Dumb Dumb Moments: Zany's Faux Seawater Recipe

[BirchandTallow]

CLIFF NOTES: Basic chemistry. Mix Seasalt and Baking Soda in separate cups of hot water. I didn't do this and my solution was cloudy from being undissolved.

THE STORY: Early this morning, I found ZANY’S NO SLIME OLIVE OIL CASTILE recipe and was intrigued by the Faux Seawater Recipe included in the post. Although I wasn't quite awake yet, I decided a simple 3-ingredient water-base solution didn't require more brain cells than I was currently operating with. Here's how I managed to screw things up TWICE, .

1st Attempt: In the time it took me to go from my room upstairs to my kitchen downstairs, my memory had re-written the recipe from 1 quart to 1 pint, 1 Tbsp Seasalt to 2 Tbsp Seasalt, and 1 tsp Baking Soda to 1 tsp Baking Soda (So.....operating at about 33% brain capacity. Nice, right?). I wanted to re-use a 1-quart sweet cream bottle I had cleaned out and taken the label off of, so I decided to DOUBLE my incorrect recipe . I dissolved 4 Tbsp Sealsalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, and 2 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Both solutions dissolved clear. I added them together plus 2 cups room temp bottled water, and THEN decided to check the original recipe. Realizing I'm a dumb dumb, I threw it out and started over.

2nd Attempt: Feeling a little rushed to correctly measure before "The Dumb" re-writes my brain code again, I tossed 1 Tbsp Seasalt and 1 tsp Baking Soda in the same 1 cup of hot bottled water. It was cloudy. I added 1 cup of room temp bottled water. It was cloudy. I added 1 cup hot bottled water. It was cloudy. I added the final cup of room temp bottled water. It was cloudy. I stared at the cloudy 4 cups of undissolved solution sitting on the counter for a minute. Then, out of the haze of bewilderment a clear thought revealed itself to me - I'm dumb .

3rd Atrempt: At this point, I decided I was done being dumb and dissolved 1 Tbsp Seasalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, 1 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Low and behold, they were both clear . I added them together along with 2 cups room temp bottled water, and FINALLY had a successful 3-ingredient simple water-based Faux Seawater solution .

@Zany_in_CO thank you for the recipe. I hope you got some laughs. Can't wait to try it out in soap on a fully NO Dumb day .

 

[BWt]

CLIFF NOTES: Basic chemistry. Mix Seasalt and Baking Soda in separate cups of hot water. I didn't do this and my solution was cloudy from being undissolved.

THE STORY: Early this morning, I found ZANY’S NO SLIME OLIVE OIL CASTILE recipe and was intrigued by the Faux Seawater Recipe included in the post. Although I wasn't quite awake yet, I decided a simple 3-ingredient water-base solution didn't require more brain cells than I was currently operating with. Here's how I managed to screw things up TWICE, .

1st Attempt: In the time it took me to go from my room upstairs to my kitchen downstairs, my memory had re-written the recipe from 1 quart to 1 pint, 1 Tbsp Seasalt to 2 Tbsp Seasalt, and 1 tsp Baking Soda to 1 tsp Baking Soda (So.....operating at about 33% brain capacity. Nice, right?). I wanted to re-use a 1-quart sweet cream bottle I had cleaned out and taken the label off of, so I decided to DOUBLE my incorrect recipe . I dissolved 4 Tbsp Sealsalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, and 2 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Both solutions dissolved clear. I added them together plus 2 cups room temp bottled water, and THEN decided to check the original recipe. Realizing I'm a dumb dumb, I threw it out and started over.

2nd Attempt: Feeling a little rushed to correctly measure before "The Dumb" re-writes my brain code again, I tossed 1 Tbsp Seasalt and 1 tsp Baking Soda in the same 1 cup of hot bottled water. It was cloudy. I added 1 cup of room temp bottled water. It was cloudy. I added 1 cup hot bottled water. It was cloudy. I added the final cup of room temp bottled water. It was cloudy. I stared at the cloudy 4 cups of undissolved solution sitting on the counter for a minute. Then, out of the haze of bewilderment a clear thought revealed itself to me - I'm dumb .

3rd Atrempt: At this point, I decided I was done being dumb and dissolved 1 Tbsp Seasalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, 1 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Low and behold, they were both clear . I added them together along with 2 cups room temp bottled water, and FINALLY had a successful 3-ingredient simple water-based Faux Seawater solution .

@Zany_in_CO thank you for the recipe. I hope you got some laughs. Can't wait to try it out in soap on a fully NO Dumb day .

Love your post! I like that you never gave up.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Luckily for me the sea is only 40 minutes drive away - so I just go get the real stuff, lol.

Where's yer soap? We like pictures.

