Help! Giant goof-up

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I mixed up coconut oil and limonene for a 4 lb batch of stain sticks today. Added the lye water and expected all that coconut oil to trace quickly. It didn't. I stick blended and blended, but it was taking a long time. It appeared emulsified and thicker, so I went ahead and poured into the mold thinking it had to be long enough. Wrong! By about 2 or 3 hours later, the bottom had sorta kinda hardened and a thick layer of oil rose to the top. I dumped it all back in the bowl, sloshing some of the oil overboard.
I've still got the mess sitting in my kitchen, not sure whether to throw it all away and move on, or can this mess be saved by rebatching in a crockpot? Never had false trace before, so I'm guessing I can't say that anymore. Aggravating! :eek:
 
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Thanks for the encouragement, but after stewing over it for much of the night, my DH kindly offered to put it out in the trash that's being picked up this morning so I don't have to look at it again.
Sometimes it's cheaper and wiser just to start again with lessons learned. "Gotta know when to hold, know when to fold 'em"
 
Deleted.

@JoyfulSudz My apologies. My advice in Post #2 and this post was meant to be funny, helpful and encouraging. I'm sorry you didn't see it that way. I meant no offense. It's just that when I was at your stage of learning, many, many moons ago, I rebatched so many failed batches that I became known as the "Rebatch Queen" early on. It's just another tool to add to the soapmakers toolbox. Not everyone agrees. That's okay.

To this day, I've had so much experience in that area, LOL, that I get a big kick out of helping members to find the right remedy for a failed batch. I'm truly sorry I failed to help you.
 
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Thanks for the encouragement, but after stewing over it for much of the night, my DH kindly offered to put it out in the trash that's being picked up this morning so I don't have to look at it again.
Sometimes it's cheaper and wiser just to start again with lessons learned. "Gotta know when to hold, know when to fold 'em"
I agree, sometimes we have the bandwidth to keep trying. Other times it is best to let things go. You are the only one who knows what you needed in the moment, and I am confident that you made the best choice for yourself today.

The "good" (?) news is, you will almost certainly have another opportunity to rebatch. :D. Because in the words of our famous @KiwiMoose: Soap do what soap do. ;)
 
I thought long and hard (all night when I shoulda been asleep) about it, but I've got commitments today and tomorrow so the rebatch would have had to wait 3 days. Grating the solid hard chunks that had been sitting in the still liquid oil just didn't entice me to keep at it, and the limonene smell was overwhelming (especially since it had no where to sit and wait but in the kitchen!). 😖 The garbage truck just took it all away and I'll have a fresh and wiser start later in the week 😊
 
I thought long and hard (all night when I shoulda been asleep) about it, but I've got commitments today and tomorrow so the rebatch would have had to wait 3 days. Grating the solid hard chunks that had been sitting in the still liquid oil just didn't entice me to keep at it, and the limonene smell was overwhelming (especially since it had no where to sit and wait but in the kitchen!). 😖 The garbage truck just took it all away and I'll have a fresh and wiser start later in the week 😊
Yup, good decision! buh-bye, stinky oily mess.

My guess is that the limonene was your issue. It does slow trace for me, even at 1-2%.
 
Yup, good decision! buh-bye, stinky oily mess.

My guess is that the limonene was your issue. It does slow trace for me, even at 1-2%.
Thanks for the support. I've got a real thing about waste and didn't need to carry guilt for tossing this icky batch.
Most citrus slows trace, so it makes sense the limonene would too. Wouldn't have thought only 2% would be that dramatic, but "soap do what soap do!"
 
Wow, I just learned something new. I've not tried limonene, but have used d-limonene. Not sure what the difference is, though. The d-limonene smells great but the smell fades to nearly nothing during cure even at 4% so I'm not likely to order more.
 
Sorry, I said "limonene" but was actually referring to "d-limonene."

I haven't had scent fading issues with d-limonene, but I will say that the scent really springs to life when the product is used; it definitely doesn't smell as strong in the dry bars.
 

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