Irish Lass Rebatching Method

[earlene]

Yes, all the bars were of a uniform hardness after I cut them. I didn't zap test. Is your concern about the lye being distributed well all over the batch? Does this mean that I may need to re-batch all the 7 pounds at one time? I think your worries are right, since I had some oil on the top of the batter after 28 hours, that means the lye was not very well mixed with the oils. Does this matter if the amount of oil was very little on the surface? I used 1% sf, 31 % lye concentration and 2% citric acid which means extra sf.

Madison, I just wasn't sure what you meant by "somehow mixed but not to my satisfaction" and wondered if you had determined if it was lye heavy. I don't know how old your soap gratings are now or how long you let the soap cure before grating. So I don't know if it would have turned into wonderful soap in spite of how it started.

You did say something about that recipe being your favorite, and if it was one you used a lot before this particular batch and they all turned out fine, then I would guess it's probably fine to re-batch a little at a time.

If it were me, though I might use a slightly higher SF than 1% for the rebatch just in case there were pockets of lye-heaviness in the grated soaps. But that's just me thinking maybe caution might be in order since it wasn't zap tested.

Or maybe you could randomly choose a few bits of grated soap from this batch and zap test. If you pick some from different areas of your current storage container(s) and they all come out zap-free, then you would know for sure.

Thank you for your reply and for the tips, my batches are no more than 4 pounds usually. For this recipe I can't remember, I did the calculations some times ago, I don't double my measurement normally, I may have tried to double this recipe , it was my first 7 pounds batch, but why it's not a good idea to do so?

Everything was going well until I made this big mistake that I added all my thick lye at once, I know I was supposed to add it little by little and stir, it turned immediately into lumps, I used the whisk some, did some bursts with my sb it was somehow mixed but not to my satisfaction. I expected to have oil floating on the top but it was only very little amount. I grated them but I really hate rebatching, this why I wanted to use this method.

 

[penelopejane]

Yes, all the bars were of a uniform hardness after I cut them. I didn't zap test. Is your concern about the lye being distributed well all over the batch? Does this mean that I may need to re-batch all the 7 pounds at one time? I think your worries are right, since I had some oil on the top of the batter after 28 hours, that means the lye was not very well mixed with the oils. Does this matter if the amount of oil was very little on the surface? I used 1% sf, 31 % lye concentration and 2% citric acid which means extra sf.

Your concern is unwarranted. You can confetti your soap. I’ve confettied really soft soap and really hard soap - the new batter surrounding the confetti seems to cover a multitude of problems. I would not confetti Soap with DOS but just about every other mistake seems to be fine.

Typing at the same time as Earlene.
I personally don’t like high SF soaps but that’s probably just me.

 

[earlene]

I don't like high SF soaps either, penelopejane. I tend to soap at 3% SF most of the time, sometimes 2%. But if I was worried about a lye heavy soap during re-batch, I would go slightly higher, which to me would be say, 4 or 5% to help make up the difference. That depends of course, as I've only had to re-batch for a lye issue once. I used 5% for that one as I recall (5% for the new soap batter, but not adding any extra oil to the old soap). I was happy with the result.

 

[madison]

I am so sorry the photo in post 4 isn't one of mine! I got it from the internet. It is a beautiful colour - probably mica.

Don't worry, it's beautiful but yours is gorgeous.

 

[madison]

One of my early batches of soap was a peppermint/rosemary soap recipe I found online, and followed religiously. It was horrible. There was way too much peppermint oil in it and the mint leaves called for in the recipe ended up turning black and looked like I'd found the gathering place for a den of mice. Truly ugly.

I rebatched part of the batch and turned some into confetti soap. The rebatch ended up in the garbage. The confetti soap turned out really well. I still have one bar and I'm actually quite proud of it. If at all possible, I'd recommend you try the confetti soap route.

I had some re-batching early when I started making soap about 6 years ago, I wanted to try the HP as well, I disliked the whole process, since then I tried my best to have my CP batches well taken care of until I messed up this one. Thank you for your recommendation, I am going in this route. I have some soap that I am saving for few years to observe it, but not the ones I re-batched. Do you think you would like to post a photo of the confetti bar that you have?

 

[madison]

Your concern is unwarranted. You can confetti your soap. I’ve confettied really soft soap and really hard soap - the new batter surrounding the confetti seems to cover a multitude of problems. I would not confetti Soap with DOS but just about every other mistake seems to be fine.

Typing at the same time as Earlene.
I personally don’t like high SF soaps but that’s probably just me.

That makes me feel good. I'll take care of the soap one pound at the time, it's much easier. No DOS in the grated soap. I don't like high SF as well, I noticed that less SF gives longer shelf life to my soap, maybe it's only me.

 

[madison]

Madison, I just wasn't sure what you meant by "somehow mixed but not to my satisfaction" and wondered if you had determined if it was lye heavy. I don't know how old your soap gratings are now or how long you let the soap cure before grating. So I don't know if it would have turned into wonderful soap in spite of how it started.

You did say something about that recipe being your favorite, and if it was one you used a lot before this particular batch and they all turned out fine, then I would guess it's probably fine to re-batch a little at a time.

If it were me, though I might use a slightly higher SF than 1% for the rebatch just in case there were pockets of lye-heaviness in the grated soaps. But that's just me thinking maybe caution might be in order since it wasn't zap tested.

