How to Remake New Bars of Lye Soap With Old Ones
You can make new bars of soap from old ones by following a few simple steps. Remaking new soap from leftovers or defective batches of lye soap is called rebatching. When you rebatch, you break the old soap into small portions, melt it down and incorporate any new or missing ingredients. Rebatching your old lye soap allows you to add new scents or additives, and improve the look of a batch with which you are not quite pleased. These directions work for any quantity of old soap--from a single bar to an entire batch.
Things You'll Need
- Cheese grater
- Bowl
- Wood or plastic spoon
- Oven-safe glass or ceramic baking dish
- Essential oil or fragrance oil (optional)
- Soap mold
Instructions
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1
Fully dry your old lye soap. Sniff it to see if you will need to add additional scent later in the process.
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2
Prepare the old lye soap for rebatching by grating it with the finest side of a cheese grater.
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3
Place the grated soap into a bowl and sprinkle it with water. The amount of water you use depends on the amount of soap you have grated. Generally, you should add about 1 tbsp. of water per cup of grated soap. Mix with a wood or plastic spoon to combine.
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4
Perfect the consistency of your soap mix. The soap and water combination should be the consistency of slushy snow and should hold together if you squeeze it into a ball. If it is not, adjust it as necessary with more water or more grated soap.
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5
Scrape the soap into an oven-safe baking dish and bake at 160 degrees F for three hours. Stir the soap every so often to make sure it melts evenly.
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6
Remove your soap from the oven when it has a translucent, melted appearance. Stir in fragrance if desired.
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7
Pour the soap into a soap mold and let it harden overnight. Slice it into bars and cure it for four to six weeks before using it.
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Tips & Warnings
If you don't want to cook your soap, you can shape it into soap balls after Step 4. Shape it in your hands like a snowball and let it dry fully before using.
You can add special touches like rose petals or dried lavender to your rebatched soap at the same time you stir in the fragrance.
Cooked soap is hot! Be careful when you remove it from the oven.
The more water you add to your grated soap, the longer it will take the finished bars to cure.
