sugar and salt

[Nite Hawk]

aloe vera juice...
how much do you put in soap, and does it effect the hardness of the bar?

 

[soapmaker]

The addition of SL.

 

[penelopejane]

aloe vera juice...
how much do you put in soap, and does it effect the hardness of the bar?

Replace all or part of the water with it.

 

[DeeAnna]

Keep in mind when you add any salt (table salt, sodium citrate, sodium lactate, etc.), the salt may have a beneficial effect on hardness, but only if you keep the salt content below a certain critical amount. Above that, the salt will have a contrary effect -- it will soften the soap due to the way the salt alters the crystalline structure of the soap molecules.

Sugars can have this same contrarian effect because they also interfere with the crystalline structure of the soap, especially at higher rates. That's why sugars are often used in transparent soap to add clarity.

If you make liquid soap (using KOH), you can see this same effect in a more dramatic way. Adding table salt to a high-oleic liquid soap will thicken the soap more and more, but past a certain point, the soap will thin as more salt is added. It's the same effect in both bar soap and liquid soap, just you can see the results in liquid soap more easily.

To the person who was using 2% salt and 2% sugar and then tried 4% sugar with no salt, this is probably what happened. You would have been better off to try 2% sugar alone and 2% salt alone and compare those batches with your 2% salt + 2% sugar.

 

[Nite Hawk]

I was told 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of soap, and a teaspoon of sugar per pound of soap.
Does that sound reasonable?

 

[soapmaker]

I was told 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of soap, and a teaspoon of sugar per pound of soap.
Does that sound reasonable?

There is so much information and I guess "misinformation." I was told 1 T. of sugar per lb. of oils. But I lessened that a little to 4 T. in a 5 lb. batch. One teaspoon of salt per lb. I think is the norm.