Help rebatching three week old crumbling soap

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omdougherty

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Hello All!

I have a question about rebatching because Im very new to soapmaking and it seems im learning a lot along the way.
This recipe I am trying to rebatch after three weeks was a Hot Process soap recipe with 15 oz of Oil with 40% lye solution (I mad 100% solution at first with water and added rest of the liquid as coconut milk during cook)
Heres recipe (Any tips are greatly appreciated):
40% coconut Oil
10% Cocoa Butter
30% olive oil
10% Sunflower Oil
5% Castor Oil
5% Hemp seed Oil
I saved 1 oz of the oil ( .75oz cocoa butter/.25oz of hemp oil) for superfatting after the cook.

The main trouble, however, is I dont believe with the recipe, which you all can confirm or not, but with the process. I dont have a crockpot to cook in so I tried cooking it straight on the stovetop with a cheap pot... NOT A GOOD IDEA. It started to boil and foam immediately and I was forced to just stand there and stir constantly.. Eventually, after ten minutes or so I read here that its best on stovetop to cook in double boiler method so I filled a large pot with water and stuck the other one in it and finished the cook that way. The result was a kind of lumpy mess which I tried to blend into something smooth then threw into my silicone molds.
Now the soap smells like chocolate cake of sort (which is very pleasant) but crumbles in big pieceswhen a bit of pressure is applied.

So I want to rebatch it and make it a a more smooth consistency that wont be crumbling from the touch and can be used nicely since it has so many great oils in it. ANY HELP? Ive read something about rebatching but I dont have a crockpot currently and dont really know what at all how to do this or what, if anything, I should add to it to reform its shape and consistency.

Thanks ahead of time for your time and energy. Much Love!
 

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I'm a little bit confused, do you mean a 50% lye solution rather than 100? 100 percent lye solution would just be solid lye, and you can't really supersaturate a lye solution as it would be very unstable for using in soapmaking.

It does sound like you heated your soap too high and maybe it just dried out too much. It does look kind of dry. If this is the case, and it is not lye heavy, you can try to remelt in your double boiler on low with some extra water.
 
Thanks for response!
Yes.. It was a 50% Lye solution to dissolve the lye, then I added the rest of the liquid (coconut milk) at beginning of the cook.. sorry for mistake. I do not think the soap is lye heavy, just very very dry and brittle..

I will certainly try remelting and adding some water.
1. How much water is good to add?
2. Should I crumble it up in bits first before melting it down? or melt it down then mix with stick blender?

Sorry for all the questoins 🧐
 
You want to break it up into small pieces, the smaller the better.
Heat it on low, only add a tsp of water at a time as needed. Rebatch won't be smooth or liquidy, you are looking for soft mashed potatoes.

Don't expect to melt down all the pieces, it just doesn't work that way. Adding to much water will make your bars warp as they dry.

You won't be able to stick blend rebatch, use a sturdy spoon.
 
Yeah I will try to use the electric mixer.. actually usually I am using it anyway instead of the stick blender for hot and cold process.

Do you suggest using it only after it melts down? Or maybe during the melting process and also after? 🤪🤭🤔😅
 
Yeah I will try to use the electric mixer.. actually usually I am using it anyway instead of the stick blender for hot and cold process.

Do you suggest using it only after it melts down? Or maybe during the melting process and also after? 🤪🤭🤔😅
I've only rebatched about three times, so I'm no expert...but I stirred with a spoon until it seemed pretty well "melted" and then I hit it with the mixer at the end to help break up the bigger chunks and make it more uniform.
 

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