First Salt Bars Today

[LSdude]

Today I got bored and it's very hot outside so I decided to make some salt bars today.

CO 80%
AO 15%
CO 5%

20% Superfat

38% water lye ratio
no fragrance

85% salt

I decided to use some natural colour this time. I added 3tsp of turmeric powder to my 750gm of oil.

I know it's going to fade a little but I found some pics of an experiment over at the soap queen and thought that I should achieve the colour that I'm after with that amount. Only time will tell.

Here's the link incase anyone want to see https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-...ricks/turmeric-cold-process-soap-color-tests/


I soaped at about 95 to 98F and it took quite a while for the batter to reach trace. Thought my SB was going to die! We eventually got there. I added the turmeric powder that was mixed with a slight amount of oils gave it a good whizz then added the salt. I mixed it up with a bit of elbow grease and then gave it a few pulses with the SB just to make sure there were no lumpy bits in there and that everything was well mixed together.

This time I covered them with cardboard and wrapped in a towel for full gel hopefully.

Anyway, enough babble here's the end result.

 

[lenarenee]

Perfection!

You made salt bars before that didn't fully gel? Oh - were those individual molds with a similar recipe? (Mine are up to 100% co in a loaf and I just couldn't comprehend a salt bar not fully gelling.)

 

[LSdude]

Perfection!

You made salt bars before that didn't fully gel? Oh - were those individual molds with a similar recipe? (Mine are up to 100% co in a loaf and I just couldn't comprehend a salt bar not fully gelling.)

I've never made salt bar before these are my first so I just covered and hope for gel. I don't know if thats what they do on there own.

i made some cp the other day that didn't gel to the edges so thats why I covered thois time

 

[lenarenee]

I've never made salt bar before these are my first so I just covered and hope for gel. I don't know if thats what they do on there own.

i made some cp the other day that didn't gel to the edges so thats why I covered thois time

How long since you checked on them? Coconut oil and salt make for a very hot soap and can overheat. Using individual molds should help reduce that, but I'd check on them and look for signs of oil separating out from overheating.

 

[LSdude]

How long since you checked on them? Coconut oil and salt make for a very hot soap and can overheat. Using individual molds should help reduce that, but I'd check on them and look for signs of oil separating out from overheating.

I just checked on them and they seem ok. They actually don't feel as hot as the cp soap i made the other day.

They're not that hard yet either. I'm going to leave them in them ovenight before unmolding

 

[lenarenee]

They'll probably be fine then. Maybe the 20% of non-coconut oils helped, or just having the individual molds. There's quite a few people who make salt bars and I'm eager to hear what they think.

With mine - I've got hot batter 2 minutes after pouring into the mold and I never cover because they don't need it.

 

[Evangeline-13]

wow 85% salt- sounds great. would you tell me the oils without shortcut? co is coconut oil i suppose? thx

 

[LSdude]

wow 85% salt- sounds great. would you tell me the oils without shortcut? co is coconut oil i suppose? thx

Sure

Coconut Oil 80%
Avacado Oil 15%
Castor Oil 5%

 

[Evangeline-13]

Sure

Coconut Oil 80%
Avacado Oil 15%
Castor Oil 5%

oh castor oil! thank you. :razz:

 

[penelopejane]

Sure

Coconut Oil 80%
Avacado Oil 15%
Castor Oil 5%

Since you are in Oz and our temps have been insanely high lately I will warn you that salt bars sweat for 4-5 months after being made. They take about 9 months to cure.

I put mine on a tea towel and change it about once a week or whenever it gets close to saturated. Yesterday we had 34*C and about 90%humidity according to DH. I put a fan on my soap but those salt bars need a new tea towel today.
Time consuming but worth the effort.
I’m thinking of timing my salt bar making so they aren’t curing in summer!

 

[shunt2011]

That's my exact recipe that I use with the exception for the amount of salt. I use less as it's a personal preference. I have a really difficult time getting my individual molds to gel when I use them. Even in the heat of the summer. However, I generally use a loaf mold and then cut them at 3-4 hours while still warm.

Those turned out really nice. The sweating will slow down eventually as PJ said. Now for the long cure.

 

[dibbles]

I’m thinking of timing my salt bar making so they aren’t curing in summer!

Since I have no interest in making Castile soap, I'm thinking that my New Year's soap will be salt bars. Of course, that is in the dead of winter where I live.

I have a really difficult time getting my individual molds to gel when I use them. Even in the heat of the summer.

Me too - even salt bars.

 

[saratk]

If you don''t use individual molds for the salt bars, how soon after putting the soap into a loaf mold should they be cut? I've only used individual molds but want a larger bar so would like to try my loaf mold but am worried about it hardening too quickly and then them not cutting well.

 

[penelopejane]

If you don''t use individual molds for the salt bars, how soon after putting the soap into a loaf mold should they be cut? I've only used individual molds but want a larger bar so would like to try my loaf mold OObut am worried about it hardening too quickly and then them not cutting well.

It depend on what mix you use. If you use 100% CO it is less than 4 hours. If, like me you use a high percentage of OO then it’s can be double that. The first time you have to watch your mix, prod it with your finger and guess when it’s ready. It will still be warm when you cut it.

If you don’t wait long enough the corners will stay in the mold.
If you wait too long it will be too hard to cut.
There is a fairly good window of opportunity so there’s no need to panic but you do have to watch it.
I start mine in the morning.

 

[shunt2011]

It can be a bit tricky in a large mold. I just test it with my fingertip and see when it feels hard enough to get out of the mold but not too soft. Wear gloves, the lye is still pretty active yet. Plus it's usually pretty warm still too.

 

[Evangeline-13]

if you put them in a special plastic sheet, they should not sweat.

i never use loaf molds for any salt soap. always single molds- too much stress if i forget to cut

 

[Seawolfe]

Thats close my my basic salt bar recipe. I did make salt bars with turmeric coloring and they did fade to a lovely biscuity color, so I was ok with that. I think you will really like them.

 

[LSdude]

Since you are in Oz and our temps have been insanely high lately I will warn you that salt bars sweat for 4-5 months after being made. They take about 9 months to cure.

I put mine on a tea towel and change it about once a week or whenever it gets close to saturated. Yesterday we had 34*C and about 90%humidity according to DH. I put a fan on my soap but those salt bars need a new tea towel today.
Time consuming but worth the effort.
I’m thinking of timing my salt bar making so they aren’t curing in summer!

Yeah it's been really hot here to 34+ and very hunmid. I'm prepared for a long cure. I think I will make these in autum next time cooler and then they're ready for xmas.

That's my exact recipe that I use with the exception for the amount of salt. I use less as it's a personal preference. I have a really difficult time getting my individual molds to gel when I use them. Even in the heat of the summer. However, I generally use a loaf mold and then cut them at 3-4 hours while still warm.

Those turned out really nice. The sweating will slow down eventually as PJ said. Now for the long cure.

Yeah I found the recipe in one of the threads here I think it was TEG recipe.

Thats close my my basic salt bar recipe. I did make salt bars with turmeric coloring and they did fade to a lovely biscuity color, so I was ok with that. I think you will really like them.

I think they faded ok I was hoping for just a little bdarker than how they turned out but I now know for next time The one on the right was a half bar so I'll use that one for the experimenting during cure time.

The only challange I see here is waiting so long to find out how they perform, then tweaking and waiting could take 10 years to find the right combo

 

[Evangeline-13]

The only challange I see here is waiting so long to find out how they perform, then tweaking and waiting could take 10 years to find the right combo

so you always have an excuse to make soap. :mrgreen:

 

[scard]

I like that color, very nice.