I had watched a number of YouTube videos including How to rebatch soap using the crockpot. I noticed there was a carton of Pauls goats milk on the bench so figured it was an Aussie making the video. Check out the yellow crocs. I noticed that goats milk soap, cinnamon and honey were added during the process which was quite different from the other methods I had read about so thought I would give that a try as I had the 500g grated soap which was required.
So the grated soap was put into the crockpot and turned onto high...
...30 minutes later it was starting to melt...
...and looked like this twenty minutes after that after a lot of stirring...
...until it would melt no more and the cinnamon and honey were added. I had seen in another video that a lady then used her beater not a stick blender to make the mixture softer but I don't think it made much difference to mine when I tried that as well.
I had been warned on The Home Maker's forum that it would go hard really quickly and to get it into the mould ASAP but I realised too late that the mould was much too large for that amount of soap and I didn't get a chance to find a more suitable mould. In the video I linked to the Pauls goats milk carton was used. Anyway, I pressed it all down and tried to make it look presentable but that wasn't easy so I covered the top with calendula petals most of which would fall off when I cut it of course.
I didn't bother trying to straighten the soap once I cut it as then I would have to rebatch that as well. LOL! I am not thrilled with the result but it was my first time rebatching and next time I will do it differently. I am not sure why the honey was added to this batch although I guess the cinnamon was used to make it darker. Then it had to be put in the fridge overnight which I also wondered about as it was rebatched soap not freshly made. Anyway, I just did what I was told :-)
One tip I read here on Savvy Homemade was to use milk when rebatching vegetable based soap and water when rebatching tallow soap. My soap doesn't look as nice as the green soap in Rebatching Soap on Soap Making Essentials but I hope my next lot does.
I have never had such a failed batch before and now I need to grate all the soap in the photo before tomorrow and I will give it another try in the crockpot. This soap is crumbly in parts and still soft in the centre. I did some research on soap blogs online including Soapy Mess-Up Quick Guide on The Soap Queen and I wondered if it was lye heavy but did the zap test which is when you place the bar of soap onto the tip of your tongue and if you feel a slight zap feeling which apparently is similar to licking a battery (and not something I have done before) then there is a high chance the soap is lye heavy. I didn't get zapped but now my mouth tastes like soap.
Also I saw a video of a lady who had made lye heavy soap and she was showing soap makers what it looked like and during the presentation said her fingers were starting to burn as she handled the soap but I haven't had that issue either so hopefully that wasn't the reason mine is crumbly in places. I had to wait four days before I could get it out of the mould so that was a first for me too. I won't be using that soap recipe again in a hurry I can tell you.
If you are new to making soap don't be put off by my experience as most batches work out and if you keep it simple to start off with you will be fine. I rarely had any problems until I started experimenting with colours and fragrances. This latest batch of failed soap had pink and green clays added by the way and I think I was attempting to do tiger stripes which didn't quite work out obviously :-)
If you have rebatched soap could you let me know in the comment section what method you used as I am sure lots of my soapmaking readers would be interested. I mean there must be some readers out there apart from Farmer Liz who make soap....right?
I am no soap expert whatsoever but I think your soap looks ok. Can you keep a bar or two to use? Soap is something I will get to further down the track as it is on my goal list. I'm learning a lot in the meantime from yourself and other bloggers.
ReplyDeleteKylie
Kylie start off using Rhonda's tutorials on her blog but buy yourself a stick blender first. It saves a lot of time getting your soap to trace.
DeleteHi Chel. Gosh you were a bit brave putting it on your tongue! I laughed when you said no zap, but now you could taste soap...lol! The rebatch looks fine to me, and no doubt it will still work well as soap, so I wouldn't worry too much. I have successes and near fails, but even the near fails are useful. It's irritating when you can't work out the cause, but soap making can be pernickety like that. Onward and upward. Your soaps are always beautiful anyway. Love, Mimi xxx
ReplyDeleteI hope to rebatch the failed batch today, Mimi. As it is fresh it won't be as dried out as the last lot which was old soap. Another learning curve coming up.
DeleteChel I have never made soap but your soap looks the same as others I have seen wrapped in cellophane in the shops. You certainly deserve full marks for experimentation and persistence.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherri. You should give it a try one day when you have some spare time :-)
DeleteChel I would have needed to put the soap on my tongue, not for zap testing but for the seriously bad language that I would have used.
ReplyDeleteI have had one batch go all hard and dry and flaky. I didn't even bother to try and do something with it. I had definitely over lyed it so I just took it straight to the garbage bin.
If you do end up with a nice shea butter soap, can you let us know if it is worth the extra ingredient? Hope the rebatch is nice to use.
Jane I have read that if it is lye heavy it can be used for the laundry.
DeleteChel I've used a can of coconut milk for a re-batching. It resulted in a very nice soap to use, but it was awful to look at, so it wasn't given as gifts, and we used every last bit of it. It's good to know that we don't have to waste a failed soap batch.
ReplyDeleteSally I don't think there is anything pretty about my rebatched soap at all :-) At the end of the day it all goes down the drain regardless of what it looks like I guess.
DeleteHi, I read a blog called passionfruitgarden.com. She makes soap and lives in Australia. Try her blog she might have tips. I don't make soap as I have no patience.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan. I have had a look and will go back and read some old posts.
DeleteHi Chel, I admire your patience with your soapmaking, and it is great that it can be rebatched. It all still looks good to me. You must have an amazing collection of beautiful soaps by now. Good luck with the next batch, Pauline
ReplyDeletePauline I do give some away and they are handy to take to our simple living group's swap.
DeleteI have only made one batch of soap, Chel, and I think I took it a little too far past trace but it was still okay to use here at home. I have it on my to-to list to make another batch but haven't gotten to it yet. Meg:)
ReplyDeleteIt does take a while to tell when it gets to trace, Meg. I always took mine to a thick trace until recently when I started trying to do swirls.
DeleteWell at least you tried! I have only every used one plain recipe and adjust the essential oils I add. It is just for our use so I dont need anything fancy. Maybe I should be a little adventurous and try a new way of making soap. You have reminded me to find my calendula seeds I saved from last season and get planted asap x
ReplyDeleteClarissa my plain soap always worked out. I have done a bit of experimenting in the last couple of years with various results. It is fun though.
DeleteI've had to rebatch twice - once when I used dodgy old kitchen scales and soap never set (clearly not enough caustic), the book I have recommended making another batch and incorporating the rebatch into a hot process soap in a double-boiler, what a mess we made of the kitchen that day! More recently I realised after pouring a large batch of soap that I had miscalculated the caustic amount, so I had to add more oils and cook it in the slowcooker, which was much easier and I knew what to expect the second time. I find it very difficult to work with though, I don't know how anyone gets hot process soap to look nice instead of lumpy! I think you did a good job for your first effort! I don't know about the milk/water for oils/tallow, you can add whatever liquid you want, and that helps to get the mixture more fluid/less lumpy. And you definitely don't have to put it in the fridge. Amazing the crazy advice you find on the internet :)
ReplyDeleteLiz, I couldn't understand work out why it had to go into the fridge either. LOL! The second lot I rebatched yesterday which was done in the loaf mould turned out much better thankfully.,
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