My Re-Batching Experiment

Re-Batching...oh how I dislike you. 

I've never been much of a re-batcher, I don't really like to do it, it never turns out right, and it just irritates the crap out of me, but sometimes it's inevitable and must be done.

I made these cupcake soaps with one of my mystery fragrance from the Fall S.O.A.P panel, and if you kept up with my testing posts you know that the fragrance morphed into a floral fragrance that doesn't at all go with a cupcake.  My plan was to leave it, but as it sat the floral got more pronounced.  I realized that I didn't even want to give them away, so re-batching was my only option.

I usually re-batch with a boil bag, but I scored this fantastic little crock pot at a garage sale for a dollar...that's right a dollar!! 

I have never used a crock pot for soap, so I thought it would be a great experiment for me.  I grated up all the soap (resulting in a chance to catch up on some of my shows for a few hours, and one very sore elbow)

Then I stuck the lid on the crock pot, and let it go.  One thing I liked about the crock pot vs the bag method, I didn't have to check it near as often.  I was able to work on other things while the soap was cooking in the pot. 

It was definitely easier to do than the bag method.  I decided to use my small wood log mold, very simple and easy to plop the soap into.  Once it was all melted and clumps where gone, I plopped it into the log mold.  I did see some clumps that didn't get melted all the way when I scooped the soap into the mold. 

It's rough, but better than some of the re-batches that I have done in the past.  I had so much going on that I forgot about it and waited way to long to slice it up, it was as hard as a rock when I tried to slice it, but I finally managed to get it sliced up!

So not a terrible experiment, and it turned out OK.  I was happy to notice that it didn't loose any of it's scent during the re-cook.  It does have some chunks that didn't get melted as you can see, so maybe next time it needs to cook a bit longer.  All in all it was a great experiment, and I am super excited about my $1 crock pot!  I also got a bunch of silicone molds at the same garage sale for $5!  Looking forward to more practice with soap cupcakes!!

For today...Have a Happy Soapy Day!