 

[CLMP]

CLIFF NOTES: Basic chemistry. Mix Seasalt and Baking Soda in separate cups of hot water. I didn't do this and my solution was cloudy from being undissolved.

THE STORY: Early this morning, I found ZANY’S NO SLIME OLIVE OIL CASTILE recipe and was intrigued by the Faux Seawater Recipe included in the post. Although I wasn't quite awake yet, I decided a simple 3-ingredient water-base solution didn't require more brain cells than I was currently operating with. Here's how I managed to screw things up TWICE, .

1st Attempt: In the time it took me to go from my room upstairs to my kitchen downstairs, my memory had re-written the recipe from 1 quart to 1 pint, 1 Tbsp Seasalt to 2 Tbsp Seasalt, and 1 tsp Baking Soda to 1 tsp Baking Soda (So.....operating at about 33% brain capacity. Nice, right?). I wanted to re-use a 1-quart sweet cream bottle I had cleaned out and taken the label off of, so I decided to DOUBLE my incorrect recipe . I dissolved 4 Tbsp Sealsalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, and 2 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Both solutions dissolved clear. I added them together plus 2 cups room temp bottled water, and THEN decided to check the original recipe. Realizing I'm a dumb dumb, I threw it out and started over.

2nd Attempt: Feeling a little rushed to correctly measure before "The Dumb" re-writes my brain code again, I tossed 1 Tbsp Seasalt and 1 tsp Baking Soda in the same 1 cup of hot bottled water. It was cloudy. I added 1 cup of room temp bottled water. It was cloudy. I added 1 cup hot bottled water. It was cloudy. I added the final cup of room temp bottled water. It was cloudy. I stared at the cloudy 4 cups of undissolved solution sitting on the counter for a minute. Then, out of the haze of bewilderment a clear thought revealed itself to me - I'm dumb .

3rd Atrempt: At this point, I decided I was done being dumb and dissolved 1 Tbsp Seasalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, 1 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Low and behold, they were both clear . I added them together along with 2 cups room temp bottled water, and FINALLY had a successful 3-ingredient simple water-based Faux Seawater solution .

@Zany_in_CO thank you for the recipe. I hope you got some laughs. Can't wait to try it out in soap on a fully NO Dumb day .

Oh wow fake sea water I love it I will have to try that one of these days . Maybe with some dead Sea clay or something I bet would be nice too.

 

[AliOop]

I mix the salt and baking soda together in one container. It is a little cloudy, but I have had zero problems using it that way. Sea water is normally cloudy, right?

Also, if you don’t want to make a separate solution, simply add the salt at 1.9% of the total water weight of your recipe, and baking soda at 1.7% of the total water weight of your recipe. Dissolve that right into some or all of your liquid before adding the lye solution. Voila, no leftover faux sea water!

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Zany_in_CO thank you for the recipe.

You're very welcome.

I hope you got some laughs.

I did!!! Plus some flashbacks to when I first started soaping! That happens to the best of us, more often than we care to admit.

 

[CLMP]

I mix the salt and baking soda together in one container. It is a little cloudy, but I have had zero problems using it that way. Sea water is normally cloudy, right?

Also, if you don’t want to make a separate solution, simply add the salt at 1.9% of the total water weight of your recipe, and baking soda at 1.7% of the total water weight of your recipe. Dissolve that right into some or all of your liquid before adding the lye solution. Voila, no leftover faux sea water!

Hi tried to find a recipe online for making sea water and they all say to just use sea salt so I'm curious what is the baking soda for I'd like to try this sometime.

 

[AliOop]

Hi tried to find a recipe online for making sea water and they all say to just use sea salt so I'm curious what is the baking soda for I'd like to try this sometime.

I was just blindly following the ZNSB recipe posted on this forum. Probably @Mobjack Bay would be the better person to answer that question given her background.

 

[CLMP]

Also I just thought this but is using sea water in your soap the same thing as making salt bars just wondering as I haven't experimented with salt yet in my soap and I think I'd like to give it a try. Thanks so much everybody.

 

[Blufuz]

Also I just thought this but is using sea water in your soap the same thing as making salt bars just wondering as I haven't experimented with salt yet in my soap and I think I'd like to give it a try. Thanks so much everybody.

No, salt bars use WAY more salt, like 50% the weight of the oils, so you also don’t dissolve it first. Then the soap comes out very different; really hard, quite brittle, but super nice, especially if someone conditions you first and tells you it’s “luxurious”. I generally use ZNSC as a hand soap since it’s not very bubbly but leaves my skin feeling really soft, then salt bars as a body soap, because technically I don’t need to wash every inch of skin, but I find it soothing and creamy, and salt is cheap

 

[BirchandTallow]

Hi tried to find a recipe online for making sea water and they all say to just use sea salt so I'm curious what is the baking soda for I'd like to try this sometime.

