upset if they waste money on buying something which goes bad. You can get a bad reputation from dissatisfied customers and it's extremely hard to overcome negative publicity.

 

[littleginger73]

I appreciate all the advise!! Thats why I posed because I know lots of you have been where I am now. The soap I made with added fragrance as a newly bought duterra essential oil lavender. So I would be very upset it that went rancid as they are pricy. This is the recipe I used with the soap calc.... I added a tablespoon of chopped dried lavender and the Duterra essential oil...So do you think it will be ok? zap test approved!

 

[SomethingGoodAustin]

It's really hard to know what to do with what you've posted here. The recipe looks okay to me, but the balance of oils and lye is not really the question. No one can tell what your process is from this image, or how old your oils are (oils begin oxidizing the moment air touches them--you can slow the process down, but you can't stop it) or what the weather is like in your part of the world or, or, or... In other words, no one is going to be able to predict how your soap will turn out but you, and that only comes through practice. Go ahead and rebatch, but save a bar so you can see what your soap does over time.

Again, you have to decide what you're okay with. If you'd prefer less uncertainty, then MP soap is possibly a better idea at this point in time for your event.

 

[OliveOil2]

I am responding because of course we all were new to soaping at one time, and I didn't always understand the properties that each oil brought to a soap recipe. I would bring down my cleansing # from 20, because many people will find that drying. You can accomplish this by lowering the coconut oil, and possibly bumping us the superfat to 6 or 7. The Iodine at 72 is more likely to cause DOS, than if you could get this number down. Do you have any other oils available? Also are you striving for a plant based recipe? If you are not objectionable to animal fat I feel that GV shortening or lard make a much nicer soap than Crisco. Just my two cents, hoping that you get more feedback from others.