What do you do with your messed up soaps?

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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.

Good idea. I made a batch of spiced mahogany, with fresh coffee grounds, colored with coco powder. I love the FO OOB, but during soaping, mixed with the coffee and cocoa scents, I thought it smelled like a dead animal rotting in a moldy basement. However, most people who have sniffed through my "give away" basket, pick that one above all others. One person tells me every day how good her shower now smells.
 
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.

Funny you should say that because I think the spiced mahogany was the last one that I added to the mix. My mother always told me that I need to learn when to stop.
 
Hadda jump in! If they are just ugly, maybe a stray bar, or a large enough trim, I re-coop some of my $$ by selling them in grab bags called "Orphans & Uglies." I also keep some grated to make "Bubble Bags,"
 
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.

Another awesome idea
 
Heck, send it to me. My nose likes every thing.

I will keep you in mind:) my nose is picky. You could soon be sitting under a pile of discarded soaps if you aren't careful.

One I haven't seen mentioned and I've been meaning to try- felted soaps!

I had to google felted soap. Never heard of it! I seem to learn something new every day with soaping! Ha!

Have you used or made it before?
 
I will keep you in mind:) my nose is picky. You could soon be sitting under a pile of discarded soaps if you aren't careful.



I had to google felted soap. Never heard of it! I seem to learn something new every day with soaping! Ha!

Have you used or made it before?

haha, not yet, but I do have some wool to try it with, I've been meaning to. It just looks really neat, I'm sure some other folks who actually have can chime in
 
Felted soaps aren't for everyone. They are handy for travel (washcloth, soap, and travel case all in one ... kind of) and they are fun for kids. Also if a child likes to eat soap, felting the bar prevents that problem. When you use up all the soap, you'll have a cute little pouch, if you want. And it's an intriguing gift.

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Felted soaps aren't for everyone. They are handy for travel (washcloth, soap, and travel case all in one ... kind of) and they are fun for kids. Also if a child likes to eat soap, felting the bar prevents that problem. When you use up all the soap, you'll have a cute little pouch, if you want. And it's an intriguing gift.

Interesting. It seems like it would be nice and scrubby for those who like texture. I wonder if the lather really comes through. Also, I can imagine it getting to be pretty gross with repeated use.
 
Interesting. It seems like it would be nice and scrubby for those who like texture. I wonder if the lather really comes through. Also, I can imagine it getting to be pretty gross with repeated use.

Lather comes through very, very well. Its really good for things like castile soap since you don't get the "slimy" effect. It is scrubby but its not too bad. It doesn't really get gross since its always in contact with soap. It actually stays pretty clean (visually at least!) I really like to use them but... I hate making them so I pretty much stopped carrying them to sell. I only make a few on special request.
 
Lather comes through very, very well. Its really good for things like castile soap since you don't get the "slimy" effect. It is scrubby but its not too bad. It doesn't really get gross since its always in contact with soap. It actually stays pretty clean (visually at least!) I really like to use them but... I hate making them so I pretty much stopped carrying them to sell. I only make a few on special request.

Sounds like something I would like to try, at least for travel. Darn it! Now I have yet another soapy thing to try... Something that requires that I buy more stuff! You all are dangerous! Something tells me that someone in my family is going to host an intervention for me in the near future.

I turn my uglies, unwanted and trimmings into extra scrubby mud bars, which sell well for me

I am guessing that extra scrubby mud bars are a rebatch with mud and scrubby materials. That's a good idea.
 
From something Carolyn said on another thread, I think she adds activated charcoal and oatmeal. C, if you see this and I am wrong, please correct/add, I would love to know exactly what you do, too. Her comment there made me rethink my approach to rebatching ("hm, rebatch, or make a new, pretty soap? OK, trash can for you, bad, ugly soap.")
 
I have a whole batch, about 12-14 bars of butt ugly soaps 'curing' for last 7 months, that's my only failure to date. It was fine tan color when I first made it, but since my hubby got offended with the look, I tried re batching with the only color I had back then, red food color. I could have used them myself, the scent is lovely but they are extra scratchy and they lather red. May be I should try little confetti soaps but might be too late to shred them, they are rock hard. Or, I could use them for my feet, I might not need a foot scrub for a solid year. I might just start doing that.
 
I thought about this while I was posting on another thread. Over about a hundred batches I have had 2 or 3 overheaters (probably a combo of ingredients and CPOP'ing), about the same number of soap on a sticks (FO's, I think), and 3 batches that I'm pretty sure were from bad lye. So say almost a 10% failure rate, despite an incredible amount of research, starting slow, sticking to variations on the same, v. basic (easy/slow-tracing) recipe almost from the beginning, tweaking slowly, etc. Happily I was/am not deterred :)

I think soap is just like life, *&*! happens, and luckily w/soap you can rebatch or throw it away!
 
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