Sweating Salt Soap

[Wandering Woman]

Hi everyone, hope you can share your experiences.
I love salt bars and am slowly getting the hand of making and cutting them with minimum crumble and fuss however...

All of my salt bars are sweating: We have had a warm UK summer and now the weather has turned cool and wet (I am assuming with high humidity). which I think is the root of the problem.

When I say they are sweating - I mean they are covered with water, they were fine 8 weeks ago but not good now?! Do you have a similar issue with them? Clearly salt attracts water in the air but is there any way to minimise this and what about packaging? Does it create long term probs (DOS)?

I want to give them as gifts but soggy soap wrapped in tissue paper is clearly not desirable!!! Grr...

Hoping you can share your experiences and solutions

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

What sort of salt did you use? Some salts are well known for causing this. The whole recipe might also help out with troubleshooting, too.

 

[hmlove1218]

If you're going to time them as gifts, perhaps you could stick them in a bin with some rice for a fee days to let them dry and then wrap them up in cling wrap or something so they're air tight just before you give them away. Hopefully the weather changes soon! Here in Mississippi, my salt bars seem to sweat one good time from the humidity and then they're fine.

 

[shunt2011]

I too am curious as to what kind of salt you used. I make and use a lot of salt bars and rarely have any issue with them sweating. They may sweat a bit if it's super humid. I wrap them in shrink bands but don't notice a lot of sweating when they do they are just a bit damp. Sorry they are giving you so much trouble.

 

[Wandering Woman]

Hi
It is just regular fine table salt at 50%, without digging out my recipe notes: majority coconut oil, about 70/80%, then a mix of avocado, olive and castor oil - 20% SF and essential oils...

Hope this may help u in advising me!

 

[Obsidian]

Its just from the humidity in the air. Put a small fan in the room the soap is curing in to help reduce the humidity. Once the soap is good and dry, I would wrap it.

 

[Wandering Woman]

Its just from the humidity in the air. Put a small fan in the room the soap is curing in to help reduce the humidity. Once the soap is good and dry, I would wrap it.

Thanks. Would you shrink wrap it? Stop anymore humidity getting to it?

 

[radar-78]

I am in the UK and also had the same problem a while ago. It was about the same time into the cure incidentally and I just put it down to humidity in the air. What I found helped was one of those moisture trap thingys (with the absorbing crystals inside). Think I got it and the refills at wilkinsons. Put it right next to the soaps on the curing rack and they dried right out till I used up all the soap.

 

[Wandering Woman]

I am in the UK and also had the same problem a while ago. It was about the same time into the cure incidentally and I just put it down to humidity in the air. What I found helped was one of those moisture trap thingys (with the absorbing crystals inside). Think I got it and the refills at wilkinsons. Put it right next to the soaps on the curing rack and they dried right out till I used up all the soap.

Yes, am almost sure it is the weather - I have made several batches over the summer as I had made it my mission to perfect these salt bars and it literally started as soon as the rain came and the weather turned cool.

Thanks for info - Wilko's here I come! Still not sure what I am going to do regarding wrapping them though.

 

[Obsidian]

Yeah, I think shrink wrap would be good.

 

[Wandering Woman]

Thanks all, I am going to let everything dry out then wrap half of them in cling film and then get some shrink wrap - see which works best!

 

[Louis mercy]

I know this thread is old but Pls can anymore really help me out ..
I made a salt soap bar exactly 1day and 9hrs now it's been sweating after the cut..
I used the heat transfer method only warming my hardoils and using lyes heat...
@linne1gi @DeeAnna @Dawni and very many other soap gurus on here Pls chime in..
First attempt at a salt bar

 

[The_Phoenix]

"The positively-charged side of the water molecules are attracted to the negatively-charged chloride ions and the negatively-charged side of the water molecules are attracted to the positively-charged sodium ions. Essentially, a tug-of-war ensues with the water molecules winning the match. Water molecules pull the sodium and chloride ions apart, breaking the ionic bond that held them together. After the salt compounds are pulled apart, the sodium and chloride atoms are surrounded by water molecules."

That is, basically, the science of why salt attracts water from the air. I have never made salt bars, but if I were I'd put them in an airtight container with a bowl of rice. The rice, like salt, is hydroscopic: it attracts water. Or put some rice in cheesecloth and make it like a sachet, and tape it to the container. It's certainly inexpensive. Sort of like adding rice to a salt shaker to inhibit clumping. Water itself is also attracted to water. My soap started to sweat a few months ago during a humid spell. Using a 1.7:1 water:lye ratio helped to significantly reduce the sweating.

This would actually be an interesting experiment, now that I think of it.

 

[Louis mercy]

"The positively-charged side of the water molecules are attracted to the negatively-charged chloride ions and the negatively-charged side of the water molecules are attracted to the positively-charged sodium ions. Essentially, a tug-of-war ensues with the water molecules winning the match. Water molecules pull the sodium and chloride ions apart, breaking the ionic bond that held them together. After the salt compounds are pulled apart, the sodium and chloride atoms are surrounded by water molecules."

That is, basically, the science of why salt attracts water from the air. I have never made salt bars, but if I were I'd put them in an airtight container with a bowl of rice. The rice, like salt, is hydroscopic: it attracts water. Or put some rice in cheesecloth and make it like a sachet, and tape it to the container. It's certainly inexpensive. Sort of like adding rice to a salt shaker to inhibit clumping. Water itself is also attracted to water. My soap started to sweat a few months ago during a humid spell. Using a 1.7:1 water:lye ratio helped to significantly reduce the sweating.

This would actually be an interesting experiment, now that I think of it.

Thnx so much for taking out the time to explain the science behind it.
I really Appreciate your input..
They are soap bars do I wrap them up adding rice to the wrap

 

[The_Phoenix]

Thnx so much for taking out the time to explain the science behind it.
I really Appreciate your input..
They are soap bars do I wrap them up adding rice to the wrap

I'm slightly confused by your question. What I meant was to put the bars of soap in a box with a sachet of rice and keep the box in a cool, dry area. I do not recommend putting the soap in a wrap with the rice. Although, now that I think of it, maybe you could. It would be a good experiment.