What do you do with your messed up soaps?

[JayJay]

Hey there,

What's your favorite way to recycle your messed up soaps?

I like to rebatch soaps that lack something (e.g.like color, scent, lye , or oil).

I recently made a batch of soap that needs more lye -- I forgot to add 6 grams more more lye to compensate for citric acid. It also needs more color. It came out grey when I was going for black. Both of these I can confidently correct. My problem is that the soap stinks. I blended a few scents together to create something that smelled good at time but stinks in the soap. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to fix the scent. It was my hairbrained idea of mixing scents that got me in this situation in the first place. Any ideas of what to do with this stinky soap?

Should I rebatch and try adding another scent? It can't get much worse.
I wouldn't want to give it away because it smells that badly.
I can't use it on the dog because of the fragrance.
What else can I consider?
What do you all do with your bad soaps?

 

[commoncenz]

Grate it up and use it for washing powder. That way you get some constructive use out of it. I believe there are a few threads on here that describe how to do that. I've got a batch that I'm considering doing this with myself.

 

[dixiedragon]

If it smells bad I pitch it. I don't want to throw good FO after bad trying to cover up a bad smell. If it smells nice but is just ugly, I gift it. I make goodie bags at Christmas for friends, family and co-workers and they contain a mix of pretty and less pretty soaps.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Before you do that, try rebatching it (but don't add any more scent just yet) to see if the heat helps to drive off the scent. Keep it rather hot for a while, but with ventilation!

 

[Momsta5]

This is timely. Last week after a 6 week cure I tossed a goatsmilk soap that was hideous and smelled terrible. It had to go! It was my first ever attempt at doing a goat milk soap. I learned a lot, so it wasn't a total waste.

 

[JayJay]

Grate it up and use it for washing powder. That way you get some constructive use out of it. I believe there are a few threads on here that describe how to do that. I've got a batch that I'm considering doing this with myself.

Great idea. I already make laundry soap. I use my laundry soap to clean all sorts of things around the house. I can rebatch his batch it to add more lye (so that I am not attempt into clean with an oily soap) then I use it to clean anything.

If it smells bad I pitch it. I don't want to throw good FO after bad trying to cover up a bad smell. If it smells nice but is just ugly, I gift it. I make goodie bags at Christmas for friends, family and co-workers and they contain a mix of pretty and less pretty soaps.

This is a smart consideration. Thanks for bringing this up. I have already wasted enough prescious FO and also EO in this batch.

Before you do that, try rebatching it (but don't add any more scent just yet) to see if the heat helps to drive off the scent. Keep it rather hot for a while, but with ventilation!

Yet another smart idea. Boy am I glad that I brought this up. The EO will definitely burn off if I cook it. Then maybe I will be left with a FO or two. I think I will look up the flash points on the FOs to see what temp I need to use. I will add extra liquid so that it doesn't dry out too much.

If it doesn't work, then I will make laundry soap with it.

This is timely. Last week after a 6 week cure I tossed a goatsmilk soap that was hideous and smelled terrible. It had to go! It was my first ever attempt at doing a goat milk soap. I learned a lot, so it wasn't a total waste.

I'm sorry it didn't turn out. If you are anything like me, that would have hurt a little. I'm always so anxious when trying something new.

Thank you everyone for your feedback!

 

[kchaystack]

Box it up and send it to clean the world.

Cleantheworld.org

 

[shunt2011]

I donate my not so nice soaps (faded scent, color, scent a bit off) to homeless shelters or family centers. I also donate soaps that I have just 1-2 left of and don't plan on making again to a gentleman who packages the soaps and sends it to soldiers overseas. He's a former military man himself.

Or, you can grate it up and add it to another batch, or just rebatch it.

 

[JayJay]

Box it up and send it to clean the world.

Cleantheworld.org

At first I thought you were being funny... Something like sending a letter to the North Pole for Santa. Then I saw the link. What an awesome idea.

I donate my not so nice soaps (faded scent, color, scent a bit off) to homeless shelters or family centers. I also donate soaps that I have just 1-2 left of and don't plan on making again to a gentleman who packages the soaps and sends it to soldiers overseas. He's a former military man himself.

Or, you can grate it up and add it to another batch, or just rebatch it.

.

