Sea Salt in Bars

[dippy]

Yes Penelope is correct. Sorry for the confusion - I knew what I meant in my head but I probably didn't communicate it well.

I will do a salt bar and I think I will try Irish lasses recipe as it sounds really nice.

I am looking for the formulation for my standard soap recipe at the moment. Thanks so much though cmzaha - this is what makes this forum so fabulous as you were trying to stop me making an expensive mistake. It's very much appreciated.

I will try recipe 2 as a starting point and as Penelope said keep testing it at different cure times - I just hope it doesn't add too much to the cure time as I am impatient at the best of times.

Are there any soft oils that are known to quicken up the cure time? Off to do more reading..

 

[Arimara]

I made a salt bar with 400g of coconut oil, 73g of rice bran oil, and 32g of castor oil. those bars are 3+ months old and feel really nice. They didn't seem to dry my hands either. The superfat was about 17% and I think I used 50% salt.

 

[dippy]

Oh and Earlene I meant to say you really make me laugh! Washing with soapy twigs wasn't the sensory experience I was going for. I will keep the tea for my cup for now.

 

[dippy]

It's interesting the different ingredients for the salt bar base. I had read somewhere it needs to be just coconut oil. It's the joy of soap making- lots of ways I can experiment. I will make a note of you recipe if you don't mind arimara - one to try for the future.

 

[SeaSuds]

Not for the salt bars but if you don't want to use animal fats or palm oil have you considered soy wax? There is lots of info on here and you can buy a European version that is non gmo (Eurosoy 800).

 

[dippy]

Thanks seasuds i will look into that. With regards soft oils was just reading about avocado oil and it sounds lovely but is expensive. I can see it's going to take lots of experimentation to find my perfect bar!

 

[Arimara]

It's interesting the different ingredients for the salt bar base. I had read somewhere it needs to be just coconut oil. It's the joy of soap making- lots of ways I can experiment. I will make a note of you recipe if you don't mind arimara - one to try for the future.

I think I made that from someone else's recipe. just run it through a saop calculator and you'll be fine.

 

[SeaSuds]

Thanks seasuds i will look into that. With regards soft oils was just reading about avocado oil and it sounds lovely but is expensive. I can see it's going to take lots of experimentation to find my perfect bar!

Avocado oil is expensive to buy from the supermarket but is a bit more cost effective if you buy a larger quantity from a soap supplier such as Soap Kitchen or Gracefruit once you know you want to use it regularly (I love it). Soap Making is an expensive hobby for sure!! Rice Bran Oil and Sweet Almond Oil are lovely too not to mention high oleic sunflower oil....the possibilities are endless!! Funnily enough after over a year of soaping I developed an intolerance to olive oil which has led to lots of new experiments....

 

[linne1gi]

Salt bars themselves are not exfoliating and I am not at all sure how amd's hubby would find a salt bar made with 30% salt exfoliating. But we all have our opinions and that is why we have choices. I have made salt bars for at least 10 years using 100% salt and they are not scrubby, in fact I add oatmeal to mine. The exfoliation comes into play with the natural exfoliation properties of saltwater itself. The recipe I have used since day one is 80% CO or CO/ Palm Kernel Oil Split, 5% liquid Oil, 10% Castor Oil. I have tried many combos of the 80/15 and always return to the above. While I use a log mold mine are really better poured in individual cavity molds because cutting becomes very tricky.

Obsidian just brought up a point I was going to add, never use Himalayan no matter what you read the clay in it is too sharp and will or can lacerate the skin.

Your oils only add up to 95%. I also find salt bars exfoliating. I use very fine sea salt, anywhere between 75-100% of oils. Usually 100% Coconut. I use distilled water to dissolve the lye and add Coconut milk for the 2nd portion (I use a 2:2 ratio). If using a loaf mold I cut in 3-4 hours. Individual molds are much easier. I always add sugar and mulberry silk to my distilled water before I add the lye.

 

[cmzaha]

I think she's looking at a few different bars. One she was considering was a salt bar.

Maybe I did not follow all the posts. sorry...

 

[dippy]

Sorry I have a couple more quick questions.. I have got a recipe that I think sounds ok on soap qualities for my regular bar but the hardness is only 37 - should I add sodium lactate as I have read it hardens up the soap. The soap does have 33% olive oil so don't know if it makes a difference.

Also as a beginner should I add 100% goats milk in place of the water or 50% milk 50% water. I know I should freeze the milk in ice cubes. Or is adding milk not a beginner level thing?

