# Calling all "salting out" experts!



## mommycarlson (Apr 9, 2017)

I'm getting quite a bucket full of scraps and shavings.  I am intrigued by "salting out" my soap, tried searching the forum but didn't get anything to come up.  I did find a video on YouTube with DeeAnna, I'm assuming it's "our" DeeAnna from this forum?   

If someone could point me in the direction of how to do this I would very much appreciate it.  I would like to salt out the soap and then either use it for a rebatch or use it for laundry soap.  What DeeAnna from YouTube said was if the soap was more than 3% SF you would have to add some lye when you cook it.  I'm quoting from memory since  I watched the video before I went on vacation......but I would love to know how to do this.  

Appreciate the help!


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## SaltedFig (Apr 9, 2017)

Hi mommycarlson,

I had DeeAnna's terrific youtube video bookmarked a while back (yes, it's DeeAnna from here) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DedPOZIOnfI

I'll leave it the experts to explain, but it would be great for laundry soap because you lose the glycerin 

PS. There's an older (German) series of video's out there too - sometimes looking for curd soap gets the modern-day versions of salting-out.


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## mommycarlson (Apr 9, 2017)

Thank you SaltedFig, I did see DeeAnna's video, she mentioned using lye to cook your soap but no amounts so I really have no idea how to formulate that.  I'll look for the curd soap videos, that might help.


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## BattleGnome (Apr 9, 2017)

I've had a failed batch of salted out soap recently. The only advice I can give is to make sure you use enough water and actually strain out the soap. I didn't use enough water the first time around and had to "wash" my soap 5 more times to get the excess salt out (it was drying on the surface like soda ash). Currently it's sitting on my counter waiting to get tossed. I never got out all the colorant (it is a pretty shade of pink though, I was over zealous with lab colors) an I think I've processed it past the point I could use it as a hand soap.


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## DeeAnna (Apr 9, 2017)

The videos on Youtube are part of what I have. There is also a step-by-step written tutorial on my website and a link to Boyago's thread on SMF about his experience with salting-out. I'm pretty sure I gave the link to this tut in the description with my videos. The tut walks you through the process in more detail than what I can do on Youtube. See: https://classicbells.com/soap/saltOutTut.html

Yes, use enough water -- err on the side of more rather than not enough. That said, don't get crazy either -- the more water you use, the more salt you will need. I give guidelines about the water in my tut based on what has worked for me. 

There should there be all that much salt in the finished soap. I've tasted the curds of my salted-out soap, and they are just faintly salty.


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## mommycarlson (Apr 9, 2017)

BattleGnome, thank you for the tip!

DeeAnna, thank you for the link!  I really appreciate that.  I didn't notice the link in the tutorial, sorry about that


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 9, 2017)

mommycarlson said:


> I'm getting quite a bucket full of scraps and shavings.  I am intrigued by "salting out" my soap ...  I would like to salt out the soap and then either use it for a rebatch or use it for laundry soap.



Hiya Mommy, I'm not a scientist and I only know what works for me. That being said, Dee Anna is the expert, so if you really would like to try it, I say, go for it. Here's the way I did it, along with my comments.



> https://classicbells.com/soap/saltOutTut.html
> 
> This is great! Thank you, DeeAnna! I followed the link to your "soapy  tutorials" and was blown away to see one for "salting  out" soap. In my  13 years of soaping, I've never seen anyone else  who's done this, or  even tried it, and I thank you BIG time for sharing  your process. I also read through boyago's tutorial.
> 
> I have to tell ya,  the way I did it was pretty simple... I grated up  some soap, tossed it  into boiling water to which I had added a cuddle  of salt, and watched.  In 15 minutes or so, the curds rose to the top  where I scooped them out with a slotted spoon, put them into  nylon knee  highs, molded them into "tennis-sized" balls while squeezing out as  much water as I could and hanged them on a banana holder (highly  technical, I know). Every day, for  several days, I squeezed water out  and hand-molded the soaps into balls. The result was the purest,  densest, most gentle, yet thoroughly cleansing soap I've ever made.  Lovely soap. I lost about 1/3 soap from the original batch. The water  left in the pot was dark brown with gunk that settled to the bottom. I'm  not so sure that this technique is worth the trouble (???) but it sure  was fun!


