Rebatching shelf life

[squeakycleanuk]

A couple of batches I did recently didn't turn out too good appearance wise so I'm planning a rebatch. I've had a look at some vids on youtube and I've got the gist of how to do it and although I was actually not too keen to begin with, I'm now a little bit excited about the possibilities, such as being able to add colours, flower waters, petals, luxury oils without worrying about them being attacked by the lye monster. However, I'm wondering if the very fact that they have not been saponified will give my soap a shorter shelf life, if for instance I added rose water and rose petals. Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks

 

[lsg]

If they are soap, then they are saponified. Perhaps you meant they didn't gel. I use an old food processor to grate up my old soap pieces. That way the pieces are more uniform and melt better.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I think Squeaky meant that the additives wouldn't actually be part of a "soap" as such so might go off, in the way that we can add puree and as long as it is well spread in the soap it doesn't go off - would that still apply if something was being added like that after the saponification is finished.

As it is, I add things like poppy seeds after the cook when I make that HP and they are okay. One thing you might get a lot of with some additives is the halo effect due to the water - a brown halo around the additive - but I think it will depend on the additive.

 

[Obsidian]

I have no proof but I would think that if you added oil with a short shelf life, it could become problematic. For this reason, I generally use OO or coconut if I feel the soap needs a high SF. If you are planning on getting the soap used up fairly quickly though, a more delicate oil should be ok to use.
I've never added flower petals to rebatch, not sure I would want too but flower water should be fine. I really like to use beer for rebatching, you don't have to cook the alcohol off before using.

 

[dixiedragon]

I am not much of a rebatcher, but I wouldn't add oils that have a short shelf life, such as grapeseed or hemp oil, to my rebatch. Add oils with a long shelf life.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Also bear in mind any added oil will increase your superfat and could reduce your lather.

 

[squeakycleanuk]

Thanks everyone, it does have a good SF anyway so maybe more oil would not be a good idea but yes I guess I would have to have a think about the shelf life of things that I'm thinking of adding I'm also guessing that things like dried botanicals would go manky after a while but I might give it a go in a small amount. I wonder about milks too, someone on one of the video tutorials added milk but I wondered if it would start to smell rancid quite quickly.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If it is well mixed in then it will be a pretty high pH environment, so it might be okay. I know some people add their milk at the end of a hp cook to help with fluidity and that is almost the same as you would be doing

 

[honeysuds]

I am glad to read these responses, as I've been rebatching soaps too and was wondering about using beer instead of water. I normally add dry botanicals and milk powders without much issue, but have shied away from liquids other than water. I'll give it a try and hope for the best!