100% coconut oil soap

[lenarenee]

lenarenee,
What you are saying here is that the high CO soaps are stripping for the skin's mantle not the high salt bars. Is that right?

You can make a salt bar with no CO. That wouldn't necessarily be stripping for the skin would it?

I don't know what to say about a non co or pko salt bar. I don't know if there's any affect of using a lot of salt on your skin - in terms of affecting your skin's immune function anyway.

Any soap high in co (and pko, I won't list babassu as I don't know anything about it) whether it be a standard or co salt bar is probably damaging to the integrity of the skin. We know that saponified fatty acids of lauric and myrisitic are great "de-greasers".

The mantle of our skin sounds gross - but its there for a reason. The sebum, sweat and dead skin cells have a purpose. Disrupt them with too much cleansing, exfoliation or both - and your skin no longer has the structure or chemical integrity to fulfill it's immune function.

Heavily superfatting a high co soap may make you feel moisturized - but it's not your skin's sebum. It doesn't replace it - at least fully.

My knowledge of this is a work in progress. I'm lucky to have had an anatomy and biology professor who loves handmade soap so I get to ask him lots of questions!

 

[lenarenee]

thank you for this post

You're welcome - and thanks for bothering to read it! That's two semesters of biology and anatomy class work you just validated!

 

[penelopejane]

I don't know what to say about a non co or pko salt bar. I don't know if there's any affect of using a lot of salt on your skin - in terms of affecting your skin's immune function anyway.

My knowledge of this is a work in progress. I'm lucky to have had an anatomy and biology professor who loves handmade soap so I get to ask him lots of questions!

Yes I agree with you about CO.

My DH has bad eczema. If he goes to the beach everyday or if he goes sailing and washes himself only in salt water (no soap or fresh water at all) for 2 weeks or longer his skin is the very best it ever is.

I don't know why this works but he's not the eczema sufferer i know whose skin has this positive reaction to salt water.

I make him 50% salt bars with OO, AO and castor. He really likes them. A lot of bubbles aren't really a priority for us but they don't seem lacking to me.

 

[lenarenee]

Yes I agree with you about CO.

My DH has bad eczema. If he goes to the beach everyday or if he goes sailing and washes himself only in salt water (no soap or fresh water at all) for 2 weeks or longer his skin is the very best it ever is.

I don't know why this works but he's not the eczema sufferer i know whose skin has this positive reaction to salt water.

I make him 50% salt bars with OO, AO and castor. He really likes them. A lot of bubbles aren't really a priority for us but they don't seem lacking to me.

It's fantastic that his skin likes the salt bar! I'll have to email my FORMER professor and see if he has explain what the salt is doing!

This class is officially over and sayonara to it! What an arduous, unpleasant class! The powers that be really need to revamp the way anatomy is taught - smashing hundreds of facts into your head nearly every week isn't learning because it doesn't ever make it into your long term memory. It's a crying shame to go through all that work and not remember anything from the previous week!

 

[penelopejane]

It's fantastic that his skin likes the salt bar! I'll have to email my FORMER professor and see if he has explain what the salt is doing!
!

I’d really like to know but it might be as simple as the skin is clean and dirt free. Chlorinated pools work the same and some people w. Eczema find relief in bleach baths. Hopefully sea salt is a little milder in the skin.

Congratulations on finishing Anatomy I’ve heard it is a tough course.

 

[shunt2011]

Well, for salt bars I actually have trouble getting scent to stick since I cure them for 6-12 months. Cucumber wasabi cilantro from NG is a good sticker, so is DB I get at a local shop. I found a really old bar scented with china rian that still smells but I don't remember where I got it. I was using .50 oz PPO but have been using 1 oz PPO lately.

For my 100% coconut without salt, I find any FO that is a good sticker, works for them.

China Rain is from NG. I use it in salt and regular soap as well as sugar scrub. It's pretty popular.

NG Eucalyptus Mint, WSP Rosemary Mint, NG Cracklin Birch, Peak BRV, NG OMG Olive works but is a bit weak. I use them at about 7% in salt bars.

 

[Felgie]

I heard high amount of superfat may cause dos and soda ash. If we put the supefat to 30% to counter the drying results of the bar, wont it cause the problem to arise? Or is there a trick to avoid it?

 

[shunt2011]

I heard high amount of superfat may cause dos and soda ash. If we put the supefat to 30% to counter the drying results of the bar, wont it cause the problem to arise? Or is there a trick to avoid it?

No, not necessarily. However, I would never go to a 30% SF ever. I make salt bars and do a 17-20% SF. They are 80% CO, 15% Avocado and 5% Castor. Never had DOS but when in individual molds do get some ash but that's not due to the high CO it's because individual molds don't generally gel and take longer to saponify therefore causing more ash. I usually spray well with alcohol and leave them covered for 24 hours and it help.

 

[Felgie]

No, not necessarily. However, I would never go to a 30% SF ever. I make salt bars and do a 17-20% SF. They are 80% CO, 15% Avocado and 5% Castor. Never had DOS but when in individual molds do get some ash but that's not due to the high CO it's because individual molds don't generally gel and take longer to saponify therefore causing more ash. I usually spray well with alcohol and leave them covered for 24 hours and it help.

What is your lye percentage for the salt bar??

 

[Steve85569]

What is your lye percentage for the salt bar??

Different soap makers use different percentages ranging from 50% to 100% by weight of oils. In other words - if a batch of soap has 500 grams of coconut oil they would use between 250 and 500 grams of salt - depending on the soap makers wishes.
(hint) lower salt is easier to work with and pure coconut oil soaps tend to move fairly quickly.

 

[cmzaha]

Regarding the comments about salt water healing or helping eczema I can absolutely say it is true, at least, for some of us. As many here know I have quite bad eczema, or at least can tend to have severe flare-ups. When I was in my teens I went to the beach at every opportunity because it would help control my eczema. When we had our boat in the harbor I was on it every weekend and my eczema stayed under control, so I love salt bars and use them daily with no skin damage. Mine are made with 100% Pacific sea salt or a mix of table salt and Pacific Sea Salt @ 17% superfat.

Coconut Oil is still the best for making salt bars since it is soluble in salt water. "Sailors" soap is usually 100% CO because it will lather in salt water. Palm oil will make a salt bar waxy and hinder lather, and butters will also hinder lather.