Sugar

[LuvOurNewf]

I've read where sugar not only adds to the "bubble" effect in CP soaps but it also adds to the hardness of the finish bar.

Is sugar enough to take the place of sodium lactate in order to add some hardness?

What if you used both figuring the sugar for the bubbles and the SL for added hardness? Or do you end up with a unusually hard bar?

 

[jeremmy]

Im no sugar expert (besides eating it) but I havent found that my bars are any harder while using sugar.

 

[Genny]

I've never heard of sugar hardening soap. Salt? Yes. Sugar? No.

 

[la-rene]

Sugar did not harden my soap. In fact, it still is a bit sticky to the touch months after being made. Not sticky like lick your fingers sticky, but kind of like picking up a fresh candy cane. If that makes sense. Though, I didn't find that the soap went away any faster than normal.

 

[Hazel]

I believe sodium lactate helps with initial hardness because even though it is processed from sugar, it's still converted to a sodium salt* during manufacture. I'm not a scientist and I can't prove this - it's just a theory I have which may be wrong. However, I've used a little amount of table salt to help harden loaves which does make them easier to get out of a mold when I've run out of SL. It doesn't really affect the hardness long term. It just makes the soap harden more quickly initially so it can taken out of the mold more easily. It's not going to make soap unusually hard. I've also noticed this when I've just used salt.

I've experienced the same problem as la-rene with soap being sticky for a few months which I assumed is from the sugar. Sugar was the only difference in the batches (forgot to add it in a batch ) which is what made me think this was the issue. Nobody complained about the stickiness and it did eventually disappear.

*I know sodium salt seems redundant but there are different types of salts. Salts just refer to ionic compounds created by the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base.