Margarita Salt Bars!!

[Cirafly24]

I decided to give salt bars a shot I am so happy with the way they came out!

Scented with Lime Margarita FO from CG, colored with Wreath Green Labcolor. I preheated my oven to 170, put the poured soap in, and turned it off. It was still warm and soft enough to cut when I took it out 2 hours later.

I LOVE this FO...smells just like a margarita!

 

[Hazel]

Wow! Those look wonderful! I love the color and you did a great job on the textured top. How did you cut them so smooth looking? My salt bars always look rough.

I've never done CPOP. Do you set the mold on a baking sheet or do you just set it on the rack?

 

[Cirafly24]

Thanks! You can see that 3 of the bars in the back look rougher than the rest...I cut those with a knife. Then, I remembered my wire cheese slicer, and that worked MUCH better. Smoother cuts, and much more even! (I can't cut a straight line with a knife to save my life)

It looks kind of like this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BL1MYG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20.

I just put the mold directly on the rack. I have heavy plastic loaf molds, and there was no problem with the temperature...I imagine wood molds would be even safer.

 

[Relle]

I bet the smell must be amazing and the colour looks so delicate. I've yet to make salt bars, I must dig out the cheese cutter ( I've got one of those somewhere) - but where :? .

 

[Dragonkaz]

Your salt bars look fantastic and that smell sounds divine!

I make my salt bars in muffin silicon moulds so that I don't have to cut them a couple of hours later.

 

[soapbuddy]

I like the color!

 

[Hazel]

I know what you mean. I can't cut straight either. My SD made me a 6 lb wooden loaf mold and he cut a slit in it about one inch from the end. I can set the loaf in the mold and get straight cuts this way. However, usually I'm too lazy to get the mold out because I'm not too concerned about straight cuts.

 

[Cirafly24]

Thank you!

When I put the salt bars on the curing rack next to my other soaps, I realized that they are about 30% bigger than the bars from my other 2 lb batches...the salt must add a lot of weight and volume. They're pretty heavy, too!

I measured them, and they are 3.5 x 3.5 x 1. Do you think this is too large? Normally I aim for 3.5 x 2.5 x 1.

 

[kelleyaynn]

I think the size is fine. And yes, salt bars will be a lot heavier due to the added salt. My first salt bars were scented with agave lime from Nature's Garden, and they smell divine, so I bet yours do too!

 

[judymoody]

Those look terrific - so smooth! Love the color!

 

[cinta]

Gorgeous!!

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Love those! :wink:

 

[saltydog]

Those are wonderful looking, so cool & margarita like. Awesome tops, too!

 

[Guest]

Awesome....I make mine in the oven as well, I use wooden soap boxes (lined with plastic garbage bags), they work great. I must look for a cheese cutter like yours, as I cut with a knife and it is not nearly as smooth!

 

[Cirafly24]

Wow, these bars are like concrete! I tried one out, and the lather is great.

Do you think these need to cure the full 4 weeks? No zap, and hard as a rock.

 

[Hazel]

I can't say don't use the soap for at least 4 weeks because I have a tendency of trying a sliver of a soap after only a week.

IME, salt bars get much better if left to cure longer than 4 weeks. My attitude was "what's the big deal?" when I made my first salt bar batch. I didn't understand why everyone raved about salt bars. I set it aside and altered the recipe so I could try again. My second batch was a lot nicer and I could understand why people liked them but I still didn't think they were as awesome as people had said.

3 months later - I decided I should start to use the first batch and I was amazed at the difference in the lather. Hard to describe but I thought it was wonderful lather. Now I understood why people love the lather. Since then, I've made different variations of salt bars - in one batch I added whipping cream and in another I added cocoa butter.

So just remember they're much, much better after a long cure. Now I cure mine for at least 6 weeks or longer.

 

[Cirafly24]

Thank you, Hazel, that's great advice!

I am also guilty of trying my soaps after only a week hehe ...so far I've found that the lather greatly improves in all of my soaps with more cure time. My oldest batch of CP is only about 7 weeks old, so I'm sure they'll get even better with time.

One that I have *not* tried is the castile...I want that to cure for a LONG time before I try it out.

 

[dcornett]

Those look great! Love the color too!!

 

[Hazel]

I put off doing a castile when I first started soaping because I was impatient and didn't want to wait so long to use my soap. I finally did a castile soap after I had been soaping for a year. I kicked myself that I didn't do it as one of my first batches.

Definitely do a castile soon.

 

[Cirafly24]

Oh, what I meant was that I made a castile, but didn't try it out yet! It's only about a week old.