How do the qualities of salt bars change over time?

[Mobjack Bay]

For those of you who have a stock of older salt bars, can you tell us newbies more about how the qualities of salt bars change over time?

I’m asking in part because I just washed my hands with a little cube of a salt bar soap that I made at the end of June. The lather was fluffy! It did not produce big open bubbles like a soap high in CO, and it wasn’t a dense creamy lather like lard, but the lather was a bit more “compact” like it would be for lard. This is the only soap I have that makes that kind of lather. My recipe is a copy of one Shunt uses, with CO, avocado and castor oils and aloe and coconut milk (powder).

 

[Cellador]

I use a similar recipe, and salt bars change a lot during a long cure! Initially, you do get a dense, "chunky" kind of lather (I don't know how to describe it, but it kind of clumps together). Over time, you get more of a abundant, creamy, foamy lather. It really does pay to let them cure awhile.
How much salt did you use? I find the amount of salt really makes a difference too. High salt needs a longer cure, IMHO.

 

[Obsidian]

The biggest change is mildness. Even with 20% SF, a salt bar can be harsh. A good long cure will take care of that.
The change in lather is also notable. Not only does it become denser but it also becomes quicker forming.

If you are in the US, pm me your address and I'll drop you a old bar.

 

[Dawni]

How much salt did you use? I find the amount of salt really makes a difference too.

How is the lather in a 100% salt compared to a 50% salt for example? I haven't even looked at the salt bars I recently made lol so I don't actually know yet what the lather is like but I'm curious. I used 50%.

 

[Obsidian]

I have moderately hard water and I do find the amount of salt to affect lather.

100% barely lathers, have to really work to get a good amount.

50% much better and easier to produce lather but still not great.

35% this is my sweet spot. Enough salt to still be a salt bar but low enough not to adversely affect lather.

 

[Cellador]

How is the lather in a 100% salt compared to a 50% salt for example? I haven't even looked at the salt bars I recently made lol so I don't actually know yet what the lather is like but I'm curious. I used 50%.

I prefer less salt in my bar. To me, it seems like a bar with less salt will have more lather sooner, is creamier, and is less likely to crumble. But, I still haven't compared a high salt bar to a lower salt bar at a year to see the differences there.

 

[cmzaha]

I use a similar recipe, and salt bars change a lot during a long cure! Initially, you do get a dense, "chunky" kind of lather (I don't know how to describe it, but it kind of clumps together). Over time, you get more of a abundant, creamy, foamy lather. It really does pay to let them cure awhile.
How much salt did you use? I find the amount of salt really makes a difference too. High salt needs a longer cure, IMHO.

I think you described the new lather well. I have always tried to figure out how to describe it.

I make mine with 100% salt and prefer no less than a 6 month but do not take them to market unless they are at the 1 yr mark. Lather is no longer "chunky" but creamy with bubbles. We have fairly hard water and they work for us.

 

[shunt2011]

I find it creamier with bubbles after a good long cure. I use 40-45% Salt. It's what I found I like best and have stuck to it. I started with 100% and worked down from there. I also find it is milder.

 

[DeeAnna]

The biggest change is mildness. Even with 20% SF, a salt bar can be harsh....

I strongly agree. I've only made a couple of batches of salt bars, so I'm no expert. The latest batch was really harsh in the first month, especially on my face and unmentionable body bits. That is a deal killer for me.

Carolyn (cmzaha) encouraged me to let the soap age and keep trying it as time goes on. It's about 8 months old now. The irritation factor has dropped off a lot over the months. It no longer irritates delicate parts, but it does leave my skin a little ashy looking, which tells me it's more harsh than I'd prefer.

The soap lathers abundantly regardless of age. What's different as time goes on is the lather is getting more dense (creamy) but it still makes a spray of big bubbles over the top of the dense suds.

My overall opinion -- The jury is still out whether I like this kind of soap or not. If the soap stays borderline harsh as time goes on, I'm not sure my enjoyment of the lather will overcome my dislike of the harshness.

 

[Obsidian]

@DeeAnna what oils did you use besides coconut? I've found sunflower seems to help lend some mildness, so can lowering the salt % some.

 

[dibbles]

Here's a visual I posted:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/cure-time-doubters-a-visual.62723/

I'd have to look to be sure, but my favorite recipe is 85% CO, 10% Avocado and 5% castor, so I'm fairly confident that is what I used for these. I have found that I prefer 50% salt (haven't tried lower, but started with 75-80%), just water for the NaOH and no other additives.

 

[cmzaha]

I use 5% SAO, 10% Castor remaining CO, PKO or blend of the two. Superfat 17%, no milks, either water or aloe juice with a 1 year cure.

Having spent a lot of my younger years at the beach, in the Harbor and at the Salton Sea I am very used to feeling salty. Plus the fact my eczema skin loves saltwater.

 

[earlene]

I'm fairly new to salt bars. I did not like them at first due to the harsh cleansing factor. And as with DeeAnna, I am still unsure of how I really feel about them. However, I do believe there might be a difference in the lather depending on the actual formula and perhaps any other factors that may affect bubbles and lather.