HTH   :bunny:​


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## DeeAnna (Apr 10, 2017)

MommyCarlson -- I stand corrected.  On the salting-out videos I had a link to my overall list of soapy articles and tutorials, but I didn't have a direct link to the specific salting-out tut. I fixed that today -- thanks for bringing this to my attention so I could improve things.

Zany -- The problem with grating up soap and immediately adding salt is that you're trying to dissolve the soap fully while you're also trying to force the soap to separate from the salty water. If that trips your trigger, by all means enjoy yourself, but just understand that mashing the whole process into one step is less effective.

If people want to remove as much additives in the soap as possible, dissolve the soap in plain water first, let the water remove as much of the impurities as possible, and then salt-out. The "dissolve and simmer first and then salt-out" method is also the most efficient way to remove superfat from the soap.


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## earlene (Apr 10, 2017)

My experience with salting out soap, using DeeAnna's tutorial, video and reading various discussions here on the forum is positive. I did it to see what it was like and it was fun, educational and resulted in some very mild, light-weight soap that floats and produces lots of bubbles.  It has a kind of waxy feel to it, too.  To be sure, the paler in color the starting soap is, the lighter the resulting soap is.  Even with repeated 'salting out' procedure, the resulting soap will still retain some color if the starting soap is very dark.  It did get rid of all fragrances I used in the original soaps, so no problems with unwanted scents.  (Good if you hate a scent.)  However, it does NOT work to get rid of rancid oils odor if you start with DOS infested soap (I tried that as an experiment - it does not work; not in the least.)

P.S.  Did you use the Advanced option in your forum search and change the 'Search Titles Only' to 'Search Entire Threads'?  That makes a huge difference in your results.  There are many threads where this has been addressed.  Here are a few:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52109&highlight=salting+soap (called 'Salting out')
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=52103&highlight=salting+soap  (Boyago's thread about salting out for laundry soap)
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=42491&highlight=salting+soap (Salted out "Aleppo" soap)
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=42020&highlight=salting+soap (Ideas for improving the process of salting out?)


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## mommycarlson (Apr 10, 2017)

Zany, DeeAnna and Earlene,
Thank you all for your input.  I have a pot on the stove that I just salted out for the second time.  It was pretty exhausting!  I had 1500 g of soap, which really filled up my pot and I think I probably used too much water.  Oh well.  We'll see how it turns out.  Originally I wanted to do it for laundry soap but there are still coffee grounds in it from the scraps of coffee soap so I don't think I will be able to do the laundry soap.  I did do lye solution in my first step to get rid of the 5% SF.  Now I am wondering how much SF to add back in if I want this for bar soap?  Or do you think I can use it for laundry soap with the small amount of coffee grounds in it?  I'd much prefer that.  If not, I'd like to scent it and color it and add a SF to make it more pleasant as a soap for the shower.  Any advice is much appreciated!


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 10, 2017)

> If not, I'd like to scent it and color it and add a SF to make it more  pleasant as a soap for the shower.


This is just me but why not see how you like it just as it is, aka "Pure Soap". Also, have you weighted it? I'm curious to know how much of the 1500g you lost during the process.  ???


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## mommycarlson (Apr 10, 2017)

Zany_in_CO said:


> This is just me but why not see how you like it just as it is, aka "Pure Soap". Also, have you weighted it? I'm curious to know how much of the 1500g you lost during the process.  ???



I just put it in the colander to drain.  It is not what I expected, it seems very "airy" and light.  That surprised me, I'm not sure if that's what it's supposed to be like or not?  

The reason I would like to make laundry soap out of it is because I have SO MUCH soap that I really don't need more    However, I do make my own laundry soap and this would be great if it could be used for that.  I salted it out twice.  

Anyone know if it's supposed to be rather light and airy?


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## DeeAnna (Apr 10, 2017)

My salted-out soap has been light and airy too -- it will float on water if made into bar soap. What's also interesting is that as the bars dry and shrink, they don't get that "tired" swaybacked look that rebatch bars do/ (At least mine have gotten swaybacked the few times I've rebatched.)


