Salt bar

[Spiceandsoap]

My last post was asking for advice on a batch that went a little funny, and I learnt a ton from the responses. One of the suggestions was to post my recipe BEFORE I mess up, so here we are in yet another salt bar thread…..

Coconut Oil 325g
Olive Oil 75g
Palm oil: 25g
Castor Oil: 25g

Water- 170g
Lye(NaOH) 65g

300g Sea Salt
4.5g Rosemary EO

I’ve run soapcalc, but am aware that the large amount of salt messes with some of the properties.

I know that it’ll want to turn into cement after I add the salt, and I’ll have individual molds ready to shove the batter into.
Any advice I’m missing?

Question: Do these need to typical 4 weeks to cure?

Side Question: Much of the advice in the beginner forums is to make many small batches as I get started… however, with the smallest batch I’ve made is (620g of oil), I could barely ‘burp’ my stick-blender to get the air out of the bell. When doing small batches, do people generally hand stir? Should I find a narrower container to mix batter in? (I suspect my husband would urgently like an answer to this question as he eyes the rapidly growing collection of drying soap)

View attachment Salt Bars.pdf

 

[Obsidian]

You should start with a really simple recipe for salt bars. 80% coconut, 20% of your choice liquid oil. I like OO or avocado. SF at 20% and 50% salt. You can leave the water setting at default for salt bars.

 

[cmzaha]

My go to salt bar recipe is 85% CO, 8% Castor, 7% Sweet Almond Oil or Avocado Oil, full water, and 15-17% superfat, sugar, and oatmeal with 100% extra fine to fine salt. I personally hate OO especially in Salt bars. Salt bars were one of the first I started making when I started soaping around 8yrs ago. You may prefer the 20% superfat, that is just a matter of testing. I find they require a very minimum of 3 month cure preferably 6 months.

 

[IrishLass]

You're probably going to get a handful of differing opinions seeing as how we all have our favorite way of making salt bars, lol, but for what it's worth, here's mine: I would use at least 80% coconut oil in your salt bar if you want it to have decent enough lather where salt bars are concerned- especially if your house is piped with hard water since the salt will diminish it enough on its own.

Other than that, your recipe looks fine to me, although your water looks a little high to me (it's a little more than SoapCalc's default full water amount).

For what it's worth, I like to make mine with 100% CO/25% salt ppo/100% coconut milk as my liquid/13% superfat. I should probably mention that I am a bubbly lather lover and my house is piped with hard water.

A 4 to 6-week cure is my 'earliest best', minimum, but you can never go wrong with a lengthier cure, for sure.


IrishLass

 

[cmzaha]

I am just dipping into some 2yr old salt bars and they are great

 

[jewels621]

I am just dipping into some 2yr old salt bars and they are great

When I grow up I want to have Carolyn's patience.

 

[CTAnton]

I'm going to have to play around with a different recipe for my salt bars. While I love the way my skin feels after using them, i'm certainly not getting the lather that everyone talks about...Thanks as always, Carolyn!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Keep trying - my 80% co, 15% avo, 5% castor bars with 20% sf and 86% salt lather quite well and they are still quite young.

Don't forget your chelators, folks - every little helps

 

[dibbles]

This is a picture I posted comparing salt bars at 5 weeks and 6+ months. My salt bar recipe, like many others, is 80% CO, 15% OO, 5% castor, 75% salt PPO. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=62723

 

[earlene]

To address your other questions about making smaller batches. (No input on salt bars, per se at this point from me.)

If you can find a tall and thinner container for mixing your smaller batches in, that would help. You want your SB bell to be more than fully immersed in the batter, of course. And a taller, thinner container makes that more possible. Perhaps you can something like this (make sure it has a #2 or #5 recycle code on bottom so you know it is safe for use with lye soap).

Hand stirring only may be better for some recipes, but not for others.

 

[ngian]

This is a picture I posted comparing salt bars at 5 weeks and 6+ months. My salt bar recipe, like many others, is 80% CO, 15% OO, 5% castor, 75% salt PPO. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=62723

Thank you for the pictures Dibbles, I guess the salt bars need longer than usual time for curring as the relative big amount of salt they have doesn't let their moisture to evaporate easily or it doesn't let the soap crystals form easily in order to give suds quicker while bathing.

I intend to make my first time salt bar these days also along with bars that have the same recipe but without the salt.

Maybe something like:

CO: 90%
Castor: 10%
Lye Discount: 17%
Water: 2.5:1

One version with 25% or 40% salt at emulsification and the other version without the salt. I'm just curious to see what the salt will bring to the party along with taking away the suds.

 

[cmzaha]

Thank you for the pictures Dibbles, I guess the salt bars need longer than usual time for curring as the relative big amount of salt they have doesn't let their moisture to evaporate easily or it doesn't let the soap crystals form easily in order to give suds quicker while bathing.

I intend to make my first time salt bar these days also along with bars that have the same recipe but without the salt.

Maybe something like:

CO: 90%
Castor: 10%
Lye Discount: 17%
Water: 2.5:1

One version with 25% or 40% salt at emulsification and the other version without the salt. I'm just curious to see what the salt will bring to the party along with taking away the suds.[/QUOTE If you are going less than 100% salt I would lower the superfat to 15-17% superfat which will help with lather also