Please tell me about salt bars

[DeeAnna]

Could that 'oily' feeling be due to the high SF?...

That was the conclusion I came to over time as I tested the salt bar batch I made. Not enough fat to feel greasy or oily on the skin, but enough that it felt sticky after I toweled off. This skin-feel was different than soap scum stickiness.

@CecileBC -- the others are giving good advice -- don't get impatient; let this type of soap have a good, long cure. The batch I made was quite harsh for many months. It took at least a year of curing for the soap to be mild enough for me.

 

[CecileBC]

That was the conclusion I came to over time as I tested the salt bar batch I made. Not enough fat to feel greasy or oily on the skin, but enough that it felt sticky after I toweled off. This skin-feel was different than soap scum stickiness.

@CecileBC -- the others are giving good advice -- don't get impatient; let this type of soap have a good, long cure. The batch I made was quite harsh for many months. It took at least a year of curing for the soap to be mild enough for me.

Thank you @DeeAnna . I will do so and practise my "zen attitude" - or hide the soap !

 

[curlycoat2]

I have been making a soleseife bar for many years.

You can use any cp recipe you like. Add salt at 25% of the water weight in the lye water, let it dissolve and then add the lye. The heat from the lye will dissolve any left over salt. I cool the lye water to room temp as I soap at room temp with SF 7% and zero coconut in my recipe. Easiest soap to make ever. Polishes your skin and has a glorious creamy lather. I use sea salt from our ocean here in Australia. Even my plant colors have no issue with soleseife. It has been my experience that salt will retain plant colors longer than a recipe that doesn't have it so my indigo/woad salt bar stays blue for well over a year.

 

[Frijoles]

You can use any cp recipe you like. Add salt at 25% of the water weight in the lye water, let it dissolve and then add the lye. The heat from the lye will dissolve any left over salt. I cool the lye water to room temp as I soap at room temp with SF 7% and zero coconut in my recipe. Easiest soap to make ever. Polishes your skin and has a glorious creamy lather. I use sea salt from our ocean here in Australia. Even my plant colors have no issue with soleseife. It has been my experience that salt will retain plant colors longer than a recipe that doesn't have it so my indigo/woad salt bar stays blue for well over a year.

Thanks for this. If you don't have any coconut oil in your recipe, do you add something for bubbles? I thought coconut is the only oil that will lather when using salt.

 

[curlycoat2]

Thanks for this. If you don't have any coconut oil in your recipe, do you add something for bubbles? I thought coconut is the only oil that will lather when using salt.

I use the salt bar in normal water so any recipe will work. People use coconut oil if they are going to use a soap bar in salt water as it will lather more than other oils ie fisherman

the salt content at 25% gives a creamy lather in normal water.

Try it with your favorite recipe, I think you will love it. The soap gets hard and polishes your skin without being gritty.

 

[Frijoles]

Thanks for your reply @curlycoat2

 

[lgranger]

Thank you for your recipe! Hot process intimidates me at this point, but I'm sure I'll give it a whirl at sometime.

You can use the same recipe for cold or Hot process soap.

 

[AAShillito]

When I make my salt bars I use Himalayan pink salt,but I buzz it down in my coffee grinder ( several times) into a fine powder. Works great. You have to use a cavity mold bc it hardens up fast!

 

[cmzaha]

When I make my salt bars I use Himalayan pink salt,but I buzz it down in my coffee grinder ( several times) into a fine powder.

Grinding any salt is a bad idea because it sharpens the grains of the salt. The problem with Himalayan is the clay content which causes it to be very abrasive. It only takes a couple sharp grains to cause a nasty abrasion. I hope you do not sell salt bars made with Himalayan. I have been making salt bars over 14 yrs and made every mistake that could be made back then. Mine are made with 100-110% salt so I use a lot of salt in mine. X-fine Pacific sea salt or a mix of Pacific sea salt and table works the best, with a 6-12 mont cure. Yes iodized table salt works fine, no DSS.

 

[AAShillito]

Hi! My salt bars are made with the Soleseife technique and all the salt is dissolved. No scratchiness

 

[Marie_with_an_e]

Grinding any salt is a bad idea because it sharpens the grains of the salt. The problem with Himalayan is the clay content which causes it to be very abrasive. It only takes a couple sharp grains to cause a nasty abrasion. I hope you do not sell salt bars made with Himalayan. I have been making salt bars over 14 yrs and made every mistake that could be made back then. Mine are made with 100-110% salt so I use a lot of salt in mine. X-fine Pacific sea salt or a mix of Pacific sea salt and table works the best, with a 6-12 mont cure. Yes iodized table salt works fine, no DSS.

