Adding salt??? and can I divide a batch?

[loveit_latherit]

Just found this forum yesterday and my first post of questions under SUPER newbie has gotten me some really great replies (thank you!) and NOW I'm super excited to start! I have a recipe here I wouldl ike to try but I would like the benfits of dead sea salt. I came acors a post that was a nightmare for a soaper in which salt is tricky I guess you can say.

Please reccommend what type of salt to use and how much and at what stage do I add? Do I have to do anything to the salt like run it through a grinder?

Here is my recipie and please comment what you think of it? I would like somethingo moisturize dry skin and add vitamins as well and a bit lathery. I'm 36 and want to do what I can since I'm not hitting the gym lol!

I ran it thru the Bramelberry lye calc and added all my oils although I am adding my Apricot Kernal oil with my additives
11oz Olive Oil
16.25 Canola Oil
4.38 Castor Oil
12 Coconut Oil
5.25 Shea Butter
1 Beeswax

Lye - 6.96
water - 17.12

1/2 c Buttermilk (QUESTION: I bought SACO cultured buttermilk blend - is this a product I can use? Ingredients: A cultured blend of sweetcream churned, buttermilk, sweet dairy whey, and lactic acid)
2 oz Apricot Kernal Oil
1.5 oz essential oil
Lavender buds

ALSO: Once I have reached trace, can I divide this to make 2 fragrances/colors? If I work quickly before I add my essential oils but after my buttermilk and Apricot Kernal Oil?

Thank you in advance! You ladies/guys are great!!!

 

[IrishLass]

Please reccommend what type of salt to use and how much and at what stage do I add? Do I have to do anything to the salt like run it through a grinder?

I've heard mixed reviews of using Dead Sea salt in salt soaps. Some report it was an absolute disaster for them, while others reported they had very good results. It makes me wonder if some of the salts labeled as "Dead Sea Salt" are really and truly Dead Sea salt or something else.

Stay away from Epsom Salts. I've never heard a good report using Epsom in salt bars.

I personally use sea salt (regular, not Dead Sea) in my salt soaps. It has always worked great for me. Regular table salt and Kosher salt works great, too.

I add my salt at trace, right before I pour. Unless you are using humoungous chunks of salt, there is really no need to grind. I use fine sea salt myself, but I know of others who use salt crystals that are of a medium grade with no problems. The salt melts in the water as you are bathing, so the slightly larger-than-fine grade is not too bad (from what I've heard).

I would like to answer your other questions, but I just looked at the time and I have to go at the moment. I'll try to chime in on your other questions later if I can, but I'm sure others will chime in.

IrishLass

 

[MorpheusPA]

I ran it thru the Bramelberry lye calc and added all my oils although I am adding my Apricot Kernal oil with my additives
11oz Olive Oil
16.25 Canola Oil
4.38 Castor Oil
12 Coconut Oil
5.25 Shea Butter
1 Beeswax

Lye - 6.96
water - 17.12

ALSO: Once I have reached trace, can I divide this to make 2 fragrances/colors? If I work quickly before I add my essential oils but after my buttermilk and Apricot Kernal Oil?

Thank you in advance! You ladies/guys are great!!!

Could I make a suggestion? Do something simple and hard to mess up for your first batch, in a single color, and perhaps a pound so if you have to throw it away you won't feel too bad. Even my first and second soap were entirely workable, although I refined my process and preferences quickly.

My first batch was very, very simple:

50% Olive Oil (we call it OO)
40% Coconut Oil (CO)
10% Castor Oil (usually Castor Oil...)
5% Superfat

It's high on the coconut, but that just helped it to trace quickly. I put a dash of chromium green in the pot along with a bit of basic Rain Forest fragrance. It was only an 11 ounce batch, so I had to measure very carefully (but that should always be true).

Once you get a feel for tracing and pouring (my first batch got poured at heavy trace and was fantastically ugly) you can start playing with swirls and whatnot. However, that first time you're going to be thinking, "Is this tracing or am I losing my mind...oh, great, now it's glop."

What with making only 11 ounces and using cheaper oils for a first run, I wasn't too concerned about that. I wasted nothing--that soap was perfectly usable, just not pretty.

I find it much easier to add the essential and fragrance oils right into the base mix so I won't forget them and I'm not trying to play Beat the Clock at trace. However, if adding at trace works for you, that's perfectly fine as well.

Tracing isn't the completion of saponification and there's plenty of lye kicking around in the mix. It's really emulsification, and you've forced the lye, water, and oils to all bind together. The lye is still active (usually for a day or two, but up to a week depending), so adding your secondary oils at trace doesn't spare them in the slightest. The lye monster will eat what it wants.

