Can I salvage a brick of soap with glass shards on it?

[SaraS.]

I bought a 25 lb block of MP Soap. I was trying to grab my soap cutter to cut it down into manageable chunks and my glass measuring cups on my shelf fell off and shattered on the table. It's all over my work area, my ingredients packaging. I know clean up will be a massive undertaking but my question is: Can I somehow save some of the 25 lb block or should I chuck the whole thing?

 

[Relle]

I bought a 25 lb block of MP Soap. I was trying to grab my soap cutter to cut it down into manageable chunks and my glass measuring cups on my shelf fell off and shattered on the table. It's all over my work area, my ingredients packaging. I know clean up will be a massive undertaking but my question is: Can I somehow save some of the 25 lb block or should I chuck the whole thing?

I would'nt take the risk, there would be such tiny shards that you couldn't see, you don't want to cut yourself on unseen glass with the soap you'd make. I'd throw it all out, especially if your selling.

 

[FFLinOhio]

wow! those 25lb blocks are not cheap
If it was me...after cleaning the area and repeatedly vacuuming, then wiping down the soap block.
I'd shave a bit off each edge and toss that. clean and vacuum the area again - wipe down the soap block again and use the rest for personal use.
also I would think the innermost part of that soap block is safe since it is hard to penetrate.
however, I would not give it to friends or sell it. Just to be on the safe side.

I feel for ya, cleaning up broken glass is difficult. We once had a wild turkey fly thru our large living room casement window (breaking both panes of glass) It got all over the living room furniture, carpet, and into the foyer. We vacuumed several times with a wet/dry vac. And then vacuumed with a regular vac.

 

[dmcgee5034]

Holy cow @FFLinOhio - I hope it’s wasn’t Thanksgiving time for the turkeys sake! That must have been a wild experience!

 

[dibbles]

I agree with not selling or giving the soap away. If you want to try to salvage some of it for personal use, I would do as @FFLinOhio said, but I would put clean paper under the soap block and cut at minimum 1/4" off one side. Clean whatever tool you used to cut, put down a fresh piece of paper and cut another side, and repeat until all the sides were cut. I would feel all the surfaces of the soap with bare hands, then wipe it down again before storing. But to be honest, I would probably be nervous about using the soap from that block and end up chucking it all. It's expensive, and I feel bad for you. It's really up to you if you want to take the risk or not.

 

[SaraS.]

wow! those 25lb blocks are not cheap
If it was me...after cleaning the area and repeatedly vacuuming, then wiping down the soap block.
I'd shave a bit off each edge and toss that. clean and vacuum the area again - wipe down the soap block again and use the rest for personal use.
also I would think the innermost part of that soap block is safe since it is hard to penetrate.
however, I would not give it to friends or sell it. Just to be on the safe side.

I feel for ya, cleaning up broken glass is difficult. We once had a wild turkey fly thru our large living room casement window (breaking both panes of glass) It got all over the living room furniture, carpet, and into the foyer. We vacuumed several times with a wet/dry vac. And then vacuumed with a regular vac.

I definitely planned on gifting and selling some products but now I definitely wont do that, Im gonna meticulously clean my entire work area and get rid of anything compromised from the glass, hopefully i can salvage some of the block for personal use, but i am going to purchase more after i take care of this fiasco. Right now my work area is in pause mode as i process the entirety of the mess i caused with my clumsiness! Thank you for your response and I cannot imagine a turkey flying around my home!! What an intense situation!

I agree with not selling or giving the soap away. If you want to try to salvage some of it for personal use, I would do as @FFLinOhio said, but I would put clean paper under the soap block and cut at minimum 1/4" off one side. Clean whatever tool you used to cut, put down a fresh piece of paper and cut another side, and repeat until all the sides were cut. I would feel all the surfaces of the soap with bare hands, then wipe it down again before storing. But to be honest, I would probably be nervous about using the soap from that block and end up chucking it all. It's expensive, and I feel bad for you. It's really up to you if you want to take the risk or not.

I feel like cutting and replacing the paper each time seems simple enough, but i agree with you about being nervous, how can you stop the possible contamination? I dont see it, but i am going to *try* to salvage for personal use. I was thinking at least an inch off might do the trick?

 

[dibbles]

I was thinking at least an inch off might do the trick?

An inch seems like a reasonable amount. Good luck with this - I really do understand wanting to try to save some of the soap.

