Sea water soap

[Neve]

I finally got myself some seawater - don't laugh but I was in Oregon a few weeks ago and filled a couple of water bottles. And I got the Oceanus fragrance from Voyager and it's perfect.

So. Is this seawater even useable, and safe? It's been sitting on the kitchen bench since we got back. And if it is, what the heck to I do with it? Just replace the water? I googled but didn't find what I was looking for.

I could use some expert advice here. If I need to toss the seawater then I'll just make my usual salt bar with the lovely new fragrance.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I know that there is a thread here about using water from the ocean, maybe someone will find it.

 

[CanaDawn]

this thread http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=46100 is about using lake water but discusses some aspects of using an untreated water source.

 

[Neve]

Hmm. Boiling is easy but how would I filter it? I don't have a filter jug. Our water comes out of the fridge.

 

[Relle]

Coffee filter

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Don't forget, by boiling you will get rid of some fresh water and be left with a saltier sea water......................

 

[Seawolfe]

Let it settle, then decant and boil, and then strain through a coffee filter / paper towel / clean tshirt rag. Then smell it! If it smells bad, don't use it.
For reference, normal seawater is generally between 33-36 parts per thousand (ppt) which translates to 3.3-3.5%

 

[Pepsi Girl]

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=41179&highlight=ocean+water
Not sure this was the one I was thinking of but it has a video!

 

[Lindy]

I've used sea water a lot since I live by the sea. I let it settle, decant and then use as it. The lye is going to sterilize the water and I've never had a problem. I simply use it in place of my water. Mind you I am a daredevil and use straight tap water too....

 

[Bex1982]

Me too. I do add some fresh water, especially if I boil it, like gentleman said, it gets concentrated. I noticed that it can be hard to dissolve all of the lye (even at normal strength) So I'll use about 28 oz seawater and 2 oz fresh when I make my 5 lb batches (I might have the water measurements off lol).

 

[Ellacho]

I don't live near ocean so I just made my very first brine water salt soap last week.

 

[Neve]

Good because I don't have coffee filters. Our machine has a washable one. I don't mind being a daredevil it's an experiment after all.

Now do I make the recipe as I would a salt bar, tons of CO? I'm assuming that's the thing to do or I wouldn't her bubbles right?

I am not sure how long two plastic bottles of sea water is good for either. I'm probably happy to do one good batch... Might be going back for another ocean visit later in the year.

I've used sea water a lot since I live by the sea. I let it settle, decant and then use as it. The lye is going to sterilize the water and I've never had a problem. I simply use it in place of my water. Mind you I am a daredevil and use straight tap water too....

 

[Bex1982]

I use it in my 30-40% coconut but I've used it with 20% and it did great too. You don't have to have a massive amount of CO for it to make a nice bar. If you want extra bubbled you can always add some sugar to the seawater and use 5% castor. The seawater will help make the bar harder. I hope it comes out good I'm sure it will. I live right on the ocean so I've used it a lot. Oh your soap can trace faster so watch that.

 

[Lindy]

Good because I don't have coffee filters. Our machine has a washable one. I don't mind being a daredevil it's an experiment after all.

Now do I make the recipe as I would a salt bar, tons of CO? I'm assuming that's the thing to do or I wouldn't her bubbles right?

I am not sure how long two plastic bottles of sea water is good for either. I'm probably happy to do one good batch... Might be going back for another ocean visit later in the year.

Soap is always good for an excuse to go to the ocean - strictly for science and the business you understand...

Water doesn't go bad so you're fine :mrgreen:

 

[CanaDawn]

Soap is always good for an excuse to go to the ocean - strictly for science and the business you understand...

Water doesn't go bad so you're fine :mrgreen:

Water itself doesn't go bad, but seawater is loaded with all kinds of things that DO go very very bad, so I would advise keeping a close eye (nose?) on any stored and untreated seawater. As always, YMMV

 

[Lindy]

I've not had any trouble mind you I've never kept it for a huge amount of time.

 

[CanaDawn]

I've not had any trouble mind you I've never kept it for a huge amount of time.

eh. Maybe I'm wrong. There's just a lot of biomass in most seawater vs tap or filtered water.

 

[Bex1982]

It can get fishy, you got lil seaweed you cant see n stuff. I kept mine for 3 days but don't think I would personally go beond that. But this isn't based on science just my personal preference. Might be better to keep it in the fridge or measure and freeze if you're going to take a while to use it.

 

[Neve]

Hmm. I'm getting more grossed out by the day! I just haven't had a chance to do anything with it. I think I've been back from Oregon 4 weeks now.

 

[Seawolfe]

I work with seawater, a lot of seawater... Believe me, it can get rank sometimes. Just smell it - if it smells fine then you're good to go.
If it smells bad (and I dont mean briney sea kinda funky, I mean nasty bad) then yeah no.
I work in an back bay with a lot of plankton blooms, so I filter all my sea water. But if yours was from a wavy splashy beachy area it should be fine.