 

[atiz]

Sorry I have a couple more quick questions.. I have got a recipe that I think sounds ok on soap qualities for my regular bar but the hardness is only 37 - should I add sodium lactate as I have read it hardens up the soap. The soap does have 33% olive oil so don't know if it makes a difference.

Also as a beginner should I add 100% goats milk in place of the water or 50% milk 50% water. I know I should freeze the milk in ice cubes. Or is adding milk not a beginner level thing?

You can add either SL or a little bit of salt (dissolved in the water before the lye) to make the soap harder. But the numbers are not always very telling; it may just need a bit longer curing.

If you feel like adding milk, add it! I used some milk in my very first soap and it didn't end up a disaster (ok, it could've). Nowadays when I use it I like to have my lye dissolved in equal amount of water, and then mix the remaining liquid as milk in my oils. This way you don't need to mess with the ice cubes etc. If you have milk powder, you can also add little extra powder to the oils to make a "whole" replacement" (i.e. add as much as you would for the water that's sitting with your lye).

 

[dippy]

That sounds so much easier atiz! Do you add the milk to the oils before adding the lye solution/soon after adding the lye solution to the oils or do you mix lye/oils get a light trace first and then add?

 

[penelopejane]

Sorry I have a couple more quick questions.. I have got a recipe that I think sounds ok on soap qualities for my regular bar but the hardness is only 37 - should I add sodium lactate as I have read it hardens up the soap. The soap does have 33% olive oil so don't know if it makes a difference.

Also as a beginner should I add 100% goats milk in place of the water or 50% milk 50% water. I know I should freeze the milk in ice cubes. Or is adding milk not a beginner level thing?

I didn’t look at the numbers in soap calc. They just don’t work for olive oil soap. Don’t get hung up on hard and soft oils because olive oil is described as a soft oil but it makes a hard bar.
I would try and formulate a bar that works first then think about sodium lactate. It changes the feel of soap. Salt is good to add to the water at 3% for hardness.

Almond oil might be cheaper than Avocado oil (for you) and produces similar results in soap.
I think the 100% coconut for salt bars was started by people who must have bubbles. It could like high OO soaps you’ll like later over bubbles so you can experiment to your hearts content. Coconut oil soaps dissolve really quickly for me which I find diisappointng. A salt bar, no matter what the ingredients, may sweat a bit for a few months - dry it and change any cloth it is sitting on regularly or use a dehumidifier. They also need 9 months to cure. The texture and lather changes over time so don’t give up on them at 3 months.

What got me into soap making was a friend gave me some handmade soap. 30/30/30/10 palm/coconut/olive/castor. I found it mushy and harsh. I put it in the cupboard. Almost 2 years later I found it and tried it again and it was amazing. I still think that recipe is drying for me so I’ve since found much better formulas for me but what a difference time makes to soap.

 

[penelopejane]

That sounds so much easier atiz! Do you add the milk to the oils before adding the lye solution/soon after adding the lye solution to the oils or do you mix lye/oils get a light trace first and then add?

It’s called the split method and it is a very easy way to soap with milk.
Add additives to the milk and mix the milk into the oils then add the lye. I don’t mix anything at trace because I want things thoroughly mixed - including FOs etc.

But there is no “right way” to make soap. You’ll find lots of very experienced people on the forum make soap in lots of different ways.

 

[dippy]

Thank you for those pearls of wisdom Penelope! I can wait to get started i just wish my order of supplies would arrive.

I will look at pricing of almond oil in comparison to avocado oil here in the UK. I use a lot of almond milk and other almond products as I am dairy free but have never bought almond oil.

 

[SeaSuds]

The last time I bought sweet almond oil from the Soap Kitchen it was a little cheaper than olive oil and a lot cheaper than avocado oil! Prices are increasing because of the current situation unfortunately. You can also try different milk powders which are easy to add to your oils...

 

[dippy]

Oh thanks seasuds. I found a good price on the soapery website and I have just done a search on the forum and it appears people have recommended them before. I will compare with soap kitchen and a few others.

I was just going to use olive oil from Aldi as I won't be using massive amounts.

Now thinking of milk powders - I can see how this hobby escalates!

 

[mutinyintl]

Anyone from the N.UT area? I'd love to get some salt from the Great Salt Lake to put into some of our salts. Wonder if anyone has tried that.

 

[atiz]

What @penelopejane said. I mix everything to the oils before adding the lye. It makes everything quite easy, and less of a chance that I'll forget it.
Good luck!