Is your marble sealed - Mine is sealed with porous plus 511. I have 2 years with heavy use no stains, lots of etching. However, there have been a couple of times where there appeared to be a stain - basically the stain was sitting on top of the 511 and need a nudge to come off. The first month back in the house I set the crock pot on a cutting board that had a design on it, you know the one where there is a cow for meat cutting, a carrot for veggie etc. At any rate, I had set it with the design face down by accident, and the blue design was transfered to the marble with the heat of the crock pot. No amount of gentle washing with dish soap removed it. Now I'm NOT RECOMMENDING this for your problem, but just to let you know that if your marble is sealed you will get the stain off in all probability, I took a tiny bit of barkeepers friend, tinyiest bit, on a wet cloth and gently buffed the different areas to remove the blue streaks. I tested a spot on the edge before trying this and did not see an etch. After removing the blue "paint" I washed with dish soap and dried the area and then reapplied the 511. The stain came off, and there was no etching. Would I do this now? NO, I would call my fabricator and ask what he recommends. I tell this story to let you know that you will in all likelihood get the stain out if you have sealed it. If you haven't sealed it, I would use 511 after you deal with this problem. Honestly, I have no stains.

Yes, it is called rebatching, and I will avoid it if at all possible. It's time consuming and tedious. To let you know, I make cp soap by the 10 pound recipes. I presently have 2 buckets of soap scraps, I would guess about a 2 or 3 cubic foot container. Instead of rebatching it I will add it to a new recipe of soap. Unlike what you have, this is still virgin soap scraps, not previously used. I will make soap and give these away or use them ourselves. What I would do if I had these previous used scraps, I would just add it to a new bar as they are being used; they do stick fairly readily, and they rarely come off. If you are going to still rebatch, I would grate them, then lightly mist them (not dripping) the night before, then add them to a crockpot on low or medium heat. You will need to set aside about 4 hours or so, depending on how much soap you need to do. The trick is to add just enough water (by the tablespoon) to keep the soap pliable and not dry, while you are trying to mash it, until it is thoroughly melted. Be careful, this soap is very hot while in the crock! Any scent of the scraps will disappear in the final product, so if you want it scented, then let the soap cool down a bit and mix in scent just before pour/mashing it into any molds. hth

Jody, thank you for your comments; over the many years I�ve been coming here, not many that I have seen thank others for their help. I have looked into both hot press and cold press and thing CP is the way to go. CP is my favourite process to make soap, HP was too rustic for me, although some soapers can successfully make HP look like CP. I, like melissa have bought several fried herbs, oils, lye, etc and I am trying to find just the right recipe. I�m hoping that you meant "dried" vice "fried"? lol! (Sorry, I�m a bit of a kidder) Experimenting is a large part of this hobby; but the expense can get out of hand, especially with the scents. I would like to make soap with hemp seed oil. Do you happen to have a recipe you might share or recommend? I have stayed away from hemp oil; the shelf life is too short, if memory serves me, 6 months in the raw state? Used hemp like any other conditioning oil; like shea or coco butter. The herbs/colorants I am working with are things like lemongrass, chamomile, burdock, turmeric, spearmint leaves, dandelions, and a few more whose names escape me at the moment. Jody, what are you hoping to do with the above list? I have used turmeric for colouring a recipe, but none of the others in your list for colour. If you are hoping to use those herbs for scent, you�ll be disappointed. If these are EO (Essential Oils) or Fos (Fragrance Oils), then you�ll be ok. I have use parsley in some recipes, but after a year or so the parsley will fade into a pale yellow colour. I have successfully used clays for earth tones as well as Stevia for green. As for EO's I have several, and my favorites are lavender, lemongrass, mint, jasmine, etc Lavender EO or FO, I would use at 1 ounce per pound of oils. Lemongrass EO, is quite strong, I would consider around � ounce per pound of oils. Peppermint Eo is stronger then spearmint EO, peppermint I would use no more then � ounce per pound; spearmint slightly more, maybe .6 Jasmine (hint: remember white florals) can hurry trace, so make sure you have all equipment ready to pour before hand mixing the lye solution into the oils/fats and soap on the cooler side. I am looking for a reasonably small recipe for my first time, maybe 4-5 lbs. (even less) Jody, what are you asking here, if you can use the calculator, then what advice can I offer? About 2 pounds maybe a good start. I saw some soap in an organic store yesterday and couldn't believe how strong the fragrances were! I would love to make something that has a strong scent. These are all Eos: Peppermint, Spearmint, and Lemongrass would be good for strong scent. Some others would be; tea tree, Clove (not really recommended), Cinnamon, Rosemary and Patchouli.(You have to like the sent of these oils) Fos, will depend on who has manufactured them, not all are created equal. August is the beginning of my holidays, so I may not be available soon. My old stomping grounds used to be TheSoapDish (if it is still called that) lots of good info there. I understand the lye calculator and how to change measurements to % Hemp is a good conditioning oil, so you could use 5% or so of your recipe, although I have not personally used that one; but I do use Caster oil from time to time, depending on the other oils in the recipe. Good luck Jody, if I can be of more help, just let me know! (I hope the formatting is good here I had trouble with Word 2010)

This year we've made a 10 pound cold processed recipe. We've split it into 2 x 4 pound recipes and 1 x 2 pound quantities. The first 4 pounder, we used a Coconut FO (my daughter likes it straight, no other scent with it); the second 4 pounder, we used Spearmint EO (I don't really like the Peppermint EO); and the last 2 pounds, we used Yuzu (if memory serves) using the last of that FO. This time of year we like to bring some soap over to friends homes, and leave it by one of their sinks (we dont tell them) they'll know who left them. :D It is a nice gift that is home made, and we avoid gift exchanges that way as well. Just a little something, ya know. Peace and health your way. Best of the holidays! (when they come).