Example: Here is a salt soap I made with personally harvested salt from the salt flats in Utah (Great Salt Lake). The lather at 7 months of age was super thick like shaving cream out of can almost, but kind of on the dry side. No effort whatsoever was used to create this lather. The recipe on Aug 18, 2018 - 20% SF, 82% CO, 18% HO Safflower oil, 20-25% Salt (% oils). That's all the salt I had collected. At 7 months this soap was still far too drying to my skin; I will test further as it continues to cure.


https://www.soapmakingforum.com/media/bonneville-salt-flats-soap-lather.2090/


My 100% salt bar that I brought along with me to Hawaii does lather, but no where near as much as the Salt Flats soap or those described by others here. I have just packed for the return flight to the mainland, so I don't have access to the label to even mention the formula other than 1:1 salt to oils; oils = CO, but I don't recall the SF. My recipe is not on my hard drive to check. (hard drive failure - I have to rely on my notebook which is not with me ATM) But I have decided my skin likes it at age 15 months here in Hawaii's climate. That's all my experience with salt soaps, other than a couple when I was new that did not impress me, probably because I didn't give them the time they deserved and tossed them out too soon.

 

[DeeAnna]

@DeeAnna what oils did you use besides coconut? I've found sunflower seems to help lend some mildness, so can lowering the salt % some.

I did 80% coconut oil and 20% avocado. Salt was 35% of the weight of oils. I don't mind being patient with this soap, because it has changed a fair bit in the 8 months since I made it. I'm curious to see how it changes in the next 8 months -- I'm sure it won't get worse, and is likely to get better. It's still very much an experimental soap for me -- it's certainly not one I'd sell or give away.

 

[cmzaha]

I just tried one I made last week and it already lathers and leaves my hands very soft. I find Sweet Almond and the 10% Castor makes quite a difference in salt bars. These are superfatted at 17%. They are going to be fantastic in 6-12 months.

Not sure if you can tell anything by the pic. It is hard to wash and hold the phone! Not really bad for a brand new salt bar.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Here's a visual I posted:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/cure-time-doubters-a-visual.62723/

I'd have to look to be sure, but my favorite recipe is 85% CO, 10% Avocado and 5% castor, so I'm fairly confident that is what I used for these. I have found that I prefer 50% salt (haven't tried lower, but started with 75-80%), just water for the NaOH and no other additives.

Wow, that’s a very striking difference. I’m fully inspired to make more salt bars

When I was looking at the unusual “lather” of my 50% salt bar this morning, and not knowing exactly how to describe it, I was reminded of something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It finally clicked tonight - I was thinking of the whitish sea foam that collects on the beach. Sea foam forms when fats, carbohydrates, proteins and other substances in ocean water are whipped up (agitated) by the waves. It is somewhat soap like, but also different. The word frothy also came to mind. To get to the bottom of this, I looked up the definitions of some of the words we might use to describe the white stuff that results when we rub bar soap together with water in our hands. The definitions from dictionary.com (nouns) are quite similar, but I feel that I know froth when I see one and that it is not quite the same as lather.

Froth - an aggregation of bubbles, as on an agitated liquid or at the mouth of a hard-driven horse; foam; spume. (This word makes me think of the steamed milk at the top of a good latte, or moderately beaten egg whites)
Foam - a collection of minute bubbles formed on the surface of a liquid by agitation, fermentation, etc. (This word makes me think of shaving cream from a can, or really well-beaten egg whites)
Lather - foam or froth made by a detergent, especially soap, when stirred or rubbed in water, as by a brush used in shaving or by hands in washing (I definitely think of the substance soap produces, ranging from large and fluffy to dense and creamy)
Suds - soapy water; foam; lather. (To me this is what forms when I mix shampoo and water in my hair, and it’s also the soap/water mixture that floats around on bathwater)

Would anyone else use the words frothy or foamy to describe the “lather” of young salt bars?

 

[earlene]

Great analogy, Mobjack. The foamy lather from my Salt Flats soap is very like the sea foam that collects on the shore, especially after it lands in the sick as I rinse my hands. And it takes a long to wash it all down the sink because it just doesn't disintegrate easily.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I find this lather difference interesting and look forward to seeing how the bars change over time. I noticed that in some of the earliest SMF threads/posts on salt bars there is no mention of them getting better with age.

 

[Adobehead]

Here's a visual I posted:
Cure time Doubters? A Visual

I'd have to look to be sure, but my favorite recipe is 85% CO, 10% Avocado and 5% castor, so I'm fairly confident that is what I used for these. I have found that I prefer 50% salt (haven't tried lower, but started with 75-80%), just water for the NaOH and no other additives.

dibbles, you didn't mention the SF you like with this, do you mind saying? I got here by following a link in today sposting, I hope this isn't necroposting.

 

[dibbles]

dibbles, you didn't mention the SF you like with this, do you mind saying? I got here by following a link in today sposting, I hope this isn't necroposting.

I use 18-20% SF. I don't really notice much difference between the two.