 

[loveit_latherit]

Thanks for the replies!

Of course - if you knew me NOTHING I do can be simple! I will try to take your suggestion but for all the elements I want to have in my soap I am finding it hard to NOT put stuff in! I think I will try a small batch first and see how that goes. As I have been playing with the soap calc here http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
Im getting wrapped up in the INS number and Iodine number and now I want to add cocoa butter and palm oil! Eesh ka peesh! I will have to control myself I think!!

Thanks!

 

[loveit_latherit]

Please reccommend what type of salt to use and how much and at what stage do I add? Do I have to do anything to the salt like run it through a grinder?

I've heard mixed reviews of using Dead Sea salt in salt soaps. Some report it was an absolute disaster for them, while others reported they had very good results. It makes me wonder if some of the salts labeled as "Dead Sea Salt" are really and truly Dead Sea salt or something else.

Stay away from Epsom Salts. I've never heard a good report using Epsom in salt bars.

I personally use sea salt (regular, not Dead Sea) in my salt soaps. It has always worked great for me. Regular table salt and Kosher salt works great, too.

I add my salt at trace, right before I pour. Unless you are using humoungous chunks of salt, there is really no need to grind. I use fine sea salt myself, but I know of others who use salt crystals that are of a medium grade with no problems. The salt melts in the water as you are bathing, so the slightly larger-than-fine grade is not too bad (from what I've heard).

I would like to answer your other questions, but I just looked at the time and I have to go at the moment. I'll try to chime in on your other questions later if I can, but I'm sure others will chime in.

IrishLass

Thanks IrishLass. How much do you add per pound? I don't want to ruin my soap... THANKS!

 

[Overthemoon]

I used fine ground sea salt (like Irishlass I have heard mixed reviews about Dead Sea salt) I used the half the weight of salt as I did oils. So for a 16oz oil recipe I used 8 oz of salt. Worked for me, I know people use less ppo and some use more.

 

[loveit_latherit]

I used fine ground sea salt (like Irishlass I have heard mixed reviews about Dead Sea salt) I used the half the weight of salt as I did oils. So for a 16oz oil recipe I used 8 oz of salt. Worked for me, I know people use less ppo and some use more.

Perfect! Thank you!!!

 

[Healinya]

I also just use regular sea salt, and I have used non-iodized table salt and couldn't tell the difference. I think dead sea salt is a marketing masterpiece and that's about it. Epsom salt is really magnesium, so that doesn't work the same.

 

[MorpheusPA]

Thanks for the replies!

Of course - if you knew me NOTHING I do can be simple! I will try to take your suggestion but for all the elements I want to have in my soap I am finding it hard to NOT put stuff in! I think I will try a small batch first and see how that goes. As I have been playing with the soap calc here http://www.soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp
Im getting wrapped up in the INS number and Iodine number and now I want to add cocoa butter and palm oil! Eesh ka peesh! I will have to control myself I think!!

Thanks!

If you shoot for an iodine of around 60 and an INS of 160 or so you're in the "perfect" range. Not that you need to be exacting about that or anything, I made one with an INS of over 250 and it went fine, if a little fast on tracing...

 

[loveit_latherit]

If you shoot for an iodine of around 60 and an INS of 160 or so you're in the "perfect" range. Not that you need to be exacting about that or anything, I made one with an INS of over 250 and it went fine, if a little fast on tracing...[/quote]

Thanks! OK well my recipe that I came up with has iodine of 58 and INS of 143 - is that bad and can i add anything to make the INS highr? And what is the deal with INS - it's like I'm getting spooked out by these rules I have to follow and not quite sure what it means??? THANKS!

 

[Healinya]

I'm sure there is someone smarter than me who knows more, but if I'm not mistaken (and curious if I am - please correct me) that the iodine refers to it's sodium content. I believe after the chemical reaction the ingredients left in soap have sodium salt. From what I have read (or from what I have read other people talk about) if it gets too much higher than 60, it may indicate a more dos prone batch...

 

[loveit_latherit]

You know when a question leads to more questions? Well... what is dos? LOL boy I feel like I don't know anything today!

Thanks!

 

[Sunny]

DOS means dreaded orange spots.. It happens when oils in the soap go rancid, I think. They're orange and stinky, but I think the soap is still usable.

Haven't had DOS myself, but I am a SUPER newbie too I'm sure I'll get a batch of DOS soap one of these days so I can tell firsthand what it is like.