Or maybe you could randomly choose a few bits of grated soap from this batch and zap test. If you pick some from different areas of your current storage container(s) and they all come out zap-free, then you would know for sure.

I should have said; it was mostly mixed but not fully mixed. How do I determine that the soap is lye heavy? you mean zap test? I stopped doing that long time ago, but why it will be lye heavy if the calculations" I believe" are right? My soap gratings are 50 days old, I didn't let the soap cure, I had to fly next day so I grated everything right after unmolding the soap. Am I supposed to cure it first then grate it? maybe I should have kept at least one of the bars to cure to see how it turns. I chose randomly few bits of the grated soap, they were all zap-free.

I will increase the SF for the new batch maybe 3% this time because I am using up the citric acid I have and it will increase the SF anyway.

 

[madison]

I personally don’t like high SF soaps but that’s probably just me.[/QUOTE]

I don't like high SF soaps either, penelopejane. I tend to soap at 3% SF most of the time, sometimes 2%. But if I was worried about a lye heavy soap during re-batch, I would go slightly higher, which to me would be say, 4 or 5% to help make up the difference. That depends of course, as I've only had to re-batch for a lye issue once. I used 5% for that one as I recall (5% for the new soap batter, but not adding any extra oil to the old soap). I was happy with the result.

I think when I use citric acid with 3% SF, it should go up to 5%, isn't it?

 

[earlene]

Madison, I was thinking of concentrated lye heavy areas within the soap as a possibility while other parts of the soap might be less of a concern. That's why I asked if all the bars were uniformly hard and about what you meant about not thoroughly mixed. But you cleared that up, with further explanation; it sounds like it was probably mixed sufficiently to go ahead with the confetti plan.

 

[madison]

Madison, I was thinking of concentrated lye heavy areas within the soap as a possibility while other parts of the soap might be less of a concern. That's why I asked if all the bars were uniformly hard and about what you meant about not thoroughly mixed. But you cleared that up, with further explanation; it sounds like it was probably mixed sufficiently to go ahead with the confetti plan.

Thank you earlene for your help, I am going with the confetti plan.

 

[cmzaha]

If you still have the cut bars check them for zap. Oils can seep from gelling or fragrance oils can seep if not mixed well, and will usually re-absorb. If they do not zap they will be fine. Why make your superfat with citric acid? Unless you add in the extra NaOH required to react the citric it will not act as a chelator. Why was your lye very thick? Doubling a recipe is very easy in a soap calculator, just put in your normal recipe in percentages and tell the calc how much oil weight you want to use. Making 7 lbs of soap is really no different than making 1 lb of soap.

 

[madison]

If you still have the cut bars check them for zap. Oils can seep from gelling or fragrance oils can seep if not mixed well, and will usually re-absorb. If they do not zap they will be fine. Why make your superfat with citric acid? Unless you add in the extra NaOH required to react the citric it will not act as a chelator. Why was your lye very thick? Doubling a recipe is very easy in a soap calculator, just put in your normal recipe in percentages and tell the calc how much oil weight you want to use. Making 7 lbs of soap is really no different than making 1 lb of soap.

Thank you Carolyne for chiming in. I chose randomly few bits of the grated soap, they were all zap-free. I have been gelling my soap most of the time but I didn't have oil seeping this is why I am not aware of this, thank you for letting me know. How long usually it takes the oils to re-absorb in this case? Instead of using EDTA as a chelator, I am using up the citric acid I have, I added the extra amount required of NaOH after adding the citric acid. I like to have my SF to be less or negative with citric acid but my family likes this specific batch the way it is. My lye was thick because I was a little distracted, I had my hubby's niece from Britain staying with us for the first time, she came around my working area and she asked me many questions about what I am doing so instead of allocating 200 grams of distilled water for melting my sugar, salt and the clay to mix with the oils, I mixed 400 grams, so I had almost 54% lye solution to deal with. Probably the clay has contributed to the lumps as well. I doubled this recipe manually.

 

[earlene]

I am confused by your last statement. Mixing more water into your lye would decrease the lye concentration, not increase it. And it would make it a thinner solution, not a thicker one.

Maybe you mean water as percent of oils, but even so, the solution itself should have been thinner (less dense) rather than thicker.

My lye was thick because I was a little distracted, I had my hubby's niece from Britain staying with us for the first time, she came around my working area and she asked me many questions about what I am doing so instead of allocating 200 grams of distilled water for melting my sugar, salt and the clay to mix with the oils, I mixed 400 grams, so I had almost 54% lye solution to deal with. Probably the clay has contributed to the lumps as well. I doubled this recipe manually.

 

[BattleGnome]

I am confused by your last statement. Mixing more water into your lye would decrease the lye concentration, not increase it. And it would make it a thinner solution, not a thicker one.

Unless she forgot the word extra, intending for 600g instead of 400

 

[madison]

I am confused by your last statement. Mixing more water into your lye would decrease the lye concentration, not increase it. And it would make it a thinner solution, not a thicker one.

Maybe you mean water as percent of oils, but even so, the solution itself should have been thinner (less dense) rather than thicker.

Sorry for the confusion, I was in rush when I replied to Carolyne. I mixed less water with lye, not more. I accidently doubled the amount of water for the sugar, salt and clay that I mixed with oils before adding the lye to the oils. I hope this is clear.