 

[FFLinOhio]

Holy cow @FFLinOhio - I hope it’s wasn’t Thanksgiving time for the turkeys sake! That must have been a wild experience!

that it was. My in-laws were sitting outside on a lovely day in June by said window when the turkey flew into it. it then turned around ran away then flew away. It all happened in seconds. we were all in shock lol

 

[Quilter99755]

I have a very fine strainer that I use for getting tiny seeds out of jelly and it doubles as my flour sifter. Since this is melt and pour I am assuming that it will be very liquid when you pour it into the molds. I would probably use that kind of strainer as I was pouring into the mold. That would at least make me feel that I have done everything possible to keep glass shards out of my soap. The tiny shards would probably not penetrate very deep at all, so I probably would do the 1/4 to 1/2" cut off and then a strainer for extra protection. And I worry a lot!

 

[paradisi]

I don't see how you could be certain that cutting it wouldn't drag slivers of glass into the block.. glass shards can be thinner than paper and finer than hair.

If you use it, you're basically paying to risk harming yourself or anyone who might use it (in trying not to lose the purchase price paid).

Wouldn't you rather pay *not* to use a product that might have broken glass in it?

Please don't risk your safety. Money is only money.

 

[AliOop]

Would it be possible to melt it and strain it before molding?

 

[paradisi]

Would it be possible to melt it and strain it before molding?

I'd doubt it; as the smallest shards would be basically invisible, how could you know you'd gotten them all?

It stinks to lose the investment...we've all had crappy things happen & materials ruined... but it would stink worse to possibly harm oneself on top of it.

 

[Maple_Street_Bath]

If you're buying in 25lb blocks, I'm going to assume you're a business. Write it off and get a new block asap. It's cheaper than a lawsuit for selling soap with glass in it.

 

[melinda48]

I bought a 25 lb block of MP Soap. I was trying to grab my soap cutter to cut it down into manageable chunks and my glass measuring cups on my shelf fell off and shattered on the table. It's all over my work area, my ingredients packaging. I know clean up will be a massive undertaking but my question is: Can I somehow save some of the 25 lb block or should I chuck the whole thing?

I would not do it! I was soaping a few months ago and heated some cocoa butter in my Pyrex cup; it blew up. I ended up trashing two batches of soap (would have yielded to bars of soap). It killed my to do it but I tossed it all. Never again will I heat anything in glass when making soap.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

I work in glass for fused dichroic pendants. Glass that falls and breaks is very different; it basically explodes sending tiny pieces everywhere. Some of them are so small you can miss them, even after several cleanings. I just found a piece of glass from drinkware I dropped a couple months ago. It was way back under the cabinet in a crevice. And that was a piece I could see once I found it!

Nevertheless, if you really want to try to save a portion of the block of soap, here is what I would try.

1. Clean up all the glass in your soaping area, then clean it all up again. Vacuum then damp mop all surfaces. You don’t want glass to get into future batches of soap.
2. Take the soap block outside or to another room to remove all the packaging from your soap.
3. Place the soap block on a surface with clean paper that has been nowhere near the glass. Remove the packaging. (Have several sheets of paper ready for this process.)
4. Place the soap block on a clean surface of paper, then roll up the paper with the packaging and throw it away.
5. Examine the soap carefully in bright light. Do you see any shards of glass at all? Remove visible shards, but know that tiny shards could still be there.
6. Cut a full half inch off all outer surfaces of the block. (Do not cut it into smaller pieces to make it easier to cut, because you could drag glass into the inside surfaces if making smaller blocks. Think of how poppy seeds drag into a bar.)
7. Move the soap to another clean piece of paper, roll up the used paper with the removed soap in it and throw that package away.
8. With the soap block on clean paper, cut 1/2 inch off the six outer surfaces again. Effectively, this means you will have removed an inch from the entire surface, but will no longer risk dragging glass into any of the cuts.
9. Move the soap onto clean paper again, and throw paper with the soap scraps away.
10. The remainder of the soap should now be safe to use. You will have effectively removed 1 inch from all six surfaces in two steps, while ensuring you did not drag soap shards into the remaining soap.

I’m sure others will weigh in on my suggestions, but this is what I would be comfortable doing. Under no circumstances would I melt any of the soap and strain it. I would keep the soap block intact and remove solid soap with the above process.

I hope this helps!