Might have to rethink my opinion on salt bars

[cmzaha]

I love them but am disappointed at how fast they disappear

Considering they are high CO to 100% CO they are going to be high soluble soaps. It is just the nature of the beast.

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

My favorite recipe is with 20% avocado oil, but before I discovered that, I made a batch with OO which I really didnt care for, so I just left those soaps and used them whenever I didnt have my “regular” salt bars. Well, that happened again a few weeks ago, by this time those salt bars were like a year and some month old. The lavander scent was gone but... the lather! It was great. I just LOVED that bar (it was my last one from that batch), so Now ai’m here thinking I might just make another batch like that and hidding it for a year and a half.

i love my regular salt bars even without a long cure and mine tend to not last that long but I love making TONS of lather so I guess its my fault.

 

[rparrny]

I just discovered the same exact thing! Made salt bars three years ago. Tested them at six months and hated them. Tested them at one year and hated them. Tested them at 18 months and hated them. Decided I was too cheap to throw them out so I just set them aside. Tried one three years later recently and absolutely loved it! Now I need to make more because I really like it and it’s going to take me three years to enjoy the batch!

 

[luluzapcat]

I just discovered the same exact thing!

May I ask, and also of Alfa_Lazcares, what was it about the salt bars you hated earlier? And how they changed with the long cure? Just curious about what to expect...going to try this experiment in patience I think...

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

Considering they are high CO to 100% CO they are going to be high soluble soaps. It is just the nature of the beast.

I get that!!! even so I love them--just hate to see things I like disappear

 

[Primrose]

May I ask, and also of Alfa_Lazcares, what was it about the salt bars you hated earlier? And how they changed with the long cure? Just curious about what to expect...going to try this experiment in patience I think...

I found them incredibly harsh, drying on my skin and felt like they were shredding me.

 

[AliOop]

I find it strange when I hear others say how fast they disappear. I feel like mine last forever.

Same here! I am more disappointed that I can't use them up faster so I can use some of my other soaps.

 

[Lin19687]

I found them incredibly harsh, drying on my skin and felt like they were shredding me.

The 'shredding feeling' is from the salt. Could be it was too course, used too much or wrong kind of salt. They are very harsh to some types of skin and if you have dry skin to begin with it is worse. Also the SF makes a difference to some too. Some people are also sensitive to CO so salt bars are out

 

[Primrose]

The 'shredding feeling' is from the salt. Could be it was too course, used too much or wrong kind of salt. They are very harsh to some types of skin and if you have dry skin to begin with it is worse. Also the SF makes a difference to some too. Some people are also sensitive to CO so salt bars are out

Yes I understand that but I made several different types with very fine salt and different amounts and all felt the same initially, until now when they are much much older and they don't feel like that anymore.

 

[Lin19687]

Ahhh I see, I didn't understand then, sorry

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

May I ask, and also of Alfa_Lazcares, what was it about the salt bars you hated earlier? And how they changed with the long cure? Just curious about what to expect...going to try this experiment in patience I think...

For me it was the lather. The avocado oil recipe makes a very fluffy lather, think egg whites when you whisk them, and they do that kind of lather even with a short cure (i leave them about a month and half), however the OO recipe didnt make that much lather and I could barely get that fluffy thing going on. But after the long cure the lather was there and yes, it also felt gentler on the skin. Along with the normal things that happen to well cured bars, it lasted longer too, the down side was the lack of fragrance, but I didnt use that much of it and it was also EO so that was ro be expected.

 

[cmzaha]

For me it was the lather. The avocado oil recipe makes a very fluffy lather, think egg whites when you whisk them, and they do that kind of lather even with a short cure (i leave them about a month and half), however the OO recipe didnt make that much lather and I could barely get that fluffy thing going on. But after the long cure the lather was there and yes, it also felt gentler on the skin. Along with the normal things that happen to well cured bars, it lasted longer too, the down side was the lack of fragrance, but I didnt use that much of it and it was also EO so that was ro be expected.

I find it interesting you feel the avocado oil lends lather to the salt bars. I find it adds an emollient factor, but no lather. When I did 100% Avo bars even after a year cure they had zero lather, or just a minimal lather using a bath pouf. I also find salt bars need to be fragranced quite heavy with a know sticker fragrance.

 

[shunt2011]

I use avocado in my salt soaps and think it adds to the creaminess of the lather. I use it at 15%. I too find that salt soap has to be scented stronger for it to stick through cure.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I’ve made @shunt2011 recipe for salt bars (50% salt) using both a very fine powdery salt* and sea salt packaged for cooking/table use (Hain and Morton). My bars are 6 months old. The bar made with the powdery salt is making a denser lather compared with the one made with sea salt, which is starting to produce a more open bubbly lather. Right now I like the bar made with the sea salt better.

*this is the powder I made by dissolving and drying Himilayan salt. There’s a photo comparing the grain sizes here.

 

[cmzaha]

I use avocado in my salt soaps and think it adds to the creaminess of the lather. I use it at 15%. I too find that salt soap has to be scented stronger for it to stick through cure.

I use Castor at 10% with Avo, SAO or Sunflower at 5%.

 

[Alfa_Lazcares]

I find it interesting you feel the avocado oil lends lather to the salt bars. I find it adds an emollient factor, but no lather. When I did 100% Avo bars even after a year cure they had zero lather, or just a minimal lather using a bath pouf. I also find salt bars need to be fragranced quite heavy with a know sticker fragrance.

Well it was the only thing different between the batches. Both are 80% coconut, 50% salt and lavander EO, the rest was the AO or the OO. With the OO ones I felt like I was using a high OO soap, slippery, not slimy per say but similar. And the AO just made fluffy lather. But gonna make more to compare again ha!

 

[MGM]

Ok, so having, in another thread, declared that I'm about to make at least 8 batches of salty soaps, I need ideas for recipes....
I think I'll try :

@Alfa_Lazcares's 80% coconut, 20% AVO and 50% salt. Superfact?

Also, @shunt2011 's 80% Coconut, 15% Avocado Oil & 5% Castor. 40-50% Salt. 18% SF.

@Steve85569 's 100% salt BWO and 100% coconut oil. Superfat?

Any other must-try recipes?

 

[dibbles]

@MGM I use 80% coconut, 10% avocado and 5% castor, 50% salt, 18% SF. So very similar to @shunt2011 . I made one small batch of this recipe today, and a second replacing the avocado with sweet almond because I have some right now and thought I'd compare.

I've also done 80% coconut and 20% avocado and can't really say it is much different than the one with 5% castor, but I didn't have a side by side comparison either. I think the most salt I used was 80%. Dropping it down to 50% seemed to be the point where I didn't have so much ash.

I like to make my salt bars in January so they are nicely cured for the summer months.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I like the same recipe as @shunt2011 and @dibbles. My bars We’re made during the summer. I recently came across a thread where many were extolling the virtues of @IrishLass 100% CO bars made with coconut milk and coconut milk powder using the split water method. I didn’t track down the original posting of the recipe by IL, but here’s the link to the thread I found:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/irish-salt-soap.53371/#post-506353

I’m planning to make a batch soon for a recipe comparison.

 

[shunt2011]

I use coconut milk in my salt bars as well.