Need ideas for how to use lots of shredded olive oil soap

[Ten]

Hi there...I'm new on the forum. I joined to find a use for a LOT of shredded olive oil soap that I have. Like about 200 lbs. It's nice...and I've tried to find a new home for it...but it looks like it's going to stay with me for a while so I'd better figure out what to do with it.

I'm actually a fiber artist, not a soapmaker (yet) so I'm really at a loss to figure out what I can do with it. I have almost no time to devote to it so I have to find something quick.

I tried to do soap balls, but they don't turn out consistently. Probably because I don't have the first clue what to do other than squish them together in the shape of a soap ball and hope for the best.

Can you tell I'm a newbie? Any help would be appreciated. What would YOU do with 200 lbs of shavings. Help! They're burying me!! I need ideas!!!

Thanks!

 

[soapbuddy]

Depending how old the shreds are, you can try to rebatch. If they are fairly new, you won't need water. If they are older a little water helps. You can do this in a crockpot (as much as it will hold). The rebatch will look like mashed potatoes or like thick applesauce.

 

[Soaplady22]

How on earth did you end up with 200 pounds of olive oil soap??

 

[Ten]

Well...it's a byproduct of what I make. And I get more of it every week. I'm swimming in it!!! :0

 

[Lynnz]

wowser that is a lot of soap shreds..............I think Soapbuddy is right the best thing is probably to rebatch it...............Welcome to the forum we will have you addicted to soaping in no time hehehehe

 

[Ten]

Thanks for the welcome and suggestions.

I've tried the crock pot a while ago. I'm not sure how gooshy to get it and then when it's gooshy exactly what to do with it.

My crock pot holds about 1/2 a bag or about 2.5 pounds. I've added about 1/2 c of water to it and squished it into a ball when it acted like it would hold together, but I really do get mixed results.

I would be looking at a LOT of soap balls. I've looked to see if there was some mechanical way to make soap balls that would be uniform in size but so far I'm striking out in finding a down and dirty way to make them consistent.

 

[xyxoxy]

If you WANT to become a soap maker you can just make new batches with fresh ingredients and add the shreds in as-is. Depending on the color this might give you a confetti look. You can also add them to HP at about 1 part shreds to 2 parts oils.

You can also use them to make sugar scrubs. I use M&P in my recipe but I know some people use CP shreds.

If you DON'T want to make more soap or scrubs etc I would contact cleantheworld.org and ask if they are interested in having them as a donation to be recycled into new bars for underdeveloped countries where soap is scarce.

 

[Ten]

Oh Mickey...WOW, what an idea. I didn't know a place like that existed. They could go to a great use...and since I am in business it would be a write off too, so not a loss any way you look at it. LOVE this idea. I'll look them up later today.
Thanks so much!
In the meantime, if that idea doesn't pan out (shipping?) I'll still be exploring ways to use my shreds.
Thanks all!

 

[carebear]

I've seen soap shreds, often ground and combined with borax or something, for sale on etsy as laundry soap. If the superfat is essentially zero you might look into that.

 

[Ten]

Thanks carebear...(it's on ebay now but very few lookers)...I have to ask a dumb question though. I understand that 'superfat' is a soap making term, but I don't know what it means or how to determine it.
I'll go read the glossery on this forum to try to get some understanding, but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[carebear]

superfat is used interchangeably with lye discount.

it means we use a little less lye than is necessary to saponify every bit of the oils. this is done for two reasons. one is that we actually have averages for the saponification factors for our oils (there is an inherent natural variability to the SAP of the oils), and the other is that soap without some excess oil is generally quite stripping.

i don't know how you are making your soap or how you are calculating how much lye to use so I don't know if this applies to you.

 

[Ten]

OHHHH...I can see that I missed an important detail.

When I said that I'm not a soap maker, I really mean that I'm not a soap maker. Haha. This is commercially made Kiss My Face chamomile olive oil soap bar shreds.

Is that a sacrilige on here? I'm so sorry if it is. But I STILL have all of these shreds and nowhere to go with them. They are so nice and WAY to much of them to call it waste. There's got to be an idea that I haven't thought of yet.

So, they are commercial...but they're in a form that's begging to be made into something besides a cast off. Sorry if commercial makes you guys cringe. I hope it doesn't.

Thanks!

 

[carebear]

Commercial doesn't bother me in the least.

OK, so I wouldn't recommend it for the laundry soap. Not sure how I feel about not telling potential purchasers that it's not hand made, though. Then again, lots of premade bases out there, so I'm torn.

 

[Guest]

So what are you making with the soap to begin with? I know you said above you are a fiber artist, but maybe if you gave some more detail of what you were doing with the soap initially, to create the shreds, then we could help you think of a way to use them.

 

[Ten]

Ok...whew! Didn't want to offend with the commercial part.

The way it's listed on ebay does say that it's KMF so there's full disclosure in the auction.

Ok - yes, I'm a fiber artist. I make felted soaps. I make a LOT of felted soaps. But I like the end result that hand shaping gives our product. So each one is hand shaped prior to felting. Voila...shreds. LOTS of shreds. :shock:

Thanks for your help guys. I'm clearly out of my element. I don't make the soap...I make the soap pretty!!!

 

[Guest]

Ah, OK, that makes sense. So there is no way for you to rebatch the soap, pour it in a Silicone mold, and then felt it again? I know on teachsoap.com there is a rebatching tutorial, where you put the shreads into a plastic bag, boil until melted, then pour, but I don't know if it would work for Kiss My Face or not, but I don't see why it would not. Just try rebatching a small amount and see what happens. If you wanted to learn to make soap, you could put the shreads into soap, I often make one batch, shread it, then add it to the next batch to add colour and flair. I don't really have any other ideas, maybe someone else can think of something besides rebatching!

 

[Ten]

Am I right in that Kiss My Face would be considered a cold process soap? (Like I know what that means - Ha!) I was told that it was...but I have no way of knowing.

I tried to attach a picture of our end product but it's not happening for me. I'll post if I can figure it out.

 

[soapbuddy]

Am I right in that Kiss My Face would be considered a cold process soap? (Like I know what that means - Ha!) I was told that it was...but I have no way of knowing.

I tried to attach a picture of our end product but it's not happening for me. I'll post if I can figure it out.

Sign up with Photobucket. It's free. Then you can download the pic from there to here.

 

[Ten]

I think I got it the image thing working...this is one of our 'assorted' groups.





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[soapbuddy]

Great colors Ten!