Thread: Rendering Pucks

Can I render my Van Der Hagen shaving soaps pucks in a double boiler to transfer them to another (travel) container? Will the rendering alter the chemistry or consistency of the puck?

VDH melts perfectly in a microwave, put what you need in a microwave safe container and give it 7sec shots until it's liquid. It won't hurt it at all.

I did it and nothing was effected. Double boiler until it was liquid then pured into a large coffee cup. The soap works the exact same. The kitchen smells good too.

Can you explain "double boiling" briefly to me? I have mivrowaved a puck that turned out great, but have read that microwaving some soaps may take away from some of the scent if them. Maybe nuke the less liked scented soaps and double boil the better scented ones? Haha.
But again, what is "double boiling?"

Well I tried mincrowaving my new puck of Tabac briefly.. Not a good idea! Took it out after only 7 sec and figured that out. However, I did shave it down then packed it into the sugar jar. Looks ok but left little speckes of soap on the inside of the glass. Looks a little less pleasing to the eye can I double boil Tabac?

Originally Posted by FacialDirt

Can you explain "double boiling" briefly to me? I have mivrowaved a puck that turned out great, but have read that microwaving some soaps may take away from some of the scent if them. Maybe nuke the less liked scented soaps and double boil the better scented ones? Haha.
But again, what is "double boiling?"

Start a pot of water on the stove and put a large cup (I use a pyrex 1 pint measuring cup) into the water before it boils. Make sure the water doesn't breach the rim of the cup. Put soap in cup and the boiling water around the cup will safetly melt the soap.

I don't boil, so I use a cheese grater to fill my travel and home dishes. I find grating them and lightly packing the result; leave a softer soap to pick up on the brush, sometimes very small pieces go into the brush for a better thicker lather.

In my brief experience with melting soaps, the only ones that melt are those without any type if wax in them. Maybe I'm wrong? Please tell me why some won't melt.

I just bought L'Occitane En Provence soap called Cade. Will it melt down nicely, or need a shaving like my Tabac puck did?

Tallow based soaps can't be microwaved, they can be grated and slowly melted (called rebatching), glycerin based soaps like VDH, Colonel Conk, Mama Bear can be microwaved

For rebatching, how do you get it just right? Is there a method you follow?