salt bars

[squeakyclean]

Can I make make salt bars using HP? I have seen many threads using CP, but none using HP. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks

 

[MyNaturesArt]

oh yes! I LOVE my hp salt bars! Just add the salt towards end of cook, but have your molds ready to go, will get hard FAST!

 

[squeakyclean]

Thank You....I'm putting a batch together now!! By the way, I LOVE your site.

 

[MyNaturesArt]

thanks! Im still learning cp techniques..have done hp all my life and have finally dove into cp in the last year. Cant wait to do some of the gorgeous stuff some of the folks here do!

 

[Guest]

Just looked at all your soaps MyNaturesArt....just gorgeous. I love the Pumpkin Juice (Big HP fan here)

 

[AndyZohner]

Yes, Yes and Yes!!!

I make HP salt bars and use them as shampoo and body bars. They are super easy. In fact, I think they are easier than CP salt bars.

Here's my recipe. As you can see, it's really hard.
100% coconut oil
20% superfat

That's right - 20% superfat. While it is a lot of coconut, the high superfat counteracts any drying effects.

Anyway, run this recipe through Soap Calc to get your amounts of oil/water/lye for whatever size batch you want. I usually make a 2 pound batch because the salt you put in adds at least a pound or more to the finished amount of soap.

Mix and cook your soap like normal. It should cook at low for about 45 minutes. Once you reach vaseline stage and the soap no longer zaps, turn off the crockpot and add your fragrance/color and then salt. Now, the amount of salt is up to you, but I like at least 50%, if not 75%. I think a cup of salt per pound of oil works really well. Just add until you think the soap can't hold anymore. I use Morton's non-iodized table salt.

Get your soap into your molds quick, because my first batch (1lb) set up within 5 minutes. I'm not kidding you. As soon as the bars are cool, they are hard as rocks. If you use individual molds, then you should be fine just leaving them to cool, but if you get a single mold, then get your soap in the mold, let it cool slightly and then cut as soon as the soap stays together or you will have one very large salt bar.

My salt bars were ready to use right after I made them, but the lather gets better the longer they sit. They don't really lather like crazy in my hair, but they clean and rinse out really well. Oh, and don't use Epsom or Dead Sea salt because they don't work. At all. Regular table salt makes great HP salt bars.

 

[artisan soaps]

Re: Yes, Yes and Yes!!!

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[Bubbles Galore]

I'd love to try making a salt bar but have no idea how. If I did the soap as a CP, do I just make it as normal and add salt at trace?

Can you cold pour and then oven process a salt bar? Would that be better than just CP?

 

[AndyZohner]

I have heard of people quickly mixing in the salt at trace and cooking the soap in the mold in the oven for 2 hours or so. They always mention that you need to cut the soap while it's still warm or you get one big salt bar.

artisan soaps: You're right, I should have put in a disclaimer. I've never had a problem with 100% coconut soaps, but then, I live in Georgia where the humidity would take care of any drying effects. And I have heard that some people just can't take coconut oil soap on their skin. I usually can't tolerate it at higher than 20% in regular soap. But the 100%/20% superfat works fine for me for some reason.

 

[artisan soaps]

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[Guest]

If 100% coconut oil is too drying, could you substitute another oil for part of the total? Like maybe olive oil? Would you reduce the superfat amount then? Maybe that would slow down trace, too. I'd like to give this a whirl sometime.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Thanks for the replies. I will try and make a batch and I will use individual moulds. :wink:

 

[beautifulbay]

I made some tonight.... it was mostly coconut oil with a little palm oil.

I colored it with red and fragranced it with raspberry guava. I will unmold in the morning. I'm excited to see how it is!!

oh, and yes, it did harden fast, but it also held heat for a long time too

 

[Sparklebrook]

Ooooh, I can't wait to see!

 

[artisan soaps]

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[beautifulbay]

yes! Here is my salt bar...

Since it is such a hard soap, I actually use a chop saw to slice it, a soap cutter will just break it into a million pieces. Chop saws slice right through, leaving it amazingly smooth.

 

[artisan soaps]

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[beautifulbay]

Thanks!!

 

[tincanac]

them soaps look very very very cool!

 

[cambree]

Re: Yes, Yes and Yes!!!

Oh, and don't use Epsom or Dead Sea salt because they don't work. At all. Regular table salt makes great HP salt bars.

Hello,

What kind of problems did you have while using the Epsom and Dead Sea Salt Bar? Did it turn to mush?

I know you mention HP, how about if we added Dead Sea Salt to CP soapmaking? Would that be possible? I'd love to know if anyone else had more success with adding dead sea salt.

I just heard lots of good things about dead sea salt lately.