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Soap & Candle Making

Soap Question

16 years ago

I was wondering about trying my hand at some bath soaps. I have made lye soap for awhile now. Some books say to add all the oils, butters, and fragrance while making the soap from the start. Other books say to make the soap first then grate the base soap, add water, oils and everything else. Which is the best way to make the best batch soaps. Thanks so much for your input!

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Comments (2)

simplemary
16 years ago
Add anything that isn't the base at trace--fragrances, herbs, leftover soap from other batches. If you are talking about REbatching, then wait until your base batch melts, & add your new items when you're about to mold, because rebatching temps are sustained for a longer time & can kill fragrance, herbal benefits, etc.

I don't rebatch only because in my opinion it is kinda a waste of time-- you're not actually making new soap, you're just "melting" old soap. What I DO do, is make a new soap, pour a little into the molds at trace, add my old chopped or grated pieces, pour a little more new soap, stir it up, add more, pour more... until I have a nice layer cake-- all done, of course, at the speed of light so the new soap doesn't seize on me. Comes out chunky & pretty. Good luck.
shellie66
Original Author
16 years ago
Wow, thank you so much for the information! You have been very helpful. Your first statement made it very clear. I was hoping I wasn't going to have to make soap twice each time I wanted to do a bath soap. I bought a Lavender Patchouli blend bar of soap on ebay and it smells so wonderful and it lathers so well. But I hate to spend 5 bucks plus shipping time I buy a bar! So I am going to try and make my own! Thank you so much again!
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