Castile Bungle

[Stacy]

About a week ago I made a bunch of Castile (100% OO, no scent or color). I tucked it away safe for a say or two so that I could cut it.

Life had other plans. So now, even though the soap looks perfect, it's too hard to run through my cutter.

Is rebatching my only option other than finding some giants in need of soap? Are there some interesting processes or techniques I should look into? Basically I'm trying to turn this into a learning experience :???:

I haven't rebatched before, does anyone have a good resource on the process?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

 

[shunt2011]

About a week ago I made a bunch of Castile (100% OO, no scent or color). I tucked it away safe for a say or two so that I could cut it.

Life had other plans. So now, even though the soap looks perfect, it's too hard to run through my cutter.

Is rebatching my only option other than finding some giants in need of soap? Are there some interesting processes or techniques I should look into? Basically I'm trying to turn this into a learning experience :???:

I haven't rebatched before, does anyone have a good resource on the process?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

You could try cutting it with a heavy duty knife, or shred it and add it to another batch. It may be somewhat softer in the center.

 

[penelopejane]

I take it you don't have a saw in the house?

 

[Stacy]

I actually have a wide variety of saws in the house! I imagine it wont make a 'nice' cut though...I can't cut straight with a knife of any kind to save my life so I can only imagine what a saw cut would look like. I never actually thought of going after the tools though, the workshop might never be safe again! :twisted:

The shredding and adding to another batch is where I think I'm heading. I imagine there's a ratio of new to old that's recommended?

 

[galaxyMLP]

Do you have a planer? Try planing the outside edges. My castile soaps are usually somewhat soft just below the surface even after a week (geling and all) just because air hasn't allowed moisture to get out.

If its still a little moist on the inside, you can probably try cutting it then. I find soaps that are very hard, cut worse with a knife (muuuuch worse) than with a wire cutter. Then again, I am terrible at cutting with a knife.

 

[kumudini]

I wonder if steaming the whole loaf would make the outsides a bit softer to cut?

 

[cmzaha]

Warming it in the oven at 170º for a little while might soften the outside enough to let you cut. Just keep an eye on it so you do not melt it down. Then there are table saws!!

 

[Stacy]

I don't have a steamer and these are large loaves so I can't make that work with a pot etc. The oven idea, sounds good though. I agree that it's probably softer on the inside, but from the depth I'm already at I'd have to do a LOT of planing. The softening might do the trick.

I already have one 5lb loaf that I've massacred with the attempted cutting. So I'm going to need to use that regardless. From what I've read here, I can make another castile batch with 50/50 new batter and shredded soap. Is this also rebatching or is it milling? I'm just curious so I can do some searching on it.

I wonder how tooth count on a saw blade would relate to the smoothness of a cut on soap...for that matter how would you clean a saw after cutting soap with it. These are dangerous questions! :think:

Thanks again for the ideas folks!

 

[Stacy]

Carolyn, you have my undying gratitude!

It's working beautifully! The cuts aren't quite as clean as a fresh cut but it's gliding through the warmed soap nicely. I'll have to do a little extra work to clean up the edges but it's still a heck of a lot less than grating and trying to reuse it all.

Thank you so much.

 

[Obsidian]

I already have one 5lb loaf that I've massacred with the attempted cutting. So I'm going to need to use that regardless. From what I've read here, I can make another castile batch with 50/50 new batter and shredded soap. Is this also rebatching or is it milling? I'm just curious so I can do some searching on it.

Its neither, its called confetti soap and generally you use 2 part new soap to 1 part shreds. You can do a 50/50 split but it might be really thick and not look as nice as it would if you use more fresh batter.