Ugggh, trying to save my soap

[Catscankim]

Not a question, just a whine

A couple of weeks ago i did an oatmeal, goatmilk and honey loaf. At first i thought it was a flop, but as its sitting i am starting to really like it. Originally it heated up super hot and cracked. But i was able to fix that. The bad part is that i didnt have any proper cutting tools so my bars are all mis-shaped...bummer.

i decided to use the same recipe except add pumpkin spice fragrance oil. My first one was unscented. I used the “medium amt” according to the fragrance calc on brambleberry where i got the oil from.

i popped it into the freezer overnight, then to the fridge, then covered on the countertop. About 8 hour increments each step. When i got home from work last night, it looked perfect and unmolded super easy, but after it was out of the mold i realized it was way too soft. I left the loaf sitting overnight undisturbed and to my delight, it was nice and hard and looked perfect.

so i cut it...partial gel ring and oily.

right now i have it sitting in a preheated, turned off oven (preheated to 275). Oils are literally pooling around the bars lol and the partial gel ring looks sooo much worse.

it used to look so pretty. I was calling it pumpkin spice latte because i made latte swirls on top.

i just checked on them. They melted lol. Too embarrassed to show a picture.

But my house smells great lol.

 

[Obsidian]

Spicey FOs can cause soap to heat up, sometimes enough to partial gel even in the fridge.
Your soap melted because you had the over too high. It should only have been heated to 170.

If they are still liquidy, you can stir in the mold or dump everything in the crock and rebatch.

 

[Catscankim]

I saw a tutorial on how to save your partial gel phase soap. Thats where i got the 275 from. My cpop soaps were set to 170 then turned off the oven...

i guess its a learning experience. My first unscented one heated up too much and cracked. The one in the freezer partial heated. Guess i gotta find a happy medium without having to save it lol.

i might try to rebatch it, but thats another skill i dont know lol.

 

[AliOop]

I agree that 275 was too hot. Use the lowest temp possible for your oven, and watch them constantly.

Rebatching isn’t hard. Just melt it all down, stir it (or blend if you’d like), and then do the plop, glop, and bang-into-the-mold dance.

For future, can you soap at cooler starting temps? You can also try pouring a thinner layer in a slab mold, rather than the thicker layer you get in a loaf mold. More heat will dissipate from the wide open top of the slab.

 

[Catscankim]

Its in a crock pot right now. Fingers crossed. Im guessing this is gonna be a messy project by the end lol. This has honey in it. Is there any problems you can foresee with overheating or anything? I have never rebatched. Right now its the consistancy of errrmmmm....peanut butter.

Thank you both for your help

 

[Catscankim]

 

[Catscankim]

I think this might be ok lol. Cooked it, plopped it in a mold. The top wasnt particularly pretty so i dusted with some king tut gold Lol.

How long until i can unmold?

 

[Obsidian]

Looks like a good rebatch. You should be able to unmold once its completely cooled down.

 

[Catscankim]

I will keep you all updated lol.

thanks everyone. I was gonna throw it in the trash

 

[AliOop]

Yup, I agree, looks like a good rebatch job to me! I like the gold on top, too.

 

[Catscankim]

I was dying to use the gold lol. I just got it

i blew the mica around a little more to make to not so patchy after this picture

 

[DeeAnna]

...Your soap melted because you had the over too high. It should only have been heated to 170...

Um, guys, there is a tested "rescue oven processing" method that does use the oven at 275F, and it does work. Soapish does this. The key to making this high temp method work is to not walk away from the oven when you're doing it. If you let the soap heat too long, the soap will definitely melt.

If you're absentminded like me, doing a rescue method with the oven at 145-170F is a safer idea, although it's not as successful at removing the bullseye ring as the 275F method.

Here's one of my articles that explains how I do it and a link to Soapish's method -- Soapy Stuff: Rescue oven processing

 

[Catscankim]

Um, guys, there is a tested "rescue oven processing" method that does use the oven at 275F, and it does work. Soapish does this. The key to making this high temp method work is to not walk away from the oven when you're doing it. If you let the soap heat too long, the soap will definitely melt.

If you're absentminded like me, doing a rescue method with the oven at 145-170F is a safer idea, although it's not as successful at removing the bullseye ring as the 275F method.

Here's one of my articles that explains how I do it and a link to Soapish's method -- Soapy Stuff: Rescue oven processing

this is the rescue video i used. Maybe its just not a good idea with honey involved? I dunno. It all literally just melted lol. I even rewatched the video before i decided to do it.

im pretty sure it all started with me and maybe adding some variables to my original recipe. Im new. Every day is a new day lol.

anyhooo... i just cut my bars from the rebatch. Turned out pretty darned good considering that i was just gonna dump it in the garbage. It was good practice anyway.

plus my house still smells phenomenal

 

[Obsidian]

They look great, it was a good save.

 

[Catscankim]

Lol. Thank you. Still not happy lol. But i guess its better than wasting

 

[SoapSisters]

Nice rebatch! I love that rustic look you got.

When I first started soaping, I also used Brambleberry's FO amounts, but it was frustrating because I didn't know how they got that number.

Now I use percentages of my oils to decide how much FO to use. It gives me so much more control. I usually test a new FO at 4% of oil weight, knowing I can go up or down a bit depending on the strength of the FO. I think many people on the forum use 6%. (Of course, it's always important to check usage rates.)

 

[Catscankim]

Since this is the first time i have rebatched and cooked the soap...is the cure time the same as CP soap?

 

[AliOop]

Since this is the first time i have rebatched and cooked the soap...is the cure time the same as CP soap?

Yes, cooked soap, whether rebatched or done as HP to start, has the same cure time as CP. The main difference from CP is that saponification is done after the cook - but that’s a different issue than curing, which takes time. Without curing, the soap often feels harsh and not very bubbly.

The exception can be if you were rebatching already-cured soap. Even then, the liquid added to the rebatch needs to evaporate out. If you use it before then, it will melt away pretty quickly and can become mushy from use.

Bottom line, fully cooked soap is safe to use immediately. However, it won’t be ideal until it has cured.

 

[Catscankim]

Thank you