This question is asked in the thread to the recipe. Zany says it's a tweak that removed slime and helped cure faster. The opinion was the soap was just as good at 6-weeks as it would be at 1-year of cure time. Check out the original thread. It's a really interesting read.

 

[CecileBC]

I think I should also try being done with being dumb !!
I'll definitely think about your post once I'm brave enough to experiment with that recipe
Nice to see that you're so on to it ! Can't wait to see the pictures :

 

[Mobjack Bay]

3rd Atrempt: At this point, I decided I was done being dumb and dissolved 1 Tbsp Seasalt in 1 cup hot bottled water, 1 tsp Baking Soda in a separate cup of hot bottled water. Low and behold, they were both clear . I added them together along with 2 cups room temp bottled water, and FINALLY had a successful 3-ingredient simple water-based Faux Seawater solution .

I apologize in advance for bursting your balloon…The recipe for faux seawater uses 1 TBSP of sea salt and 1 TBSP of baking soda in a quart of water. @AliOop converted the measures to weights as indicated above. Her numbers show us that the total concentration of dissolved salt/solids in faux seawater as percentages is 3.6%. Actual seawater contains 3.5% dissolved salt/solids but the composition is not the same. Using half sea salt and half sodium bicarbonate to make faux seawater significantly increases the relative concentrations of sodium and bicarbonate (carbonate) in faux seawater compared with real seawater.

Hi tried to find a recipe online for making sea water and they all say to just use sea salt so I'm curious what is the baking soda for I'd like to try this sometime.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Both parts, the sodium and the bicarbonate(carbonate), are found in natural sea water, but the bicarbonate(carbonate) concentration in actual sea water is much lower compared with the concentration in faux seawater. So, why not just add all sea salt instead of adding half baking soda? This is the million dollar question! It may be that the extra bicarbonate in the faux seawater is binding some of the calcium and magnesium (hard water minerals that form soap scum) from the sea salt into precipitates before the soap is even made and it may also be serving as a point-of-use water softener when the soap is in use. For a bit of background, read this post.

 

[AliOop]

@Mobjack Bay Thanks, I knew you could help us here.

Some more food for thought:

Perhaps the original creator used a larger grain of sea salt than the finely-ground salt that I used. A larger grain would have resulted in more dead space in the measuring spoon, and thus, less weight as measured in grams. This is a good lesson about using weights and not volume measurements. But I digress.

That lower weight would translate into a lower salt/water ratio - perhaps 1.8 instead of 1.9, which would then match the TDS in weight. However, as you pointed out, the composition still wouldn’t match real sea water.

Fortunately, my goal wasn’t to exactly recreate sea water. My goal was to make nice soap… which it definitely did.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

@AliOop A little bit extra of one or the other probably makes little difference. Call it “measurement error.“ If we were chemists, we might even dry the salt and baking soda before we measured them. The percentages you calculated are close enough for me.

 

[CLMP]

So if I try this zany ocean water soap recipe will the soap be very hard? Just wondering if I should use single bar molds or can I use my loaf mold?

 

[AliOop]

So if I try this zany ocean water soap recipe will the soap be very hard? Just wondering if I should use single bar molds or can I use my loaf mold?

Well, it's still olive oil soap. While it does get rock hard eventually,, I have always used a loaf mold. It cuts easily around 18 hours later for me. It gets to medium trace for me pretty quickly, but I do soap hotter for this recipe, plus my friend who orders this likes a floral fragrance that tends to accelerate. Perfect for a high-OO recipe.

 

[BirchandTallow]

I apologize in advance for bursting your balloon…The recipe for faux seawater uses 1 TBSP of sea salt and 1 TBSP of baking soda in a quart of water.

It IS a Tbsp of each!
Ok, lesson learned. No more mixing before 10am.

 

[AliOop]

It IS a Tbsp of each!
Ok, lesson learned. No more mixing before 10am.

I also wouldn't worry about the solution being a bit cloudy, or mixing the two together. Of course, both salt and bicarb dissolve more easily if the water is slightly warmed, but they will dissolve in room temp water with a little more stirring and a little more time.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I fill a quart jar with distilled water and heat it in the microwave until it's boiling hot, then stir in both the sea salt (or canning/pickling salt) and baking soda. If the solution is still cloudy after it starts cooling down, I reheat it in the microwave again until it goes clear. Add lid, cool on the counter until room temp, then refrigerate.

UPDATE: Please disregard my above post. I mixed up my process for dissolving borax in water fir Earlene's blacksmith soap! For faux sea water, I add both the salt and baking soda to room temp distilled water in a quart jar and heat in microwave until boiling point, stir, and allow to cool on the counter. I reheat if it's not dissolved and totally clear and then store in the fridge.