Have you ever had soap seize up on you when you added a certain fragrance oil or additive?

Have you ever had soap separate when in the mold due to not enough stirring?

I think every soapmaker at one time or another has experienced one of these issues. I had something happen just the other day and I wanted to share it with you.

The CrockPot Soap Save – Hot Process Saves the Day

I was making a beautiful layered soap using fresh avocado. I divided my soap out, colored each container, grabbed my mold and BAM! Each of the containers of soap got super thick!

My essential oil blend included some spice essential oils. I knew it would move quickly, but didn’t anticipate that it would move this quickly.

I managed to get the first layer poured, then the second…then went to pour the third layer. It was instant soap on a stick.

I added a bit of warm water and tried to stir into submission. It help to loosen it up a bit. I glopped it into the mold.

A few minutes later the water started to come out of that last layer. I soon had a soupy mess! What to do?

I grabbed my Crock-Pot and dumped my soap into it.

crockpotRebatchI used a spoon and chopped it up in the pot. I laughed at how much it looked like chopped avocado, since it did contain fresh avocado puree! Who brought the chips to this party?

RebatchI set my CrockPot on high and let the soap warm up. This pushes it through gel phase. Once the soap is completely in gel phase, you can mix it up well to get everything blended back together.

hotProcessSoapOnce it was all mixed up, I glopped it into my mold. Not the most beautiful soap, but it will be nice to use!

hotProcessRebatchAnd here is what the soap ended up looking like! For being an avocado soap it actually turned out looking like avocado!

Photo by Busy Bee Creative - Product Photography

Photo by Busy Bee Creative – Product Photography

So I want to encourage you to never throw a batch of soap out if something happens when making it. As long as you have the correct oils and lye, you can dump it into a CrockPot and hot process it.

Happy Soaping!

Amanda Gail