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Waste Not Want Not - Rebatch a la Miss Lilly


TallTayl

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We all have them... perfectly good soap bars that are either the wrong shape, wrong size cosmetically challenged, etc. We can make confetti, soap balls, throw them away, or renovate them. Whenever possible transforming old soap into new is my goal.

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During the most recent shop reorganization I came across these Avocado unscented soap bars. This is an old shape which no longer fits my line. I could use them (the formula is lovely!) or let others enjoy them in a way that fits my brand.

 

I learned of this brilliant method to rebatch soap years ago on another forum. The author, Miss Lilly, claimed she uses up to 1/3 of soap shreds in a totally new batch of soap with no issues. Seemed too good to be true to those of us who learned rebatching was a dirty word. So I gave it a whirl and never looked back.

 

The method:

1) Shred up to 1/3 of your soap to replace that calculation of oils in a new batch. So simple!

I shredded using as fine of a grater as I could to make the blending simpler.

My batch size for this mod is 60 oz of oils. I shredded 20 oz of unscented Avocado soap and reduced my soap formula by 20 oz of oils.

 

2) Melt the hard oils and add the shreds.

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3) blend, blend, blend until they are mixed. I added some heat to speed up the process. 60 seconds at a time in my shop microwave made it go pretty quick.

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4) Add lye solution, additives, etc as usual.

I live beyond the edge, so I added reconstituted goat milk powder, Natures Garden Honey Bunny fragrance and calendula petals.

5) mold.

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With the additives plus unusually high heat I used to more fully melt the soap shreds this one gelled in the mold almost immediately. I set the log mold in front of a fan on high for several hours to control overheating.

 

6) Complete saponification unmold and rejoice.

I unmolded this on about 18 hours from when it hit the mold. I needed the mold for another project, so out it came!

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7) cut when ready.

This one is still pretty soft, so I cut only a portion to give you an idea of how smoth a rebatch can look.

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So, next time you have to rebatch, consider a new method that might be much easier than hauling out the crock pot, oven bag or trash bucket. I could probably have swirled this, but chose a simple, kind of wholesome natural look instead.

 

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Fantastic! They look and came out great!

 

I tried a similar method a few years back. Replaced 1 lb shreds for 1 lb oils I think. But I like this method better. Right now I have a whole bunch of 'mistake' soaps I was just going to sell off for half price. But this may save me some money by reinventing those imperfect bars to something awesome instead!

 

Thanks TT for the tips.

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I need to make some pumice soaps today. So I am going to use this method to use up some of my mistake soaps. I don't know if I am going to try to micro the oils/shreds mix thou. I may not because they are going to be exfoliating soaps so the shreds as is might work better. Will see how it goes and will also try to post pics when I get the chance.

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  • 4 years later...
13 minutes ago, NightLight said:

I like to do this too. I make soap for fun but skipped this summer because a number of oil prices went berserk.

I have had fun though making liquid Castile soap. Dr. Bronners is stupid expensive, and hahah I can make an interesting label too!

Dr Bronners is one brand that makes me rather angry. Castile soap is olive oil soap made in Italy. Dr Bronners is neither. 

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