Soap is a temperamental thing, something I am usually reminded of at the worst possible times - right in the thick of it! This batch was supposed be a summery yellow and cream swirl but in the end this is what I had...................Can you see the oily patches on top? Never a good sign.......

Some soapmakers throw their bad batches away but there is a lot of good stuff in there, ingredients and cost wise, even if it looks brown and oily at the moment. (Plus I hate waste of any kind, it actually makes me feel sad). So how can I make useable soap that people will happily exchange their money for?? The answer....REBATCHING. Basically it means melting it all down again so you can make needed adjustments. Most of the time you will be able to do this and save the batch. In my early soap days I rebatched ALOT. 

This is my soap in a slow cooker. I find this the easiest way to rebatch. I have grated it all down so it melts quicker and more evenly. After 3 hours it looked like this...

I have mashed this until my skinny arms and wrists protested "no more I'm dropping off". Rebatched soap will always have a rustic look. It will loose the clean smooth appearance of a cold process soap and this was as good as I knew I could get it. After letting it cool a little I poured it into my mould. You can see how lumpy and 'rustic' it looks.  

Meanwhile I had prepared a new batch of coconut milk soap that I could pour on top of this to give me a layered effect. Once the top layer was poured and stiffened enough I added some soap lovehearts that I had cut out of another batch.

I insulated the mould for 24 hours with a blanket (although if I was to repeat this procedure again I wouldn't insulate this soap). Steven took the mould sides off for me, it needed to harden a little more but 24 hours later was the moment of truth............the exciting bit- the first cut.....................and here we are..........This is "Tropical Love" with Mango (although it has lost alot of its original mango smell in the rebatching) Coconut Milk and Lime. I love the look of it especially knowing what I had orignally.

In my soap kitchen there is never any waste and I love that. Somtimes I have grated my 'unsaleables' to make laundry soap. I always save and rebatch the soap shavings which add up to lots and lots of mis-shapen flowers over the year that get distributed amongst family and friends.

So that my friends is a soap lesson I have learned over time. If it goes wrong don't panic. There is very little that can't be fixed even if it means you keep youself in soap for the next few years :) xx