Rebatching, how much water?

[Egzandra]

I may try to rebatch the honey soaps I made recently this weekend as I don't like the pale, powdery outsides or the rough texture of their insides. In Melinda Coss's book she tells you to use 12oz water for every 1lb grated soap, and to place it in a double boiler or over a pan of hot water for an hour to achieve a smooth, pourable consistency. Then to add colour and fragrance, stir until it cools and pour into moulds.

I am a newbie as far as soap making or rebatching is concerned but that seems like a lot of water. What do all of you more knowledgeable people think? If it's correct, then sorry Melinda but I just thought I would check.

 

[ChrissyB]

12 oz per pound of soap? What????
Look, I will be totally honest with you, and tell you that I hate rebatching with a passion. But I do know that, you should try to use as least amount of water as you can, like add a spoonful, go slow, the more you add, the longer your soap will take to cure, and it can go funny shapes (warped) as it dries out from having so much extra water. It may never cure out properly with that much additional water.
Lindy has great success with rebatching, hopefully she will come on by and give you some details, I know that she does it in the oven over a couple of hours. The fresher the soap, the less water you will need.

 

[AshleyR]

I don't know why so many books seem to tell you that you need so much water to rebatch! I've seen other posts about this before and the person was referring to a book that told them they needed 8 oz. water per lb of soap, or something.

Like Chrissy said, you don't need that much water! If you use that much your soaps are going to shrink like crazy and warp into crazy shapes.

Add a couple of tbsp. at a time and keep it in the oven for a few hours at about 150F. Stir it every 20 minutes or so. You can add water as needed, but if you keep it in the oven long enough and keep stirring you shouldn't need that much. I use a big stock pot to rebatch 5 lb grated logs in and I never use over 3 oz of water.

 

[Egzandra]

Thank you for those replies. I am grateful for your input.

Egzandra

 

[kaseencook]

There was a great thread about a new rebatch technique not long ago. It used no extra water, he heated some oil, added the chunks to rebatch, which then melted, and then added a lye solution to saponify the oil. This made the old soap unite with new soap into a more smooth rebatch without additional water.

I wish I remembered what the post was called and who was the inventor - if you are out there!

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

if you are out there!

Yes, I am. Thanks Kaseencook.

The thread Kaseencook is referring to is this one:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9267

Hope it helps.

 

[Guest]

I use a spray bottle on fine , if I absolutely have to rebatch. Just a couple of mists , stir and repeat as needed .

Kitn

 

[pepperi27]

I may try to rebatch the honey soaps I made recently this weekend as I don't like the pale, powdery outsides or the rough texture of their insides. In Melinda Coss's book she tells you to use 12oz water for every 1lb grated soap, and to place it in a double boiler or over a pan of hot water for an hour to achieve a smooth, pourable consistency. Then to add colour and fragrance, stir until it cools and pour into moulds.

I am a newbie as far as soap making or rebatching is concerned but that seems like a lot of water. What do all of you more knowledgeable people think? If it's correct, then sorry Melinda but I just thought I would check.

Those books are wrong great as reference but wrong. If you add that much water you are going to need a long cure time and when it's done it will shrink. I do most things the book says but not when it comes to adding water or any liquid. You can check out my blog and see my tutorial on rebatching soaps.

 

[Egzandra]

I have done my rebatch. I like the idea of adding grated soap to warm oils before pouring in the lye mixture, but I was not sure how I would recognise trace if the mixture was thick with the grated soap in it. So I tried pepperi27's method on her blog of melting the soap in a pyrex dish in the oven. I tried the amount of water you suggested for 2lb soap pepperi - but it seemed too dry so I added a splash more. The gratings were dry and powdery so they probably needed it.

It has worked well. The soap has gone back to its lovely honey colour and has set well in the mould. I'm sure it's going to dry out OK and when I cut the soaps I will try and post some picture. Thank you so much everyone who has posted suggestions and comments for my rebatch!

BTW pepperi27 I loved your lavender soap on your blog. It had a lovely translucent finish which I would love to achieve.

Best wishes

Egzandra