Too much clay but beautiful soap

[Jerseycity MG]

Hi there,

I am new to this forum, making soap about 6 months and candles for about 2.5 yrs.

This week I made a beautiful olive oil+coconut oil+coco butter soap and added too much clay.

A.) does anyone have a rule of thumb how much clay per pound?
B.) is there any way I can reuse or repurpose this pretty, beautiful smelling, super hard and crumbly soap?

Thanks all!

 

[artemis]

I only use about 1-2 tsps per pound.

How big of a batch was this?
How much is too much?

When I shredded a crumbly batch of white soap, it became a powder. I used some as snow in a winter soap.

 

[Jerseycity MG]

I think I used a tablespoon per pound, I wasn't thinking about the water!
That's a good idea about reusing crumbles. How did you add it to another batter?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

A.) does anyone have a rule of thumb how much clay per pound?

For dry ingredients, i.e., clays, flours, starch, arrowroot, powdered coffee grinds, spices, dried herbs, etc. the general rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon PPO (Per Pound Oils). It varies according to what FAs you use and what you are trying to accomplish. Of course, there are exceptions. Poppy seeds, pumice, and the like can be very scratchy in finished soap. Cinnamon/ Clove is VERY sensitizing so use it with a light touch. Activated Charcoal can turn your white washcloths to black if you use too much. These things you will learn as you go along. Use the Search feature in the upper right corner of this page to search any ingredient to learn more.

is there any way I can reuse or repurpose this pretty, beautiful smelling, super hard and crumbly soap?

1) You can grate it up and do an "over pour"using the same amount of soap in the original batch. 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 soap shreds to new soap. The Ciaglia method is quite nice.

2) You can do an oven or crockpot rebatch to melt the soap down and add new soap.

3) Almost forgot... the forum favorite is making Confetti Soap. It's the easiest. There are many threads that discuss that technique. Just use the Search feature to fine them.