Rebatch Soap is the same as Hand Milled Soap. To make rebatch soap and hand milled soap you follow four basic steps: (1) milled, grated or shredded soap, (2) melt soap, (3) add scent and/or additives, and (4) mold melted soap. The beauty of making rebatch soap and hand milled soap is that because you begin the process with ready-made soap, you don’t have to worry about working with lye. Also, because your rebatch soap and hand milled soap will not go through saponification process (because it has already gone through it), you won’t need to use as much essential oil to scent your soap than if you were to make soap from scratch.

So why do I make rebatch soap and hand milled soap? To give soap ends and scraps a new lease on life. I love it that this soap making process can turn something that many people discard into something that’s useful and beautiful again. I save all my soap ends and scraps from previous batches of homemade soap. When I have about 2 pounds of soap ends and scraps, I would turn them into rebatch soap and hand milled soap.

There are, however, some downsides to making rebatch soap and hand milled soap. If you begin with a store-bought soap, you won’t have control over the soap’s ingredients. Many store-bought soap uses synthetic ingredients and artificial fragrance that are not the best for our skin. Because of this, it’s a good idea to use all natural soap to make your rebatch soap and hand milled soap. Another downside is that it can be difficult to mold rebatch soap and hand milled soap, because the soap batter is usually much thicker than cold process soap batter. But don’t let these minor issues stop you from making your own rebatch soap and hand milled soap.

Rebatch Soap and Hand Milled Soap

Prep Time: 2 hours (includes 1 and 1/2 hours of cooking time)
Yields: 26 oz of rebatch soap and hand milled soap

Ingredients Needed to Make Rebatch Soap and Hand Milled Soap

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1. 1 and 1/2 pounds of soap ends and scraps or Unscented All Natural Soap, like Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Pure-Castile Bar Soap; Organic Unscented Coconut Castile Soap Bar; All-Natural Unscented Goat Milk Soap; and All Natural Farm Fresh Goat Milk Soap Bar.
2. 3/4 cup of liquid. I used Green Tea. You can use milk or distilled water.
3. 1/4 oz of NOW Foods Lemongrass Essential Oil
4. 1/4 oz of NOW Foods Eucalyptus Essential Oil
5. A Soap Mold. I used a rectangular silicone soap mold, but had to build a wooden frame to support the mold. Without a frame, the mold would not hold its shape after I add soap batter. You can also try this silicone mold that molds individual soap bars, or this silicone mold that comes with a frame. I prefer silicone molds because I can get the soap out pretty easily.

Instructions on Making Rebatch Soap and Hand Milled Soap

1. Mill, grate, shred or cut soap into pieces. I used a Stainless Steel Crinkle to cut my soap ends and scraps. You need 1 and 1/2 pounds of soap for this recipe.

I didn’t cut the soap into super small pieces, because I like my rebatch soap and hand milled soap to have imbeds, and different colors. If you use purchased soap that has the same color, then your rebatch soap or hand milled soap will have the same color as well.

2. Place soap pieces into a crock pot and add liquid. I used green tea, which turned my rebatch soap and hand milled soap into a mocha color.

3. Cover crock pot and turn it to high heat.

Be patient. It took me 1 and 1/2 hours of cooking, with the crock pot lid on, to melt my soap ends and scraps to a moldable consistency. This was what my soap batter looked like after 20 minutes of cooking at high heat.

This was what my soap batter looked like after 1 hour of cooking at high heat. I continued to cooked the soap for an additional 30 minutes before molding it.

4. When your rebatch soap and hand milled soap turns into a very thick cake batter consistency, you can add essential oil, and other additives. This recipe uses 1/4 oz each of lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oil. You can add more or less of the essential oil for a stronger or lighter scent.

5. Scope the soap into a soap mold. I couldn’t pour the soap into the mold, because the cooked soap was very thick.

If you think your batter is too thick to work with, you can add 1/4 cup of liquid, such as distilled water. Be careful about adding too much liquid. It can prevent the soap from drying properly. After adding the soap into a mold, I dropped the mold from about a foot high to help get the air bubbles out of the soap mixture.

If you use a rectangular soap silicone mold like I did, be sure to use a frame, because the walls of the mold are not strong enough to hold the soap.

6. Finally, wait at least 1 day, preferably 2 days, before releasing the rebatch soap and hand milled soap from its mold. Cut the soap into bars that are approximately 1 inch thick.

That’s it! Pretty easy, right? You can customize this rebatch soap and hand milled soap recipe. If you want to keep the color of the soap light, then add water or milk, rather than green tea, when cooking the soap. The color of your final rebatch soap and hand milled soap also depends largely on the soap you begin with. My soap ends and scraps had purple, orange and white pieces, and those colors remained in my final rebatch soap and hand milled soap.

I found that the combination of green tea, lemongrass and eucalyptus essential oil produced a divine scent. But you can use other essential oil to add scent to your rebatch soap and hand milled soap. You can also add no scent at all. That’s the beauty of making your own soap. You control everything.

I hope you will give this recipe a try. If you like this rebatch soap and hand milled soap recipe, be sure to share it and pin it! I would also love to hear all about your soap creations. As always feel free to ask me any questions about this recipe or about making soap or your own bath, body and personal products naturally.