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i've read many horror stories about rebatching and can understand why
those who so dislike the process feel the way they do. i, however,
decided to embrace it and set out to find a method that would worked for
me.
the success stories i've read all seem to involve tallow or lard based
soaps. these rebatch [more] easily since the cooked soap returns to a
liquid, pourable state. this didn't address my needs since i only use
vegetable oils in my cp soap base.
i did read of a soaper's success using the bag boiling method, so i
bought some oven bags from the grocer, filled one with enough grated
soap for one bar, sealed the bag and placed it in a pot of boiling water
for one hour. things seemed to be going well, but then, the bag
ruptured and spilled the soap into the boiling water. this was
unfortunate since the bag method afforded me the ability to really mix
(read knead) all the ingredients thoroughly [in the bag] and didn't
create any mess to clean up later. feeling a bit disappointed, i headed
back to the drawing board.
upon reviewing the various rebatching processes, i saw that with the
crock pot, double boiler, and oven methods, you have to cook the soap
for several hours at a low temperature. however, with the microwave
method, the soap cooks in a matter of minutes. it occured to me that if i
placed the grated soap in an oven bag, and placed that inside a
microwavable container, (sealing the bag, not airtight, but just enough
to close it and still let any excess steam escape), i might still be
able to use the bag method with the added benefit of the [very] short
cooking time.
bottom line, it works. here's how it goes:
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please note that i developed the
following procedure for processing/designing soap on an individual bar
basis. for batch processing of larger quantities [i.e. 1-lb. or more],
this "may not" prove to be a suitable method. if you're
rebatching larger quantites because you want to add your goat's milk
[powder] and/or essential/fragrance oils after saponification, see my
notes on the hot process (making bar soap from scratch, step 7). |
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1 | decide the weight you
want the bar to be and measure out that amount of grated soap. put it
in an oven bag. measure out all the additives including colorant and mix
them together. if necessary, add just enough water (or other liquid
...e.g. aloe vera) to make the mixture a "moist slurry". this will
insure that it mixes completely and evenly. measure separately your
fragrance.
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2 | seal the bag with a
tie. place the bag in a microwavable container (no lid) and nuke it.
this is the tricky part. it all happens so fast ...depending on the
amount of moisture in the grated soap and whether or not you added any
liquid. with this method, you need little or no added liquid. (since I
rebatch my soap while it's "fresh" and has not yet cured, I don't use
any liquid unless needed to moisten the additions.) nuke at half power for 15 seconds.
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3 | remove from
microwave. the bag will be hot so wear rubber gloves, oven mits, or use a
towel to prevent burning your hands. knead the bag of soap to insure
even distribution of the cooked portion. repeat [steps 2 and 3] until
the soap turns into a mush the consistency of soft mash potatoes. it'll
only take a couple of minutes. these short burst will insure that the
soap cooks thoroughly and evenly.
be very careful not to over nuke. you could burn the soap, turning it
brown and smelly, and/or cause it to bubble over, it'll quickly expand
in size. this is another advantage of using the bag with the microwave
method. if it should bubble over, it'll be contained in the bag, you
won't waste the soap, and you won't have a messy microwave to clean up.
at the same time, be sure you nuke it enough so all the soap shavings
are completely melted or you'll end up with bits of unmelted soap in
your finished bar. this will not ruin your bar but it's not generally
desirable ...unless this is the effect you're going for.
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4 | open the bag and add
all the additives, except the fragrance. re-seal the bag and knead until
everything is mixed in thoroughly and evenly. if any coloring (or
additive which imparts color) is added, this can be a visual indication
of how thoroughly the additives have been incorporated. if you don't
want an even color, save the coloring until last and don't mix it
through thoroughly. this will give an [unpredictable] mottled effect. note:
if you want a mixture of colors, you could add your base color here,
mix it in thoroughly and then add your contrasting color(s) last.
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5 | return to microwave
for one lasts 10 second burst. this will softened the mixture in case it
has started to set up. this will insure you get all (or most) of the
soap out of the bag and into the mold.)
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6 | add your fragrance
and knead thoroughly. at this point the soap will be hot. you can let it
cool a bit before adding the fragrance, but if it cools too much, it'll
start setting up and you won't be able to get it all out of the bag
...it'll require reheating. you'll develop a feel for when it's cool
enough but not too cool.
