Fixing a soap with an ingredient left out

[fmsojka]

I know this has probably been covered many times, but after searching for about an hour, I can't seem to find the answer.

My husband made 3 batches of 3# batches. After letting them cure about 3 weeks, he realized he had forgotten to add Olive Oil, (which should have been 10%).

Can these batches be saved? Can we rebatch and add the oil? If it was one batch, probably would let it go. But 9 pounds of soap, ugh.

I read everything I could find on rebatching, but couldn't find anything about adding a forgotten ingredient.

I knew it couldn't be good when DH came out of the basement with a sheepish look, said he was probably getting fired:shocked2: I can't fire the guy, he works for nothing:cheesy2:

I sure would appreciate any suggestions.

[CareBear]

Yep, you can rebatch them. Please wear gloves when you shred them as well as you can before adding the extra oil and heating, etc.

Your DH is good - my ex probably wouldn't ever have admitted to anything LOL.

[fmsojka]

That is a relief to know. Would you add the missing oil at the same %?

Thanks for the tip about the cutting up soap.

You guys are awesome on here. I am very grateful for the people that spend time to answer questions such as this one:o

[CareBear]

yes, just add in the exact amount of oil you left out before. Eugenia is the rebatch queen so hopefully she'll step in here.

If you need to add any other liquid a few drops of milk might help things smooth out as it's melting

[fmsojka]

Okay, I guess we will give it a try this week. I guess if it doesn't turn out, we aren't any worse off then before.

Does the cure time have to start again?

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it. Yes, it is good that he admitted it, I have to remember that. But dang it sure has complicated things. He built bridges for 37 years, but he has a hard time getting a recipe right:rolleyes2 Not that I haven't pulled some boners myself.

I did find out last night that the soap was made a lot longer ago then I thought. More like a month or longer. One batch was for a Bed and Breakfast that we made up special, switching them over from melt and pour to cold process soaps.

[Carriegsxr6]

As of right now those soaps are lye heavy and probably cause irritation. make sure no one uses them until you re-batch

[fmsojka]

Thanks, we aren't using them, just letting them sit until we grind them up.

How long will these need to cure, after we rebatch?

[CareBear]

I'd say they will need the full 4 weeks to be optimal, but that will depend in part on if you need to add extra liquid that needs to evaporate out.

[fmsojka]

Thank you very much, DH is grating soap as I type.

We will give them another 4 weeks, to be on the safe side.

[Brat]

If you added FO to these batches, the heating process may burn some of it off. Something to sniff for... ?

[kidsngarden]

I did this forgetting an oil thing once. Grated it up, melted it in the crockpot with the missing oils cooking for a few hours. It's HP then and can be used right away. I didn't add any extra stuff at all. They could use more time to harden though

Bethany

[GBear]

Technically you could use the rebatched soap right away sicne it won't ber lye heavy anymore. But realistically you're gonna want to let it cure a little so that the water cures out and you have a longer lasting bar. 2 -4 weeks should be good, depending on how much water you add in the rebatch.

[fmsojka]

I really appreciate all the help an ideas.

DH ground up two batches, added the oil and repoured. I think he added quite a bit of milk in one, to get it to melt. Pretty soft. It looks like it might be all right. It was an order, so hopefully it will be okay in a few weeks. He made it for a Bed and Breakfast, but they didnt' need it for quite a while, so we are probably okay there. They are switching over from our melt and pour for guests soap to our cold process soaps. They also sell our products, so want to especially make sure it is awesome.

He was wanting to wait until he saw what these did before going on to the other 3 batches. (Yes, I found out it was 5 instead of 4 batches that he left Olive Oil out of).

But I like the idea of trying at least one with the crockpot, just to see what it does. We have not attempted HP yet. They were soaps we were trying to have ready by Valentines, so it would be nice to have at least one batch ready, but may have to wait since we are running out of time. The would have been ready easily by now, oh well.

Thanks again,

[thecandlespastore]

Soap that is less than a month old usually does not need any added water and it will be good to use right away. Oh, how I wish I had a husband who made soap. Mine only knows how to use it up.