Salt Bar

[Phantomina]

Hi y'all.
Yesterday evening I made a Himalayan salt bar.
800g of oils/300g of salt. I was going for more salt but realised I had just 300g. Anyway, it turned out better that way as it started crumbling a bit when I cut it this morning. I realised that it is better to cut this bar after 2-12 hours. So I did it this morning straight away but it was a bit late already I guess. I did test. One part I used towel heating and one I put in the fridge.
The one in the fridge turned out amaaaazing, but the gel phased one crumbles a bit.
I used a bit of red clay to mix with rosemary EO before adding to soap batter.
Now I wonder should I rebatch the geled one. And how to do it without crock pot.

 

[Phantomina]

How can I delete this post, I see it is repetative

 

[AliOop]

I would say that the reason the one in the fridge wasn't crumbly is because cool temps slow down saponification, and high temps speed it up. In other words, you need to cut the insulated (or gelled, or CPOPd) soap much sooner to avoid crumbling, whereas the one in the fridge can be cut later because the saponification process hasn't progressed as far within the same time period.

Better yet, make your salt bars in cavity molds if possible. Then you don't need to worry about gel/no gel, cutting time, etc.

 

[Phantomina]

Thanks! I will follow that. Rebatching the crumbled one today.

 

[AliOop]

Thanks! I will follow that. Rebatching the crumbled one today.

When the crumbling comes from cutting a bit too late, usually it is just the edges that are crumbly, and the rest will be fine (ask me how I know).

So, before you go to all that work to rebatch, try washing with one bar to see if that eliminates the crumbly edges. If it does work, then you can just gently wash each bar to remove the crumbles, and then let them air dry and cure as normal. Or use them as is - a few crumbly edges don't hurt anything, and are fairly common in salt bars.

 

[Phantomina]

Running to test them....


Crumbles all the way thru.. Any tips on rebatching?

 

[Phantomina]

How about I just make fresh batter and add chopped salt bars to it?. Seems much easier.

 

[Obsidian]

How about I just make fresh batter and add chopped salt bars to it?. Seems much easier.

Much better to do it that way. I've found rebatching salt bars to be tricky.
I like to basically powder the salt bars and add that to new batter

 

[Phantomina]

T

Much better to do it that way. I've found rebatching salt bars to be tricky.
I like to basically powder the salt bars and add that to new batter

This is exactly what I will do. Don't have a crockpot and have never done rebatching.
So this way I feel more relaxed.

 

[Phantomina]

Done. Added spirulina and green clay to fresh batter. No scent. Mixed the salt bar cubes in.
Hopefully it cuts good.
Fisrt photo is the actual color.

 

[Phantomina]

The cut