Rebatch Help Please

[MillieT]

I've been making soap for a good number of years now and I just had my first batch turn out poorly. The soap is very soft and crumbly. I have absolutely ZERO idea what went wrong.

I've never had to rebatch before, but I would like to give it a shot and see if I can save this batch. It is a 25 bar batch. I've done a search and read some threads, but quite unclear how to do this.

Can anybody give me some easy instructions on how ot rebatch?

Thanks !!

 

[soapcakes]

I'd like to know too. I haven't had to rebatch yet, but it would be a good idea to have the instructions on hand.

 

[dcornett]

Someone else may post later with more detail, but rebatching is essentially just chunking or grating the soap up and melting it back down in a crock pot or double boiler. I've used a large roasting pan and rebatched in the oven. You'll want to add some liquid to make it "workable", this can be water or milk. Whether you add anything else or not would pretty much depend on what was lacking in your batch that cause the need for a rebatch...if that makes sense. :roll: :wink:

 

[MillieT]

Hi Debra,

It does make sense. But I'm unsure how much liquid to use and after it is all melted down - then what?

Thanks !!

 

[Hazel]

I'd like to know too. I haven't had to rebatch yet, but it would be a good idea to have the instructions on hand.

It would be a good idea to have a "How to rebatch" sticky in the CP section. I don't have time right now to write one but here are the links I post for rebatching info.

How to Rebatch Soap

pure&simple’s rebatch method

Lindy’s rebatch method

You can also use a crockpot to rebatch and you could just follow the low cook instructions from HP tutorials.

I have used Ms. Brenda's tutorial for HP in a crock pot when I did have a large rebatch which was too much to fit into a double boiler. However, another good tutorial is Gracefruit's Crock Pot Tutorial

 

[Lindy]

I now grate mine up with a cheese grater, add enough liquid to just moisten the soap and then I melt it back down in the microwave at 70% power in short bursts. I find I can actually get it to become fully liquid this way. It takes some time, but so worth it.

 

[MillieT]

Thank you all so much for the links and instructions. I'll check the links out and see if I can figure it out from there !! If I have questions - I'll be back !!

 

[pure&simple]

Hi,

Its me. I haven't been on this forum for a while but I just saw the rebatching questions posted by MillieT. So I had to help.

I've gotten my rebatching down to the point that really works for me and that I'm really happy with the results of the soaps. I had (still have) a lot of high % of OO soaps that I was not really happy with so I've done some work the last couple of months. BTW, this is also a good method to use for soaps that you are bored with or no longer want to use.

OK, this is what I do:

1. Use SOAPCALC and calculate your new desired batch.
2. For Water as % of Oil, use 30%. For me, 30% is enough liquid to work with and the soaps will dry quicker.
3. For SF, do what ever you want, I always use 8%.
4. Grate your botched soaps and use 50% old soaps to new batch. (500g of old soaps to 1kg of new batch).
5. Place everything in a pot and place it in the oven to melt to the consistency that you like. Then stick blend it for a smoother consistency.
6. Once the consistency is OK, take the pot out of the oven and let it cool to warm. Warm enough for you to touch the pot and not burn yourself. Sorry, I don't have a thermometer so I can't tell you exactly how warm the mixture should be. I've noticed that I haven't had problems with quick trace if the soap mixture is warm.
7. Mix your lye and liquid. I always use frozen GM so my lye mix is not as hot as with just water.
8. Add the lye mixture to the new batch of soap and stir with a rubber spatula. You must stir well or you will have lye pockets. If you're rebatching a small portion, then it might be good to carefully pour the mixture between 2 pots after some initial stirring just to make sure there's no lye pockets . I usually do that with a total of 1.5 kg. Otherwise you might have to stir for 5 minutes or so from hand.
9. Once everything is well incorporated then pour it into your mold.
10. Voila! Finished!

Hope this clarifies my method a bit better than my previous posts.
Have fun!

 

[Hazel]

Hi pure&simple,

Every time I posted the link for your rebatch method, I'd wonder about where you had gone. Thanks for coming back on and I appreciate you writing this out step by step.

BTW, I do want to mention that we try to discourage people from using wooden spoons. The lye can degrade the wood and the spoon can eventually splinter.

 

[pure&simple]

Hi Hazel,

Thanks for letting people know about my rebatching method, I hope it's worked for some as it has for me.
Also, thanks for reminding me about the wooden spoon. (I normally use a rubber spatula anyway, so I'd completely forgotten about that) . I'll edit my post. :wink:


This is my favorite soap forum. You guys keep up the great work! :!:

 

[soapcakes]

Very helpful instructions, I've copied them down for future...thanks for sharing your method!

 

[ucmj22]

Hi pure&simple,

Every time I posted the link for your rebatch method, I'd wonder about where you had gone. Thanks for coming back on and I appreciate you writing this out step by step.

BTW, I do want to mention that we try to discourage people from using wooden spoons. The lye can degrade the wood and the spoon can eventually splinter.

Ive only used my wooden spoons for my first 3 batches and already they are pliable and falling apart. Silicone spatula is in order.

 

[Hazel]

Hi Hazel,

Thanks for letting people know about my rebatching method, I hope it's worked for some as it has for me.
Also, thanks for reminding me about the wooden spoon. (I normally use a rubber spatula anyway, so I'd completely forgotten about that) . I'll edit my post. :wink:

Thank you!

I will confess that I used a wooden spoon when I first started making soap. In all the reading and research I had done, I had never seen it mentioned that the lye would cause the wood to degrade. I did notice over time the spoon I was using was starting to look extremely worn and cracked. Then one day, I saw it mentioned in a post here that wooden spoons can crack and splinter from the lye. :shock: I immediately switched to using either hard plastic or stainless steel.

@ ucmj22

There's always something new to learn. :wink:

 

[pure&simple]

Very helpful instructions, I've copied them down for future...thanks for sharing your method!

I hope this method works for you. I've learned most of what I know about soaping on this forum so I'm happy to help someone in return

Hazel, I too made a couple of batches with a wooden spoon when I started soaping and I remember (now) that the spoon looked a little soft, fuzzy after washing it. That's when I changed to a rubber (silicon?) spatula. The things that we forget with time (or is it age?) :roll:

 

[Hazel]

I too made a couple of batches with a wooden spoon when I started soaping and I remember (now) that the spoon looked a little soft, fuzzy after washing it. That's when I changed to a rubber (silicon?) spatula. The things that we forget with time (or is it age?) :roll:

I can't blame it on age. I've always had a lousy memory.