Does salt make LS opaque?

[bodybym]

I have made my first batch of LS using a recipe from a yahoo group, and it was fine, however a little on the thin side.

So I added some salt water, and the recommended amount and it turned opaque. It's fine for me, since it's my first batch we are using it for family soap (I scented it with lemongrass EO and we are using it for shampoo and body wash - we all love it), but I was wondering what made it opaque?

Thanks!

 

[Susie]

If you could post your recipe and method, we can start troubleshooting with you. TIA!

 

[Lindy]

I don't use salt as I find it too unpredictable but I have heard other people say that it can depending on the oils used.

 

[Kyra]

Yes, I agree, salt is so unpredictable. I tried it in my bastile soap -- it didn't make my soap opaque, but it did make it fuzzy and it took almost 4 weeks of sequestering to clear up. It takes a lot of experimenting to get the amount just right considering the types of oils you have in your recipe, and it is so easy to get over that fine line where there is too much salt added. My challenges with salt came from being unable to determine if I added too little, enough, or too much salt, as the soap takes over an hour to thicken and sort of clear after each addition session. It took me hours and lots of notes taking. I don't have that kind of time on my hands, and I need a fail proof method of thickening my LS that I can replicate again and again. Adding saline solution to my diluted soap didn't work for me as time, volume of work and replicability are all issues that are working against it. I wish I had more time and I was more patient, but yeah, unpredictability is huge for me.


Kyra

 

[bodybym]

Here is the recipe that I used:

Bastille Liquid Soap 16 oz oils 454 grams
70% Olive Oil 11.2 oz 318 gm
20% Coconut Oil 3.2 oz 91 gm
10% Castor Oil 1.6 oz 45 gm
KOH (Potassium Hydroxide) 3.4 oz 96 gm
Water (distilled or rain) for lye 6.8 oz 193 gm

It is fine, other than being thin, and I tried the salt water using these directions:

Make a 20% salt water solution which would .4 oz or 11 gm table iodized salt to 2 oz of
water. Add the brine solution to hot or room temp liquid soap by full droppers at a time,
slowly stirring.

This was my first attempt at making LS, and clearly I have a long way to go.