Soap "Coal" for Christmas Gift?

[BrewerGeorge]

We go to a New Year's Eve party every year, at which we exchange White Elephant Christmas gifts. After doing this for several years it has become difficult to to come up with joke-y gifts that haven't been seen before, or don't cost more than one would spend on a "real" gift.

So this year I'm thinking of trying to make some misshapen lumps of black soap, like coal lumps, and putting them into a stocking for the gift. I have several bars of fully-cured charcoal soap that I could use for this purpose but I don't know the best method to reshape them.

Is there anything I can do? A full rebatch would require re-curing time beyond the two weeks I have available, right? Would heat alone melt shredded soap enough to shape without added water? What if I added a bit more EO as binder and to make it "earthier" than its current peppermint scent? If so I could do the bag-in-crockpot method to heat and then shape with my hands and dust with more AC to make it really black and messy.

What are my chances?

 

[dixiedragon]

If you have any older, well-cured soap shred that? But I don't know if it would be dry and firm in time. M&P is probably your best option.

Maybe make a gift baggie of lotions, soaps, etc and give them jokie names? Like "Reindeer Poo"? One I saw was "tired old *ss soak" - foaming bath salts.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I don't know if heat alone would be enough. I'd be tempted to try it if you have enough to spare.

If it doesn't work, maybe grab a chisel and hammer and a variety of other things to cut/break some of the bars into chunks of various size and shape. Dent them up a bit too. Then you could wash them and roll in ac. They'll be really messy anyway

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I don't know if heat alone would be enough. I'd be tempted to try it if you have enough to spare.

If it doesn't work, maybe grab a chisel and hammer and a variety of other things to cut/break some of the bars into chunks of various size and shape. Dent them up a bit too. Then you could wash them and roll in ac. They'll be really messy anyway

Sounds like Plan B, for sure.

 

[dibbles]

I would think twice about rolling them in AC. It is so messy, and it would suck the fun out of the soap for me.

 

[dixiedragon]

I want to make the black soap chunks for next Christmas, but I am wondering if that much charcoal or oxide will stain the washcloth and/or make gray bubbles? I am considering making regular white soap and coating it with a thin layer of clear M&P with black mica in it.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I want to make the black soap chunks for next Christmas, but I am wondering if that much charcoal or oxide will stain the washcloth and/or make gray bubbles? I am considering making regular white soap and coating it with a thin layer of clear M&P with black mica in it.

Yes, definitely.

I don't use a washcloth, but giftees have complained of a very dark soap staining them.

I would think twice about rolling them in AC. It is so messy, and it would suck the fun out of the soap for me.

You don't think it would all wash off the first time it was wet?

 

[dibbles]

You don't think it would all wash off the first time it was wet?

It probably would. I would wrap it in that case since I wouldn't want to handle until I was ready to use it. Maybe just me. I hate the stuff before it is mixed into something.

 

[dixiedragon]

Possibly an FO that discolors VERY dark brown, then use AC or oxide to push it from brown to black?

 

[earlene]

Why not use a knife and 'whittle' the soap to the shape of a charcoal briquette (more or less)? I think that would be much easier than re-batching. After cut down, you can smooth it a bit with some rubbing alcohol & light hand washing. Let it dry & you should be good to go.