Disaster Soap, any ideas to make lemonade out of lemons?

[Firefly]

Hello,

My sister and I just made a CP soap that was a disaster. It's like a death we are so upset over it all. It's only soap I know but my week has been stressful at work and I so enjoy soaping as it takes me away from it all.

I used this Fig and Melon FO from Voyageur which I've used before but come to think of it think I've only used it in M&P. I usually always use 1 oz per pound of oils for scenting (well that differs depending on the scent but most the time that is what I do).

Anyway it started off mixing well (we didn't use a mixer, just hand whisking it) and then all of the sudden it riced on us. I was prepared for a thick trace but not this. Anywho just covered it and figure I'll rebatch it tomorrow. I've labelled the bottle right away so I won't use this scent for CP in the future.

I'm thinking of ideas to make this ugly duckling something beautiful. Is there a thread on here where members have transformed bad batches into works of art? If I'm successful in my transformation I'll post a photo.

Edited September 18, 2009 by Firefly

[PattyZB]

I have two soaps that are ... "lemons" so I'd love some answers on this as well.

[Jeana]

I don't think "work of art" could happen but you could rebatch it to have a nice bar of soap.

One thing I do when working with a new oil is separate a small portion and add a touch of the FO to see what it will do. If it doesn't behave in your sample portion then don't use it.

[SoapDiva]

When I rebatch, only I know it's a rebatch, people don't seem to notice a difference.

I use those crockpot bags, and use the low setting on the crockpot for 9 hours or so, I also add some water.

Once it's all mushy, I take oven mits and massage the hell out of it, then pour it into the mold and cover with saran. I try to smooth it out as much as I can.

If it's a soap that won't darken naturally, I tend to add color after I shred it. It looks pretty funky.

Someone I gave some rebatched soap to gave me hell for not selling it because she thought it looked awesome.

[Carriegsxr6]

Its got to be that Melon FO. They are tricky at times.

[Firefly]

Thanks for all the tips.

Here is what I came up with.

The two logs from the front, I didn't have that much left of the rebatch for the smaller log so used more M&P on that one

This is the view from the back for the smaller log, as I made a bunch of neon orange and cut it into cubes and added to the rebatch.

This is the big log cut into bars.

This is the smaller log cut into bars.

I like the idea of adding the FO to a smaller amount to see what happens. Some of it got on my hands and I washed it off and my hands were so soft.

Edited September 23, 2009 by Firefly