Rebatching Overly Fatty Soap

[Alexlane]

Hi all! so this is my first post here. i am Brand new to Soap Making and i LOVE it! I could go on, and on.... BUT! i have a point, SO

I had some extra time on one of my days off so decided to get some candycane soap made/cut/curing before Christmas. my supplies were a little low but I am nothing if not resourceful! I am cook by nature and have always prided myself on the "Mother Hubbard" Method of Gourmet from whats available. so I apply this line of thinking to soap making (they are very similar) unfortunately i sorta botched my recipe.

All I had was Coconut oil and a little olive. at first I was planning on 100% CO bars because I thought the white would be great for Candy Canes! but I know you have to superfat high with CO. so set SoapCalc to 20% super fat. well long story short i decided to use some EVOO any way and made them 50/50, OO/CO.

BUT... and some of you are already there... forgot to change the super fat *face palm* so now I have super moisturizing/ conditioning peppermint fatties.

My question is this. im thinking of rebatching and adding more Lye! *GASP*

I look at it this way, i can assume there is a 20%, at least, super fat (i say atleast because the little oil to difuse color and i used Goats Milk too) so if I figure the soap weight is 20% fat, i can calculate enough lye to saponify about 10-15% of the "extra fat".

now this all makes sense in my head, but like I said, I am BRAND new (this was my second batch) to soaping.

any advice or warstories would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[DeeAnna]

20% superfat doesn't necessarily mean 20% of the weight of the soap is fat. A 20% superfat means you used 20% less NaOH by weight to make the soap than was needed for 0% superfat.

To calculate the extra NaOH you need, recalculate the same exact recipe as you did before with one change -- set the superfat at the percentage you do want, say 5%. Subtract the NaOH weight of the 20% superfat recipe from the NaOH weight of the 5% SF recipe. That is the amount of NaOH needed to reduce the superfat from 20% to 5% or whatever % you want.

If you really feel a call to rebatch, go for it. A lot of newer soapers are quick to rebatch their soap, but most soapers with some experience quickly learn it's not a panacea. Rebatching is a lot of work and the results are often less than amazing.

If your batch is small (and it should be given that you're a newer soaper and liable to make mistakes), you could toss the soap. It may be better to spend your time and resources learning how to make soap, rather than fixing soap.

Another option is to make a batch of confetti soap -- grate or chunk up the 20% SF soap, add the pieces to a mold, and pour new lower-superfat soap batter over it. Lots of threads about how to make confetti soap.

 

[Millie]

And set a bar aside just too see what happans.... ....might just be the next break-the-rules soaping wonder