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## earlene (Apr 10, 2017)

Yes, very light.  Not as dense as CP soap, but when I molded it in the same mold it pretty much kept the same shape with little or no shrinkage.  It also felt as though it weighed only a fraction of CP soap from the same mold.  I don't think I actually documented comparative weights, though.


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## mommycarlson (Apr 10, 2017)

DeeAnna and Earlene, thank you!  That makes me feel so much better!    I just crumbled it and put it on tea towel lined cookie sheets.  If I want to make it into bars basically I just have to melt it down like a rebatch?  Can this be done tomorrow?  Or what do you think about making it into laundry soap?  I did the weak lye solution first before salting it out, so hopefully get rid of the SF.


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## DeeAnna (Apr 10, 2017)

You could go either way. Make the one that you need the most?

Yes, treat the crumbled soap more or less like a rebatch to turn it into bar form. Since this soap probably has plenty of moisture even after drying a bit, you might not need to add much if any extra liquid.


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 11, 2017)

mommycarlson said:


> I just put it in the colander to drain.  It is not what I expected, it seems very "airy" and light.  That surprised me, I'm not sure if that's what it's supposed to be like or not?  ... Anyone know if it's supposed to be rather light and airy?


I don't remember the curds being "light & airy". What I do remember is that when I started squeezing them into balls, they resisted sticking together at first, but did so eventually. The final soap was dense, and I don't remember it floating. I really liked the elegant feel of the soap on my skin.


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 11, 2017)

DeeAnna said:


> Zany -- The problem with grating up soap and immediately adding salt is that you're trying to dissolve the soap fully while you're also trying to force the soap to separate from the salty water. If that trips your trigger, by all means enjoy yourself, but just understand that mashing the whole process into one step is less effective.


LOL Well, at the time (2004), DeeAnna, I didn't have a "DeeAnna" to guide me! It was "seat of the pants" soaping without much to go on.  I had no one but myself to figure out how to do  it. My curiosity led me to read everything I could find in books and on the internet. There wasn't much available 13 years ago. I gotta tell ya, when it worked, I *was* tickled pink! LOL More guts than brains, as they say. Once I posted the technique, other soapers tried it and came up with ways to improve on it. Here's my original post:


> Date:  Tue Sep 7, 2004
> Bring a liter (quart) of water to boil. Add 35 grams (1 oz.) of ordinary table salt. Add soap gratings. The salt causes the soap to curdle and float to the top. After about 15 minutes or so, skim off the soap curds. The brown water left behind in the pot contains the "impurities" that settle out, including the glycerin. Scoop the curds out and put them into a strainer. I used a nylon knee-high. When the soap is cool enough, use gloved hands to squeeze the liquid out and form the curds into a ball. The curds won't stick together at first, but will eventually. I tied a knot at the top of the knee-high and hung it from a banana holder (highly technical, I know. haha) for a few days, squeezing and shaping the balls each day until they were dry enough to set out to cure.


BTW, one soaper used the technique for a rebatch. Her curds were more of a slime than curds like I experienced. She didn't scoop the curds out, but rather left them in the pot to cool for 24 hours. She reported that the soap continued to separate and solidify overnight. Then it was easy to hand mold the soap the next day.

Like I've said all along, I'm not a scientist, I just know what works for me. I'm also practical. It was fun while it lasted, but it's not something I'd do again because I lost so much soap in the process. I wouldn't even rebatch this way. There are easier ways to rebatch soap than salting it out.

...and so it goes...


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## DeeAnna (Apr 11, 2017)

I would never equate rebatching with salting-out. Yes, you lose more soap with salting-out, but you can remove impurities and fix problems that can't be handled with rebatching. 

The two techniques are like a pliers and a wrench -- they do similar jobs, but not the same jobs. While you might use the pliers more often, it can be handy to have both in one's toolbox.


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## mommycarlson (Apr 11, 2017)

DeeAnna said:


> You could go either way. Make the one that you need the most?
> 
> Yes, treat the crumbled soap more or less like a rebatch to turn it into bar form. Since this soap probably has plenty of moisture even after drying a bit, you might not need to add much if any extra liquid.



That is great news! Thanks DeeAnna, I may actually do a little of both


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## SaltedFig (Apr 11, 2017)

mommycarlson said:


> I just put it in the colander to drain. It is not what I expected, it seems very "airy" and light. That surprised me, I'm not sure if that's what it's supposed to be like or not?
> ...
> Anyone know if it's supposed to be rather light and airy?



