Has anyone here donated soap? If so, where?

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Rachael

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Hopefully this is the right forum for this. :)

I've got three failed batches I need to do something with. Nothing seriously wrong with them other than the fact that I learned about cleansing value a little too late and they're all hovering at about a 24, oops. They are very harsh on my skin. I washed my arms with a bar last night just to test it out and my arms were burning like crazy afterwards - ouch. My skin isn't sensitive at all when it comes to skincare products, so I'd imagine if it irritates my skin it's going to really irritate someone else's.

That being said, I don't know if I'd be comfortable donating them as-is to a shelter, retirement home, or something like that, but has anyone had experience with a charity like Clean the World? It looks like this particular charity sanitizes then grinds the bars. I assume then that the bars would be tested and rebatched into something usable.

I would rebatch them myself but in all honesty I'd rather save myself the work, I've got plenty of quality soap at home I need to give away and use up first!
 
Because of the high cleansing you could give them to friends as hand soap for really dirty hands. Otherwise I wouldn't donate them to anyone, especially since 24 is quite high cleansing unless you have a higher SF and depending on the age of the soap as well. Sometimes it will mellow out more with a good long cure. You could check with Clean the World though.
 
Have you zap tested those bars? A high cleansing soap should make your skin tight and itchy, not burning.

Double check to make sure they are safe. If they are, I'd give them to a machanic or someone who gets really greasy.
 
Sorry, but when it comes to donating anything to charity...if it's not something I would safely use or eat or wear, etc...I don't donate it.
 
Clean the World no longer takes homemade soaps.

How old are the soaps? If they're freshly made, they need to cure properly. If they've had a minimum 4 week cure, I would let them cure longer - seriously. Throw them in a box and forget about them for 6 months. I've bought soap from another maker that 50% CO - let it sit for two years and my uber dry skin did fine with it, although the bar vanished quite quickly :) Same with salt bars (80% CO), I can't use them until at least 18 months.

If you don't have sensitive skin and are having a hard time with these soaps, I certainly wouldn't give them away. Rebatch or toss.
 
I used to donate to Clean the World, but as far as I know they are no longer accepting soap donations from soap makers that don’t have a business. And I think there is a fee for those who do have a business, but I’m not sure about that. Please don’t donate soap that irritates or burns your skin to anyone.
 
Thanks a lot for the replies, all. Of course, I wouldn't donate it to anyone while it's like this, I only thinking a larger company may be able to rebatch it into something good if they grind down, mix up, and test all their soaps anyway, etc. I know it's not lye heavy or anything like that, it is just far too drying on my already-dry skin. Failing that I'll keep it around a while to see how it does over time. Maybe my skin will be a bit more accepting of it during the summer and when it's had a lot of time to mellow out.
 

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