Question about rebatching

[jessieh]

I've searched on this site and read lots on rebatching but haven't found an answer to this question. I am going to rebatch some soap I made yesterday. I didn't realize until too late that I had misread the instructions and not added enough olive oil. I was 5 oz. short, so it is lye-heavy.
So the question I have is in the instructions for rebatching- I've seen that you need to add water or some other liquid to help melt the soap. If I'm going to be adding 5 oz of olive oil, do I still need to add water or liquid?

 

[IrishLass]

Hi Jessieh- most times, if the soap is still fairly new it won't need any extra water.

What I would do with yours is grate the soap, mix the olive oil into the gratings and heat it (covered) to get it soft and somewhat melty. If at that time it looks like it needs any extra water, spray it with water from a spray bottle and give things a stir, and then go from there. Spraying instead of pouring water in gives you more control by helping to keep you from going overboard and adding too much water.


IrishLass

 

[kumudini]

The usual amount of liquid advised for re batching is 1/2 to 1 cup of water per pound soap. Since your soap is so fresh, it would probably be fine with 1/2 cup. And for your batch size, if I remember correctly, you would need a cup. Now, I've never rebatched a lye heavy soap or added oil otherwise, so I'm not sure if the oil would help melting the soap, but I'm thinking it's unlikely. May be others who had done this will chime in.

ETA: glad that IL answered your question before my ignorance made you mess up your soap further.

 

[seven]

I hate rebatching. I had lye heavy soaps that were so crumbly and zappy and i just left them for months. They are no longer zappy, but soda ash is thick as hell.. I've used them and they're okay. No negative reaction to my skin. I am just telling my experience, others might think differently about this method.
Another option is to make confetti soap. Grate the lye heavy soap and mix with fresh oils.

 

[not_ally]

I hate rebatching as well. I would much rather try and recycle them into confetti, at least those can be pretty.

ETA: sorry, OP, I realized this was not responsive. If I was going to rebatch I would follow IL's advice and add the water slowly so it did not take forever to harden.