Hey I didn't think of shelters either. Thanks for the idea! I probably wouldn't send my stinky stuff, but maybe just a scent that me and my hubby don't like but other people do

 

[rubalicious]

I grate mine up add some boiling water and rolled oats let sit over night stick blend. Throw into a wide mouth jar and I've got hand wash to sit on the sink. The smells all morph into one another

 

[DeeAnna]

If you are brave, "salting out" is an option -- http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=495735 This process will remove fragrance, color, and most additives.

Here's a related thread: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32717

 

[dixiedragon]

I do NOT rebatch milk soap. Been there, done that!

 

[galaxyMLP]

Hey there,

What's your favorite way to recycle your messed up soaps?

I like to rebatch soaps that lack something (e.g.like color, scent, lye , or oil).

I recently made a batch of soap that needs more lye -- I forgot to add 6 grams more more lye to compensate for citric acid. It also needs more color. It came out grey when I was going for black. Both of these I can confidently correct. My problem is that the soap stinks. I blended a few scents together to create something that smelled good at time but stinks in the soap. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to fix the scent. It was my hairbrained idea of mixing scents that got me in this situation in the first place. Any ideas of what to do with this stinky soap?

Should I rebatch and try adding another scent? It can't get much worse.
I wouldn't want to give it away because it smells that badly.
I can't use it on the dog because of the fragrance.
What else can I consider?
What do you all do with your bad soaps?

If it smelled good in the blend, but stinks in the soap, maybe it just needs some time to cure? I've had scents that smell awful initially but really do get better after cure. And since you can fix the other stuff, maybe rebatching really might help it. If you dont mind me asking, what was your fragrance blend that you came up with?

 

[SplendorSoaps]

I grate mine up add some boiling water and rolled oats let sit over night stick blend. Throw into a wide mouth jar and I've got hand wash to sit on the sink. The smells all morph into one another

That's a cool idea! Is the oatmeal necessary, or is it just a preference (for the exfoliation)?

 

[dixiedragon]

Galaxy is right - definitely give it at least 1 week. What FO did you use? For some reason, Brambleberry's FO's are particularly prone to morphing and then bouncing back.

 

[JayJay]

If you are brave, "salting out" is an option -- http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?p=495735 This process will remove fragrance, color, and most additives.

Here's a related thread: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32717

Oooooooh! (Rubbing my hands together)

I AM brave, probably too brave for my own good sometimes.

I am off to read these threads. Thanks DeeAnna!

 

[JayJay]

I grate mine up add some boiling water and rolled oats let sit over night stick blend. Throw into a wide mouth jar and I've got hand wash to sit on the sink. The smells all morph into one another

Cool. How much oats do you use? How long does this mix keep?

 

[JayJay]

If it smelled good in the blend, but stinks in the soap, maybe it just needs some time to cure? I've had scents that smell awful initially but really do get better after cure. And since you can fix the other stuff, maybe rebatching really might help it. If you dont mind me asking, what was your fragrance blend that you came up with?

Galaxy is right - definitely give it at least 1 week. What FO did you use? For some reason, Brambleberry's FO's are particularly prone to morphing and then bouncing back.

It's been about 3 weeks and it smells like play dough with a sickening twist.

In order to answer your question about what's in it, I will have to confess some bad soap making hygiene... I didn't take notes. It had been too long since I last had the opportunity to soap. I had all these batches that I wanted to make. So, I made several different batches one evening when I was already tired. This one was the last one.

I think I just mixed what I had out at the time: fresh snow (BB) , spiced mahogany (BB), I think maybe some Rosemary EO and lemongrass EO. Maybe some lavender too. Okay it looks disgusting just reading the list. I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe my nose was on the fritz from sniffing so many different oils that evening. Did I mention that I am notoriously bad at mixing scents?

 

[dixiedragon]

Let some other people smell it. I am one of those who often detects a "play-dough" scent under vanilla scents, but a lot of people don't. I find it particularly strong in BB's OMH Cybilla, for example, but lots of other people don't smell it and love the scent.

Another example, Energy (also by BB) smells disgusting to me and is also widely beloved. OTOH - I like the scent of Ylang Ylang and many don't. You will probably find somebody who will like your yucky soap.

 

[galaxyMLP]

Its probably the spiced mahogany if anything. The other 3 scents sound like they would be lovely together. I agree w/ dixie. Let other people smell it. My family LOVED toasted marshmallow from AHRE but I think its just meh and actually kinda metalic-y.