Teach Soap

Hello everyone, I am new here and to soap making. I have made a few successful batches and some not succesful and I have had to rebatch them. However I am not sure which would be the easiest way. I did the stove top method and it was still chunky, it melted but not thin enough. I guess my question is how can you rebatch to get it as thin as possible or will it always be thick and smushy like mashed potatoes. I have searched and searched for informaton on this and of course came up with Nancy Today on Utube. She is so funny, but very sloppy and unoraganized I can't tell what she is doing, but I love watching her. So any help would be great. thanks everyone. Jackie

Rebatch soap will never thin out completely again. It will be more gloppy.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Hi Jackie, I managed to make a smooth rebatch on my very first try by accident! First off I didn't grate my soap fine enough. I simply used a hand cheese grater and when I measured it I didn't pack it tight like brown sugar. Then I added like 3 times the amount of water that I was supposed to. Math was never my strong point.

I had it in a double boiler and stirred and stirred and then stirred some more, then started questioning the recipe because I was going for that "rustic" look! When I realized the water problem I dipped out about 1/3rd of it. It was still too soupy but I kept stirring and eventually reduced the water in the batch enough to pour into molds....

did it get smooth? Yes! Mine turned out to be the consistency of MP.
did it take "forever"? seemed like it. I probably stirred and fretted over it for over an hour.
was it soft? Yes, I had to let it sit in the molds for about 3 days before I could take it out and it was very soft.
did it take forever to harden up after unmolding? It's been drying out now for about 3 weeks and it turned out to be fabulous!
would you do it again? absolutely! it turned out to be one of my best facial soaps, a happy "disaster".

I think if you add enough water and cook it enough you can get a smooth rebatch.

How interesting just peachy. What a detailed episode and thank you for sharing your experience!

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

OMG! Nancy Today is hilarious. Like the Julia Childs of soapmaking:-)
Rena

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

This is the first time I will choose to disagree.... there is something about 'Nancy Today' that is appealing. Maybe it is the way she tells it like it is, or maybe she isis just quirky enough - I would like to be that carefree. I will not say my home is anything like hers but there are days when I wish I could just layer what ever clothes my hands touch and I don't care what the rest of the world thinks! I don't have the guts to do that!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

I only watched the woman once.....for about 30 seconds because I couldn't take much more. I think she's vile. But that's a guy's point of view.

Never heard of her but now I am curious. I will have to go look her up.

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Haven

Haven,

Don't expect too much.... she is basic and honest at most. I do not see her as vile (but then I'm a lady).... I have seen and heard of much worse in my lifetime.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

She seems sincere and well-meaning. As a Newbie, I would stick to books and moderated forums. Some of her techniques seem off and I think would teach beginners bad practices. For instance, sloshing around lye, using no gloves, sticking her fingers in the caustic batter. But, then again, I think you should take any youtube video with a grain of salt.

I agree, do not watch for education purpose... she is entertainment only... (and it's not that I really could show anyone how to do this), just know some of her techniques are too lax. I also noticed that when researching the making of tutu's on you tube.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Just Peachy, that sounds awesome. I have so much soap I need to rebatch I will try it that way. I know I already have to much water in them anyway and the scent is completely gone. Great info. thanks Jackie

Oh, I don't want to watch for learning purposes. I am lucky and have one of the best teachers right around the corner from me. Any time I have a question, I can ask her or I ask here. I just want to see why everyone's opinions about this lady are what they are. Some are saying she is vile and others think she is great. Just curious.

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Haven

I bought a large crockpot that I use when I rebatch soap. I cut the soap into chunks and add about 1/2 cup of liquid. You really want to just add enough liquid to help make the melted soap mixture smoother. I agree that it will never be completely smooth, but the lumps add a nice change to the soap and look like marble.

I have two sizes of molds; one is a large mold that makes 30 bars of soap and the other is a smaller box like loaf mold that makes 15-17 bars. Because the box mold allows me to pack the rebatched soap tighter, I use it.

I have rebatched all kinds of soap for different reasons, but mainly because the scent was not as strong as my customers like. Soap made with essence oils are bad for loosing their scent quicker than fragrance oil soap, so rebatching these bars in smaller batches help to keep costs down by allowing you to add more essence oils when needed.

Also a small mold allows you to experiment with new fragrances without having to make a full batch of soap in case that scent is not what you expected, which happens.

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Loyce