Soap Making Essentials

Rebatching Soap
Learn How to Handmill Soap



Rebatched Soap Bars

Rebatching soap or hand milling soap is the act of reprocessing a previously made batch of soap.

Why would anyone want to do this? Here are a few reasons.

  • To use up leftover soap bits.
  • To repair a batch of soap that is short on ingredients or just plain ugly.
  • To economize on expensive essential oils. ie. rose absolute.

I hadn't had much success in the past with rebatching soap. My last attempt was a stove top method that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. It was a dismal failure to say the least.

When I came across the crockpot method, I thought, "Hey, this might just work!" and I decided to gave it a try. What I really wanted to know was if I could do it or not. If needed, could I repair a batch of soap?

Yes, I can and so can you!

I must admit that half way through the process, I thought I had failed. It looked like an ugly mess and I was ready to call it quits but I followed through and put the mix into the mold anyway and let it cool.

The resulting cut soaps were surprisingly smooth and the color wasn't too bad either. Next time I will pay more attention to the colors of soap I'm using and how they will blend together. Adding a little yellow or blue colorant would have brightened up the green nicely I think.


Feel the need to try hand milling soap yourself?
Here are the step-by-step instructions I used


Grate up the soap to be rebatched and place into your crockpot.

I added about 3 tablespoons of water because some of my soaps were a little dry and to help prevent scorching.

Turn on the crockpot to high (or lower if it will burn) and put the lid on the pot.

Keep an eye on the soap to make sure it is melting and isn't burning.

Grated soap in crockpot.
Melted soap in crockpot.
Once the grated soap bits are transparent, you can add your color, oil or scent.

Just gently mix the additives in and when it is blended, spoon it into your mold.

Some people add a small amount of goats milk, whole milk or coconut milk to make the soaps creamier.

Notice how mine looks incredibly ugly? Don't panic like I did.

I found it to be like thick porridge and a little difficult to work with.

You'll want to work quickly so the mix doesn't cool before you get it all in the mold.

Once it has cooled completely, it can be cut and cured as usual.

Molded handmilled soap.


Rebatching soap is definately not my preferred method of soapmaking but it's nice to know that I can repair a batch of soap, if necessary, rather than throw it away.

Now that I think about it, I may have to try this again.....I just love the smell of roses but can't afford to buy rose absolute in quantity. I wouldn't need much would I? Maybe a little bit of coconut milk as well. Hmmmm.....


Boil-n-Bag Rebatching Soap


Rebatched soap using the

This next idea for rebatching soap was suggested to me by Lane, a talented soapmaker who owns Luxury Lane Soap.

I really like this method of rebatching because you don't have to worry about scorching the soap and there is very little clean-up. It's a great way for hand milling small amounts of soap scraps.

Grate Soap Put in Ziplocks
1. Grate up your soap scraps and mix up to blend different colors. Be aware of the possible color combination results. ie. Pink and green will make brown. Yellow and blue will make green. 2. Place grated soap into a large freezer ziplock bag along with any extra oils, color, etc. If the soap is really dry, you may want to add a small amount of water or milk. One or two tablespoons should be enough. Squeeze bag of air and seal. Place that bag into a second ziplock, squeeze and seal.
Place bag into water. Smoosh bag.
3. Once the bag is sealed, place it into a pot of simmering water and put on the lid. Periodically check the bag to see if the soap is melting. Turn up the heat a little if nothing happens after 1/2 hour. 4. When the soap begins melting, remove the bag and smoosh or squeeze the mixture to blend it. You may want to wear oven mitts or gloves to do this. It's HOT! Return to pot and repeat steps 3 and 4 until the mixture is completely melted.
Squeeze soap to one corner. Pour into mold.
5. When the soap has melted completely, quickly remove the bag from the pot and squeeze the soap to one corner. 6. Clip the corner of the bag at the bottom of the soap and pipe it into a mold to cool. Remove and cut the rebatched bars when the soap is completely cool.



Top of Rebatching Soap Page

Soap Making Essentials Home Page


Site Search powered by FreeFind

Rate this site:





widget



XML RSS
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Add to Google
| Home | The Soap Blog | My Story | About Soap | Supplies | Fats and Oils |
| Essential Oils | Additives | Lye and Water | The Process | Soap Recipes | Decorative Ideas |
| Rebatching Soap | Suppliers | Forums | Cleaning Recipes | Contact Info | Resources | Site Map |

Copyright© 2008 Soap Making Essentials
All content on this website is for informational purposes only.


Return to top

Template Design