First salt bar in the mold.

[robnbill]

Thanks for the complements. We are not selling soaps. My husband and I started making bars for Xmas gifts and personal use. We really enjoy it. Everyone we know will be getting soap for the holidays this year. The salt was coarse grind. The stamp came from Soap Impressions. I sent the the design and they made a metal stamp out of it.

 

[robnbill]

The one thing I learned on the salt bar is when I did the replacement of oil with salt, I used the weights in ounces. However since salt (in a given volume) weights so much more that oil, I ended up with a smaller batch in volume than I wanted. Correct weights, but did not fill up the mold. The next time I am going to increase the target volume un the recipe.

 

[Obsidian]

The one thing I learned on the salt bar is when I did the replacement of oil with salt, I used the weights in ounces. However since salt (in a given volume) weights so much more that oil, I ended up with a smaller batch in volume than I wanted. Correct weights, but did not fill up the mold. The next time I am going to increase the target volume un the recipe.

When I make salt bars, I don't alter the amount of oils I use. Instead I just plan on having extra batter that goes into some of my mismatched cavity molds.

 

[boyago]

Thanks for the complements. We are not selling soaps. My husband and I started making bars for Xmas gifts and personal use. We really enjoy it. Everyone we know will be getting soap for the holidays this year. The salt was coarse grind. The stamp came from Soap Impressions. I sent the the design and they made a metal stamp out of it.

Bummer, might just be my poor sense of humor but my brain went straight to the act of robbing and billing, thought it was funny.

 

[boyago]

Stumbled on this last night at Whole Foods.

Looked it up to see why it was so expensive. Their site says that it is just sea salt with activated charcoal. Kind of expensive don't ya think?

 

[Obsidian]

Not too bad for special batches, the black salt here is .89 a ounce.

 

[cmzaha]

Stumbled on this last night at Whole Foods.

Looked it up to see why it was so expensive. Their site says that it is just sea salt with activated charcoal. Kind of expensive don't ya think?

San Francisco Salt Company has Black Hawaiian Salt on sale for $19.99 for 5 lbs. Other sizes are available with free shipping over $20. I purchase all my salts from this company

 

[cmzaha]

Thanks for the complements. We are not selling soaps. My husband and I started making bars for Xmas gifts and personal use. We really enjoy it. Everyone we know will be getting soap for the holidays this year. The salt was coarse grind. The stamp came from Soap Impressions. I sent the the design and they made a metal stamp out of it.

Please warn anyone you give a salt bar made with coarse salt to not rub directly on the skin. Course salt can be extremely abrasive and actually cut the skin. Even medium grind can be to strong. Fine salt in bars is much safer. Your bars are gorgeous

 

[robnbill]

Please warn anyone you give a salt bar made with coarse salt to not rub directly on the skin. Course salt can be extremely abrasive and actually cut the skin. Even medium grind can be to strong. Fine salt in bars is much safer. Your bars are gorgeous

Actually, when you get it wet an rub it between your hands a minute, it becomes smooth. I use it in the shower. Love it. I find it is less exfoliating than oatmeal. Just my two cents.

 

[Obsidian]

I've made a couple batches with course/medium grind salt and I've never found it to be scratchy at all. It smooths down just like the fine salt bars do. I do prefer fine grind though and will use only that from now on.

 

[cmzaha]

I've made a couple batches with course/medium grind salt and I've never found it to be scratchy at all. It smooths down just like the fine salt bars do. I do prefer fine grind though and will use only that from now on.

Take it from experience, that not all salt is the same or smooths with use. I simply will not test my insurance and take a chance. Adding exfolients to salt bars is safer with additives not medium to coarse salt. I have been making salt bars for 6 yrs and have used many types of salt and believe me I have had many salt bar failures in the beginning. Salt bars are my daily soap and I sell many salt bars and simply do not want to test my insurance because someone cut themself with the bar.

 

[AlicesWonderhands]

Epson salt ISNT sodium, its magnesium sulfate. I actually wonder how an epson or other magnesium salt bar might work as there's a lot of talk in the last couple years about magnesium deficiency and transdermal magnesium supplementation. There is no accurate test for magnesium deficiency because so little of the body's magnesium is carried in the blood. People with gastrointestinal problems are more likely to be magensium deficient, and less likely to be able to absorb magnesium from an oral supplement. Epson baths are a type of transdermal magnesium supplementation. Magnesium chloride is supposed to be better for a direct transdermal supplementation such as mag oil or lotion but epson which is magnesium sulfate is fine for baths. So if it would physically work in a soap bar, its interesting. Now did I just give away a great idea? haha. I think I might try it..

Or bath bombs? I'd love to see how this goes!

 

[cmzaha]

Not sure how much or what kind of lather to expect in a salt bar. Here is a pic after a quick rub. The larger bubbles popped but this is a pretty fair representation. A tripod may have been nice as I just nearly dropped my phone several time trying to take this pic.

They will improve with time, but your recipe, in my opinion, is not going to give luscious. Not trying to hijack your thread but this pic is what you can get from a salt bar with 4-6 month age time and a different formula. This particular bar has 110% salt to oil

 

[boyago]

They will improve with time, but your recipe, in my opinion, is not going to give luscious. Not trying to hijack your thread but this pic is what you can get from a salt bar with 4-6 month age time and a different formula. This particular bar has 110% salt to oil

You would be correct. That bar is almost a year old. I was just thinking about giving the salt bar another go and will definitely use much more CO.

Here is a pic for those who want to see what the poor results of my bar, and the recipe I used: I did 50% total weight (of salt), it just felt weird pouring that much salt. CO 50% RBO 20%, Castor, Almond and Sunflower at 10%. Then I went a little crazy with the additives, Oatmeal, bentonite, and powdered kelp. Kind of just mashed together a couple recipes I found. We'll see if it works out.

When I try them again I'm going to way up the CO, and dropping the sunflower and almond oils and drop all the silly additives.

 

[cmzaha]

I actually do one that has kelp powder, caffeine, fine oats for scrubby, with no affect to the lather. 90% co 10 castor works everytime and is not in the least drying. I use them almost daily. As I mentioned somewhere before, I tried the other oils, some butter etc and ended up scraping the bars :thumbdown: I tried some palm in the hopes of adding some longevity to the salt bars but it was a real lather killer

 

[JustBeachy]

They will improve with time, but your recipe, in my opinion, is not going to give luscious. Not trying to hijack your thread but this pic is what you can get from a salt bar with 4-6 month age time and a different formula. This particular bar has 110% salt to oil

That's some good lather for a salt bar.

 

[DWinMadison]

Nice job! Question: Can you feel the salt in the bars?

 

[Obsidian]

Not when you use fine salt. I have a batch I made a year ago with medium grind and its scratchy, enough so that I worry about it cutting me. I'm going to toss it since its not safe to use.

 

[JustBeachy]

Nice job! Question: Can you feel the salt in the bars?

I've tried them with everything from coarse to fine. The coarse salt bar's look really cool, but it's like bathing with a rasp when you try to use them. 8) If you use too coarse a grind, exfoliation becomes the biggest understatement since Noah said it looks like rain.

I have one medium grind kosher sea salt that I still use. Seems like the granules are more rounded, so they don't scratch, yet give a good feel to them. The rest of the salts I use are all fine grain.

 

[Obsidian]

I have used a medium grain kosher too but the stuff I have is flakey and its not scratchy at all.