Now I’m curious. I’ve heard before that Himalayan salt can cause abrasions, so I tried doing some research to find out the truth. It didn’t help, because I got answers on both sides! Yes, it does contain clay and can cause abrasions and/or lacerations, and no, it doesn’t cause lacerations or abrasions any more than any other salt. My questions are: where did you find your information and could you share your source? And why would the clay in the salt cause injuries? Thank you!

 

[A-Polly]

Now I’m curious. I’ve heard before that Himalayan salt can cause abrasions, so I tried doing some research to find out the truth. It didn’t help, because I got answers on both sides! Yes, it does contain clay and can cause abrasions and/or lacerations, and no, it doesn’t cause lacerations or abrasions any more than any other salt. My questions are: where did you find your information and could you share your source? And why would the clay in the salt cause injuries? Thank you!

I'm curious, too. I've used fine pink salt* but haven't experienced the skin damage others have reported. I wonder if the grain size makes a difference, or could it be the method of using the soap? For bathing I tend to use a washcloth or bath poof; would that be enough to prevent injury? Although even when just washing my hands directly with a bar, none of my salt soaps, whether white or pink, have caused problems.

Now coffee grounds are a different story; no matter how finely ground, they are like shards of glass against my skin. Weirdly, my 87-year-old neighbor loves them — I don't know how she escapes Lady Macbeth hands!

*sometimes labeled "Himalayan" and sometimes not. I wonder how authentically Himalayan some of these salts are.

 

[Iluminameluna]

@ackosel said, "It got a heavy layer of soda ash on top, and was crumbly when I beveled the top edge."

I'm sorry it's taken me this long to see your postings abt salt soaps! When I made soap more regularly I made salt soaps abt e/ 3 mos just to keep my oldest supplied!

The 1st time I made it, he was helping me & it was in a cardboard box. BIG mistake! We took too long to cut it & what everyone says about too hard to cut, & crumbles, it was all VERY real.

Once poured into individual molds they all developed that ashy powder on the surface, but it didn't seem to be chemically reactive to either my tongue or water, so i left it alone. I unmolded w/in 2 days most of the time, though I seem to recall that there was once I had to wait a week bc I was too sick, & my son too busy. Still, no harm was done.

Finally, to round out the details, this soap was mainly done in San Antonio TX, where it's mostly hot & humid. There was that exceptionally FREEZING episode, but I didn't make salt bars that week. I never added colorants, a scent, or additives, as my son just wanted them to soothe his sensitive, acne-prone skin @ the time. His was being affected by stress, but regardless, the cure for the soaps was for no less than 8 weeks before I let him use the 1st one, & he loved it. This despite there being a water-softening system in the house (which I disliked but had to get used to).

Also, ALL the soaps developed a sort of "spiny" aspect to their surface overall, along w/ the ashy powder. However it made no difference once the water hit them. It wasn't anything that affected his skin, or his friends', w/ whom he shared the soaps after a few weeks of his using them. They apparently remarked in how much better his face looked, & he told them abt "Mom's salt soaps". He stopped using/buying Neutrogena Acne something or other cleansing wash altogether. Again, I feel the need to apologize for not posting pics of said spiny soaps. I thought I had some but I don't.

He's still hoarding the last of his stash from 2021 (I believe). But he's also not as stressed so he doesn't use them as often.
ETA: My soap recipes (@Iluminameluna in SMF) are NOT salt bars, they're Soleseife, & the salt is no more than 25% of the total water wt, added to my warm distilled water so that'll dissolve completely, then THAT water cooled in the fridge before adding the lye (NaHO²). I do all my recipes in CP, just bc of my health, no other reason.

For those wondering, I once dissolved Pink Himalayan salt in my water, prepping for a recipe, & found the bottom of my container w/ a sediment i couldn't dissolve into the water. It was gray w/ tiny black grains that was very abrasive to my fingers. I came to find, through a bunch of Google searches, that it was silica, clay, & assorted debris. I kept the water, tossed the sediment, obv, but I wasn't in any hurry to buy any more of the HS. My son just got me the Costco salt. Cheaper & more readily avail. I don't sell my soaps so "label appeal" isn't my lingo.

