Salt Soap Question

[tryanything]

I have a question about the quantity of oils & salts to use when making salt soaps. Most things I have read seem to use a 1:1 ratio oils to salts. Will this make the batch bigger? If I have a mold that will hold 48.8 oz of oils (using the LXWXHX.4 method) and I add 48 oz of salt, will that double the batch size to 96 or will it still fit in the 48 oz mold? Thanks for any help!

 

[Healinya]

You can use any ratio you want.. I've seen a few people use 1:1 (noone seemed to rave about it), a lot use 80% salt, some use 50% and 25% (and I'm sure others have more preferences). It doesn't increase the volume by much. When I first learned salt bars, the rule of thumb I was told (and found to very accurate) was to use 80% of your original oils and 80% of that number for salt, and that it the same size mass as you would have in a normal batch.

 

[jadiebugs1]

uh...no...if you have 1lb. of oils and you ADD 1lb. of salt (or 12.8oz. which would be 80% of oil) it WILL increase the overall size of your batch. Not necessarily by the exact amount of salt added, but it does.

:wink:

I don't have an exact formula or anything...but I use 80% salt to oils, so I just played around with it, guessing at first...to make a batch size to fill my mold. I had to DECREASE, though, the amount of oils for it to fill the same size mold.

ETA: I just had some individual molds on hand when I did the first batches, to fill with the overflow of batter...and THOSE soaps turned out better than the ones in the big mold!

 

[Healinya]

If you decrease your original oil amount to 80%, and add 80% (from that number) of salt... It will be the exact same volume as if you used your 100% oil..

48.8 oz x .80 = 39.04 oz oil
39.04oz x .80 = 31.232 oz salt

I learned that from this forum a few years ago

 

[jadiebugs1]

Thanks Healinya! Kinda what I did, only it was all in my head! But having a 'formula' sure does make it easier!

 

[tryanything]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try that 80/80 rule and see how that goes. Maybe have a couple of extra molds standing by just in case. This will be my first attempt at a salt soap and I want to do as much research as possible before trying it. Now I just have to wait for my leave to start next week!

 

[Dragonkaz]

When I started making salt soap I had no idea of the amount I would have, as I'm lousy at working out volumes etc.

I had researched for some time and decided on 70% salt to my 95% co and 5% castor oil ... 20% superfatted. This research also convinced me to use silicon moulds and I chose the muffin shapes and any left over went into a silicon loaf mould.

I've now resized my recipe ... due to my earlier trials ... and have a recipe that fits the number of muffin moulds I have.

I (my family and friends) love salt soap!

 

[nattynoo]

I've done alot of salt soaps. They're pretty popular with my soapy circle.
I've pretty much settled into 80% of total oil. With some castor & shea.
I do find it increases my total batch weight but doesn't double the actual quantity. Maybe 1/2 again. They r good heavy bars though & last & last.

I threw a 7month old bar in the shower this morning actually. I never have really given my salt bars enough of a chance to age as they go so quick & I can't seem to get in front with them. Anyway, long story short, keep as batch aside for mwa, this bar I threw in one of the best salt bars I've used to date.....salt bars are definitely better with age!!

 

[Hazel]

nattynoo -

I agree. Salt bars are much better with a longer cure.

Healinya -

That's a great formula for figuring out the batch size. Thanks for posting it.

 

[turbo]

Made some last night. I think in 7 months it willbe hard enough to drive nails

Mike

 

[tryanything]

7 months! Is that a joke or do they really need to cure that long? I was hoping to make salt soap sometime this week or next and have them ready for Christmas presents. Is there enough time?

 

[nattynoo]

LOL.... u don't have to wait 7months.....hehehehe.
U could use them after a few days if you really wanted too. As long as saponification has finished & there is no zap (though its hard to do a tounge test for zap with salt bars I find).
"its said" that salt bars get better with age.
So in theory the longer you leave them the better they get.
That particular batch I was talking about is at least 7months old & its truly lovely.
Usually though for me I cure them for about a month.
Not sure what the weather does for where you are but where I live its hot & humid most of the year & my salt bars sweat for awhile. Eventually they stop. So don't b surprised by that.
Salt bars are pretty cool.

 

[tryanything]

Thanks! Had me worried there a second. I live in the Pacific North West. There is plenty of water in the air, but not heat. I'm almost ready to try salt soap! All I need to figure out next is what to use to form it. Risk using my loaf mold & them not turning out great or trying the individual mold idea.

Any advice/ideas on what to use for individual molds? I make small batches that usually yield about 12-14 5 oz-ish bars.

 

[Hazel]

I know my salt bars get better with age. After at least 2 months, I can tell a difference.

Do you have any silicone muffin trays? Those would work.

 

[carebear]

Thanks! Had me worried there a second. I live in the Pacific North West. There is plenty of water in the air, but not heat. I'm almost ready to try salt soap! All I need to figure out next is what to use to form it. Risk using my loaf mold & them not turning out great or trying the individual mold idea.

Any advice/ideas on what to use for individual molds? I make small batches that usually yield about 12-14 5 oz-ish bars.

High humidity is bad. Especially for salt soap. Hot makes it worse. Even if cool you may still have issues with sweating/condensation.

 

[turbo]

It has been 95 and HUMID for the last 4 or 5 days. Still no sweating, but I guess A/C helps. I made a batch Friday and couldn't wait. Used it in the shower Sunday. We loved it. Can't wait to see what it is like in a month.

 

[saltydog]

I made a salt soap 2 weeks ago and tried it on my hands yesterday. It was 16 oz. of oils and 16 oz. of sea salt. I followed a recipe I found online, it was 12.8 oz. of CO & also had a bit of Avocado and Castor.

Anyway, I could not believe how sudsy it was. Sudsy and ..lotion-y.
I just made the same recipe again, but this time used individual molds and 80% salt. I added my salt at very thin trace, I was afraid I would have lumpy soaps, but they came out pretty smooth. I like them because the molds are smooth rounded rectangles. I'll try to wait longer with these.

I've heard 80% salt volume is more the norm, but I have to say, those 100% ones were really nice. Just wondering, what does less salt do for the bar?

 

[Hazel]

I think less salt would mean it wouldn't be as scrubby.

Val -

I should tell you that you inspired me to play around with salt percentages. The salt bars I did last week are 100%, 65% and approximately 40%. The ones I did on Monday are 75%. It will be interesting to see how they turn out because I've been using 80% for all my batches since last summer. Who knows? I might find that I like a different percentage.

 

[saltydog]

I think less salt would mean it wouldn't be as scrubby.

Val -

I should tell you that you inspired me to play around with salt percentages. The salt bars I did last week are 100%, 65% and approximately 40%. The ones I did on Monday are 75%. It will be interesting to see how they turn out because I've been using 80% for all my batches since last summer. Who knows? I might find that I like a different percentage.

I think we all inspire each other, daily

That's cool, though, I'd love to hear what you think of the difference's, percentage wise, keep us posted!

Oh, and another thing I was wondering about- the recipe I followed had a 20% water discount. The batter becomes so thick so fast, wouldn't it be advantageous to use full water in the case of salt soap? I'd think a little extra working time would be good, especially when pouring into individual molds, but maybe I'm wrong about this??

 

[nattynoo]

I personally work with full water with my salt bars. I'd imagine all that salt would be thirsty. I've tried a few batches with lower water & I've had trouble getting them into the mould quick enough , plus I like to do a texture top & it left no time for the top.