Cutting Salt Bars

[true blue]

Wow! I just made my first batch of soap in 7 years last night ... it's so good to be back to soaping!!!

So ... I just HAD to make salt bars ... and as I do OHP, I used the soap this morning ... nice! But ... how do you gals cut the bars without them going all weird? I used rock salt and the 'rocks' don't like to be cut - ha! Any tips on that?

 

[Obsidian]

Use fine grain salt and cut the loaf as soon as its firm enough to unmold, if you wait too long the bars will crumble when cut.

 

[paillo]

I take no chances on crumblies, and use only individual silicone molds in a sheet of them.

 

[true blue]

So it's not really common to make salt bars with rock salt?

 

[green soap]

I buy coarse sea salt because I can find it for a good price, but then I go trough the work of grinding it, until it is like table salt or finer. The coarse grains can be a bit much for showering, but I suppose they would be OK for a hand soap?

 

[true blue]

Hmm ... OK. Although I used it today, I used the puck I made out of the soap that stuck to the pan. When making it, the salt kind of migrated to the inside. I'm hoping the 'rocks' will dissolve with the water when showering, maybe adding a little scrub in the meantime. I guess we'll see.

I unmolded and cut at about 2 hrs ... the only 'crumblies' were due to the 'rocks' getting caught on the slicer.

 

[green soap]

They look really good, congratulations on great timing for the cut!

One use I love for salt bars is next to the sink, because they do not need to dry completely between uses like most other CP soaps. They do not get 'gooey' ever. If the salt grains are too abrasive for showering you might prefer it next to your sink as a hand soap. Then next time grind the salt or use a finer grained salt.