Saturday, January 15, 2011

Basic soap base for re-batching

After the success of the very berry re-batching experiment, I decided to try to make re-batched chamomile, lime-blossom and fennel soap, so that I can use the wonderful herbal teas I have instead of spending a lot of money on EOs. So I decided to make a batch of "neutral" white unscented soap base, and then rebatch it with these herbal teas, and maybe try to colour it as well, or do so swirls. So that's what I did yesterday.

For my soap base I used mainly olive oil (my favourite and one of the cheapest you can find here), with some 14% butterfat and a little coconut and castor oils for lather. I used a very low lye discount (3%) so that I can later add some extra oils while rebatching without getting a oily soap. I made up the recipe myself, so I'm not quite sure of the result. If it comes out well, I'll be posting it here.

I did it CP, and I added some fresh cream at light trace, to see if I get a richer lather and a creamier soap.

EDIT: I have just unmoulded it and I was impressed by how easily it came perfectly out of the mould. I cut it and it looks so good I'm sorry I have to rebatch it!! It looks firm but creamy, a yellowish colour (I suspect it kind of overheated yesterday night while wrapped in my old blanket to gel).
I'll probably be rebatching it before it gets completely cured, maybe in a week or so, so that hopefully it is still quite soft and easy to melt down without all the lumps. We'll see.

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