With the glycerin removed, the remaining soap would be lighter than the soap with the glycerin in, because the glycerin density is greater than the soap density. Glycerin is heavier than water.

  Soap made of stearic acid is heavier than water after the glycerine is removed (just), but soap made of palmitic acid is quite a bit lighter than water after the glycerine is removed (and would therefore float).

  So, it is possible that a lot of the soaps would float, but some would not, and that this depend somewhat on the fatty acid profile of the original oils used to make the soap.


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## earlene (Apr 11, 2017)

Some reasonable reasons for salting out as I see it, are: 

Horribly offending and persistent fragrances that one may absolutely hate  (salting out removes them - although there may be some that persist, I don't know for sure)

Ugly colored soap that one absolutely hates (salting out removes most of the color - for light soaps, it may remove all color; for darker soaps, repeated salting out seems to be indicated for additional color removal)

Removal of a mixture of additives that turned out undesirable or that won't work well together in a rebatch (salting out will allow the debris to fall to the bottom of the brine, while the soap curds float on top)


Regular rebatching does not adequately address any of the above issues.  I have had fragrances disappear or soften in rebatch, but some don't, and for a scent that I hate (yes I have some soap like that), I'd much rather salt it out than rebatch it than have to keep on smelling that horrendous odor again and again while attempting a rebatch.


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 11, 2017)

DeeAnna said:


> Yes, treat the crumbled soap more or less like a  rebatch to turn it into bar form. Since this soap probably has plenty of  moisture even after drying a bit, you might not need to add much if any  extra liquid.


Ditto. I agree. You could even put the curds in a ZipLoc, add color & scent, knead by hand, press into individual cavity molds, put in the freezer for an hour, set on the counter for 5 minutes, then pop them out (use warm water if you need to) and set them out to cure.



DeeAnna said:


> I would never equate rebatching with salting-out. Yes, you lose more soap with salting-out, but you can remove impurities and fix problems that can't be handled with rebatching.


Ditto. I agree they are different tools to be sure -- as I said, I wouldn't use salting-out as a rebatch, there are much easier ways to do that.  But, as I see it, both these gals, MommyCarlson and my soaping buddy from long ago, used this method as a rebatch, mainly out of curiosity... one to use up scraps; the other to repair a failed batch. So I guess one could say you can use salting-out as a rebatch, but not the other way around.   ???


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## Zany_in_CO (Apr 11, 2017)

SaltedFig said:


> So, it is possible that a lot of the soaps would  float, but some would not, and that this depend somewhat on the fatty  acid profile of the original oils used to make the soap.


Precisely! Well said, Fig.


earlene said:


> Regular rebatching does not adequately address any of the above issues.  I have had fragrances disappear or soften in rebatch, but some don't, and for a scent that I hate (yes I have some soap like that), I'd much rather salt it out than rebatch it than have to keep on smelling that horrendous odor again and again while attempting a rebatch.


Good point, Earlene. I found that to be true as well. After salting-out, all that's left is "pure soap" and it's a good way to get rid of any unpleasant scents/colors/additives. Thank you for sharing your experience. Good to know.


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## DeeAnna (Apr 11, 2017)

"..So I guess one could say you can use salting-out as a rebatch, but not the other way around. ???.."

<sigh> 

Rebatching and salting-out are both techniques to reuse soap that would otherwise go to waste. That I can agree on. 

But they're entirely different techniques. Salting-out is NOT the same as rebatching. Rebatching is NOT the same as salting-out. Trying to make it sound as if they ARE the same is really going to confuse people, and the confusion is totally unnecessary.

I don't understand why are you continuing to debate this point. Enough already. :think:


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## John_Soap_Man (Oct 17, 2020)

SaltedFig said:


> Hi mommycarlson,
> 
> I had DeeAnna's terrific youtube video bookmarked a while back (yes, it's DeeAnna from here) -
> 
> ...




Could you please send me the Link to these German Videos ?


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## Zany_in_CO (Oct 17, 2020)

John_Soap_Man said:


> Could you please send me the Link to these German Videos ?


_*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goQ4e0yiqOs*_


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