 

[Frijoles]

For those who are making Soleseife salt bars, are you using a high percentage of coconut oil? Thanks

 

[Iluminameluna]

For those who are making Soleseife salt bars, are you using a high percentage of coconut oil? Thanks

Nope. My Soleseife bars are generally just like my regular soaps. The only difference is I use some sort of sugar in them, usually honey bc I have that on hand, but not regular sugar.
I don't use more than 15% of CO76 in any of my recipes, keep my SF generally between 5-7% (depending on who's asking for them), & the rest of my fats & oils are whatever I have on hand, in whatever quantities are left.
If you follow the link in the alternative color that's in my post, you'll see my recipes, including the Soleseife ones. Feel free to try any of them. I don't sell, but I also don't guarantee they'll "cure" anything either. I just make 'em.

 

[KimLynn]

For those who are making Soleseife salt bars, are you using a high percentage of coconut oil? Thanks

I used Elly’s recipe, which is only 10% coconut oil:

850 g olive oil
100 g coconut oil
50 g castor oil
225 g sea water (I used water from our vacation spot in Fernandina Beach, Florida)
138 g lye
No super fat, but I used 2 tsp spirulina powder dissolved in 1 1/2 T olive oil plus 1 T green French clay as colorant
Fragrance oil was 4% of Sea Salt and Beach Sage by Makesy

 

[Servant4Christ]

I used Elly’s recipe, which is only 10% coconut oil:

850 g olive oil
100 g coconut oil
50 g castor oil
225 g sea water (I used water from our vacation spot in Fernandina Beach, Florida)
138 g lye
No super fat, but I used 2 tsp spirulina powder dissolved in 1 1/2 T olive oil plus 1 T green French clay as colorant
Fragrance oil was 4% of Sea Salt and Beach Sage by Makesy

If you watch Elly, you'll notice that particular batch got DOS. Her recipe, though, is very similar to Zany's recipe for ZNSB, which I've been making for a couple years now and am eternally grateful for. So far, it's the only soap that doesn't cause my sensitive skin to dry out, break out, or literally peel off. Thinking back, I can't remember if Elly boiled her seawater before freezing it. If she didn't, maybe that would explain why she got DOS.

 

[KimLynn]

If you watch Elly, you'll notice that particular batch got DOS. Her recipe, though, is very similar to Zany's recipe for ZNSB, which I've been making for a couple years now and am eternally grateful for. So far, it's the only soap that doesn't cause my sensitive skin to dry out, break out, or literally peel off. Thinking back, I can't remember if Elly boiled her seawater before freezing it. If she didn't, maybe that would explain why she got DOS.

I think she boiled her sea water; I did not.

 

[Servant4Christ]

I planned on making Elly's recipe but found Zany's and tried it first because real seawater isn't local for me. Then I saw the DOS video and decided to run the numbers and realized they were very similar so I didn't try it. Can't wait to see your cut!

 

[melinda48]

As a lard soap lover, I really, really love salt bars. I use a recipe that, I think, @Obsidian first shared. 85% coconut oil, 5% castor oil, 10% oil of choice (avocado is very nice, but olive, HO sunflower, almond, etc are just fine IME). I use a 15% SF, make them one color and I add fine salt at 50% of the oil rate after the batter comes to trace. You want the batter to be thick enough to suspend the salt so it doesn't all sink to the bottom. I use individual cavity molds because I don't want to babysit a loaf for the optimum time to cut - it's quick, like an hour or two after pouring. I usually use sea salt, but any fine salt will work just as well (not iodized, not dead sea and not Himalayan). Himalayan salt reportedly is too sharp and can scratch or cut skin - I've never used it, but more than one person has reported this.

Salt bars really need a long cure to be at their best. I've found that 7 months is the minimum for how I like them to perform. I make a couple of batches twice a year so I always have them around. I started this thread, which shows what a benefit a longer cure can provide.
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/cure-time-doubters-a-visual.62723/

I use the process used by Lisa on YouTube (I Dream in Soap) and love it! If you use fine Himalayan salt, the soap is not too scratchy at all. My customers can’t get enough of it. I do not find it necessary to cure my salt bars longer than my other soaps.