Soft and crumbly soap- trying to rebatch. I cut 24hrs after. it's like cheese. how do i rebatch this(what shouldi add)

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Hanes5711

Member
Joined
May 8, 2020
Messages
12
Reaction score
2
Location
SD
Total oil weight​
48 oz​
Water as percent of oil weight​
38.00 %​
Super Fat/Discount​
5 %​
Lye Concentration​
27.280 %​
Water : Lye Ratio​
2.6657:1​
Sat : Unsat Ratio​
63 : 38​
Iodine​
39​
INS​
167​
Fragrance Ratio​
0.5​
Fragrance Weight​
1.50 oz​
Pounds
Ounces
Grams
Water​
1.14015.01517.09
Lye - NaOH
0.4286.71193.98
Oils​
3.00048.001,360.78
Fragrance​
0.0941.5042.52
Soap weight before CP cure or HP cook More info 4.66174.582,114.38
#
Oil/Fat​
%​
Pounds
Ounces
Grams
1​
Tallow Beef​
77.582.32837.241,055.74
2​
Castor Oil​
3.020.0911.4541.11
3​
Coconut Oil, 76 deg​
19.400.5829.31263.93
Totals100.003.00048.001,360.78
Soap Bar Quality
Range
Your Recipe
Hardness
29 - 54​
60​
Cleansing
12 - 22​
19​
Conditioning
44 - 69​
36​
Bubbly
14 - 46​
22​
Creamy
16 - 48​
44​
Iodine
41 - 70​
39​
INS
136 - 165​
167​
Lauric11
Myristic8
Palmitic23
Stearic18
Ricinoleic3
Oleic
30​
Linoleic3
Linolenic1
 
Last edited:
What you have effectively done is make a soap with a lye concentration of 43%.
Rather than just randomly cut the water it might be a good idea in future to adjust the lye concentration.
33% lye concentration is a good starting point for most recipes. I'd also make a much smaller batch until you worked out problems you have.
You'd have to tell us more about your soaping process to be able to advise you on how to avoid this in future if you need help.
For now I'd confetti the soap, as KiwiMoose suggests, as I have never rebatched as it sounds like a nightmare. Capture.PNG
 
Last edited:
I had a similar experience with a couple batches of soap. It turned out soft and curdly looking with little pockets of liquid. This was after about 48 hours in the molds. The first time I thought I had screwed up something with the weights, so I re-checked my digital scale and made another batch. Same thing. I had had my lye for a few years and just for the heck of it I ordered some new lye, did the same formula, and---- voila! Perfect! I believe that my lye had somehow gotten moisture in it at some point or otherwise had just gotten too old., Interestingly, the liquidy stuff (?lye or oil pockets) absorbed into the gunky soap after a week or so, so I cut it and let it cure for a really long time. Grated most of it to add to other batches of soap, and actually used a few of the bars which turned out to be OK soap (highly superfatted) :computerbath:Just something to consider.
 
I would also wait a day. And as mentioned, never just Willy Nilly cut your water in half. First, lye needs at least its own weight to fully dissolve - and you don’t want to end up with lye heavy soap. So use a lye solution (not water as a % of oils) but a lye solution of 33-35%. Also, rebatching is not that difficult, I’ve rebatched dozens of times. Cut or grate your soap up very fine, I like to use a salad shooter. You can use a crockpot, but I use my stovetop and a stainless steel pot. Add your grated/shredded soap to the pot & turn on very low heat. You want to melt the soap down as evenly as possible & be careful not to scorch/burn the soap. With fresh soap, I would add 1-2 teaspoons liquid per pound of soap, with older soap, it’s 1-2 tablespoons. Sometimes I use Aloe Juice or Coconut Milk instead of water. When the soap is nearly melted, I add a tablespoon of yogurt to help it be more fluid. This soap will never be pourable though. When it’s all melted (it will take at least an hour), you may want to add some additional color/fragrance as frequently the fragrance is gone and the color is a jumble of many colors. It’s not as hard as everyone thinks.
 
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