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7 | finish by adding any remaining color, working it only until the desire effect is achieved.
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8 | snip the corner of the bag and using it like a pastry bag, pipe the mixture into the greased mold.
as you're filling the mold, bang it repeatedly against the table to
settle the mixture and to fill any voids. this is especially good if the
mold has a surface design. it forces the soap into all the nooks and
crannies.
the ease in getting the soap out of the bag and into the mold, (as well
as the amount of soap you get out of the bag and into the mold}, will
depend alot on how much moisture is in the soap. you want to add as
little moisture as possible (none if you can) to the melted soap, but if
the soap is too dry (i.e. it has been partially or completely cured),
it will thicken too readily and be difficult to work with.
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9 | place the mold into
the freezer and, when thoroughly chilled, unmold. the bar should pop
right out. cure for however long is necessary ...the longer, the harder
and longer-lasting the bar.
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below are examples of soap hand milled (rebatched) from my first three
batches. each bar shows the list of additives incorporated into the base
soap. the colorant used is a triple-concentrated gel; all colors
derived from the primaries: red, blue, yellow, black, and white. the
recipes for the "fragrance blends" are listed on the "fragrance
formulas" page.
the follow three examples are all 5.25 oz. - 5.5 oz. bars with a soap
base of 47% olive oil, 23.5% each coconut oil and palm oil, and 6%
castor oil.
| | | 1 tsp. goat's milk (dry) 1 tsp. kaolin clay 1 tsp. ground basil 1-2 tsp. aloe vera (to moisten milk/clay/basil) color: 3 drops red transp., 2 yellow transp., 1 blue transp., 2 black oxide 160 drops "conifer" fragrance blend |
| "conifer" |
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| | | 1 tsp. goat's milk (dry) 1 tsp. kaolin clay 1-2 tsp. aloe vera (to moisten milk/clay) .5 tsp. emu oil .25 tsp. stearic acid .5 tsp. aloe vera 115 drops "vanilla musk" fragrance blend |
| "creamy emuloe" |
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| | | 2 tbs. goat's milk (dry) 1-2 tsp. aloe vera (to moisten milk) 1 tsp. honey color: 2 drops black oxide; 5 drops red transparent 132 drops "herbal rose" fragrance blend |
| "rosemilk" |
the next four examples are all 5.25 oz. - 5.5 oz. bars with a castille soap base (100% olive oil).
| | | 1 tbs. goat's milk (dry) 2 tsp. oatmeal .25 tsp. crushed grape seeds 1-2 tsp. aloe vera (to moisten milk/oatmeal/seeds) 1 tsp. honey color: 5 drops red oxide; 2 black oxide 85 drops vanilla fragrance oil 15 drops vanilla absolute |
| "milk & honey oatmeal scrub" |
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| | | 1 tbs. calendula petals 1 tsp. honey .5 tsp. aloe vera .5 tsp. emu oil .25 tsp. stearic acid color: 2 drops red oxide, 2 yellow oxide 192 drops "autumn" fragrance blend |
| "honey orange calendula" |
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| | | 1 tbs. goat's milk (dry) 1 tsp. kaolin clay 1-2 tsp. aloe vera (to moisten milk/clay) color: 25 drops white oxide 133 drops "carnation" fragrance blend |
| "white carnation" |
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| | | 1 tbs. goat's milk (dry) 1 tsp. kaolin clay 1-2 tsp. aloe vera (to moisten milk/clay) 1 tsp. shea butter (5 gm.) color: 12 drops black oxide 192 drops "smoke" fragrance blend |
| "smoky shea" |
this next example is a 5.5 oz. bar whose soap base of 6.2% castor oil,
2.2% cocoa butter, 23.2% coconut oil, 2.2% emu oil, 41% olive oil, 6.6%
palm oil, 16.5% palm kernel oil, and 2.2% shea butter is made with
goat's milk. see "making goat's milk soap" for more on soap bases made with goat's milk.
| | | .25 tsp. titanium dioxide 75 drops "coolwater" fragrance oil |
| "goat's milk" |
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