Rebatch or not to Rebatch???

[Penny]

Hello everyone! I've been reading about rebatching and was curious to know if any of you use this method. Over the weekend I melted some soap shreds I had from trimming my CP soap and remolded it. I haven't taken it out of the mold yet, but I was wondering are there advantages to rebatching vs. CP. Is there a benefit to adding the yummies (honey, oatmeal, milk, etc.) to the rebatched soap vs. adding to the CP soap before the saponification (sp?)process? TIA

[SoapySue]

Although I haven't done it in a while, I plan on doing so soon. When my sister and I use to stay with my grandmother (that's been about 30 yrs ago...whew), she had some lemon soap balls that a friend of hers gave to her. So, my sister asked me to make some. I was waiting till I made my next plain batch of soap. One of the main reasons I wanted to hand mill these, other than them being balls, was some citrus e.o.'s don't hold up (fade quickly) as well in cp soap without being anchored by another e.o. or such.

So some of the advantages might be: (I cannot attest to all of them)

1. More predictable color results.

2. You can use less f.o.'s and e.o.'s, because they don't have to go through the rigors of active lye.

3. Herbs won't lose their medicinal properties.

4. Herbs won't turn brown in the soaps as quickly, but eventually they will turn brown.

That's about all the information I can give. Hope it helped in some way.

~Susan

[Penny]

Thanks Susan. My granddaughter has terrible eczema. I've been reading a lot about different herbs and I wanted to incorporate some of them in my soap and get the most benefit out of them that I can to help relieve some of her itching and dry skin. I'm off to order some supplies so that I can get started. Thanks again for your reply.

[SoapySue]

Just passing along a little information on some fixed oils and essential oils good for eczema.

For dry eczema:

fixed oil: avocado oil, borage oil, hazelnut oil, evening primrose oil, tamanu oil.

Essential Oils: Basil(but not for use on children), German and Roman Chamomile, Lavender, Lemon (photosensitizing), Palmarosa, Sandalwood

For Moist Eczema:

fixed oils: evening primrose, sesame oil, tamanu oil

E.O's: Eucalyptus, German and Roman Chamomile, Juniper, Lavender, Niaouli (not for use on children under 10), Patchouli

~Susan