What to do with too much Beeswax in CP soap

[OhSweetFreckles]

today i found some beeswax that i used from when i made belly cream for my pregnancy. it worked like a charm no stretchmarks or anything. ANYWAYS, i thought " SWEET! beeswax i'll add this to my milk & honey FO soap.:grin:" (side note: i'm a stay at home mom so when i start to make my soap is when my little one is napping so i try to work against the clock which give me an hour to hour & 20 mins give or take)

My mix was
5 oz cocobutter
3 oz cocnutoil
2 oz sunflower oil
5 oz coconut oil
5 oz canola oil
& 5 oz beeswax:-?
3% superfat

Welp.... when it started to thicken up too quickly i panicked a little & i did what some stubborn soapers might do, I added my colors and FO and continued to mix. yep, the consistency was extremely thick like playdoh almost. I still put it in the mold made it look as pretty as i could.
now that i'm doing research on beeswax in CP soap i want to kick myself in the toosh for not looking it up before hand and realizing i only need so, so , so very little of beeswax.:headbanging:

anyways, my real question is, do i need to rebatch this soap or is it still useable once its cured? if i do use it will it dry out my skin or be weird to use like rubbing wax candle on me?
if i do rebatch it how can i dilute the beeswax?

 

[psfred]

That is a huge amount of beeswax! I don't know if I'd bother to re-batch, it will take quite a bit of extra soap to get than down to the 1% or so where beeswax is usable (at least to my thinking -- but then I'd never put beeswax in soap to start with, too hard).

If you made a small batch I'd consider just tossing it, otherwise if you do decide to re-batch I would use a small amount of it in a batch of hot process soap. You will have to get it hot enough to melt that beeswax to mix it in -- 140F or so, otherwise you will just have the same result you just got -- false trace and solidification of unsaponified soap from the beeswax going solid below 140F.

It's always a learning experience with anything related to bees, eh? Mine give me a surprise every time I look into the hives....

 

[mx5inpenn]

Most people use beeswax at 1-3%. You can make a new batch, just eliminate the beeswax and run through a lye calc, and hp it. This will bring the wax down to the recommended range.

 

[DeeAnna]

"... You can make a new batch, just eliminate the beeswax and run through a lye calc, and hp it. This will bring the wax down to the recommended range...."

The beeswax in this recipe is a whopping 20%.

To get the amount down to around 3%, my calculator is telling me this one batch would have to be mixed with about 6 same-sized batches of soap made without beeswax. Or mixed with 18 no-beeswax batches to get it down to about 1%.

That's a lot of soap.

 

[Obsidian]

Sometimes its easier to stop while you are ahead. I would toss the batch, cheaper than making 18 new batches to mix.

 

[earlene]

If you use it, yes, it will be very draggy on your skin. My husband doesn't like the feel of beeswax in soap at a normal percentage, so I doubt at this rate it would be pleasant.

I'd probably try just a small portion of it in a new batch of non-beeswax soap and see it if will even incorporate well before planning on rebatching all of it. It may not be worth the trouble. But if after trying a small portion in a new batch, and find that you like it, then maybe add a bit (oh, maybe a 50 gram size) to each new batch of HP soap. It could end up lasting you a long time that way.

 

[mx5inpenn]

"... You can make a new batch, just eliminate the beeswax and run through a lye calc, and hp it. This will bring the wax down to the recommended range...."

The beeswax in this recipe is a whopping 20%.

To get the amount down to around 3%, my calculator is telling me this one batch would have to be mixed with about 6 same-sized batches of soap made without beeswax. Or mixed with 18 no-beeswax batches to get it down to about 1%.

That's a lot of soap.

Whoops! I read 5oz as 5%. That's a bit of a difference [emoji9]

 

[Dahila]

think about your pipes and drains, beeswax clog them

 

[cmzaha]

You could grate it up and use it as confetti in a lot of batches