Tell me about Salt bars...why great?

[shunt2011]

I like my bars when they are a bit scratchy. I use the same brand all the time but sometimes it's a bit more scratchy than others.

 

[vmakkers]

Maybe you'll get lucky and the FO will have taken the edges off a little while soaking or you will have already have purchased "dull" salt instead of sharp salt. It really is my favorite bar of all of them. Depending on how my next salt soap turns out, I may make pink Himalayan salt bars for my own use and other salt bars for friends and family. I certainly don't care if I get a few scratches because I forgot not to rub the bar directly on my skin. However, I won't want that to happen to anyone else. I'll definitely never use pink colorant in any salt bar in the future unless I go heavy on the colorant. I may end up confusing it for the Himalayan salt. I hope your bars aren't scratchy. Keep a cloth or pouf handy, though.

I usually use a pouf with all my soaps so I guess scratchiness won't be an issue but I too wanted to give some away. I'll issue a word of caution if any friends or family are set on having these ones. I forget not everyone uses a loofah with bar soaps. I do it since I feel like it saves soap and it makes more bubbles.

I'm going to get a batch of the fine ground pink salt this weekend from WinCo. They had both coarse and fine, and I got coarse just cause I wanted to be able to just keep one kind of the salt around so I could decorate/or add it into salt bars and coarse seemed to be the better option for that. I'm curious to see whether the fine ground from the store will have the same sharpness as the ones we did ourselves. If you want, I could send some your way so you can do your own tests. Just let me know!

 

[TeresaT]

That's sweet of you to offer. It wouldn't be worth your trouble, though. There is a Mia Cucina near here that has a bunch of specialty salts (and cool gadgets!). I need to find some tiny whisks, so I might stop by and see what salts they have.

 

[not_ally]

I would think the fine Himalayan pink salt would be fine/non-scratchy. I've used it in mp and it was, I just don't use it in CP b/c it is more expensive than regular salt.

 

[rparrny]

Also, I think you were WAY too hot in the oven. Most oven process temps are 170 or so.

Yeah, I was flying blind with this loaf and could not find any post that gave a temp...thanks for the info.

 

[Spice]

Forgot the photo! This is a very small batch- four bars:
(bad picture, taken with my phone, but you get the idea):
View attachment 15949

The soap on the left is a deer tallow/coconut milk soap I made today as well.

The salt soap on the right is BRIGHT white, while the white of the chocolate swirl soap is pretty white as well, considering that there is no TD in that. It's hard to see on the yellow counter how white the salt bars are. The chocolate swirl/white soap looks white and brown in natural light, but the salt soap is blindingly white in person.

I was wondering if I could use sea salt instead of TD for a white effect? What would happen if I just add enough for the whiteness? Maybe something like 1%, I dont what it to act like a salt bar....the cut right away....the sweating and all that.

 

[cmzaha]

I was wondering if I could use sea salt instead of TD for a white effect? What would happen if I just add enough for the whiteness? Maybe something like 1%, I dont what it to act like a salt bar....the cut right away....the sweating and all that.

It is the high coconut oil that makes salt bars white, not necessarily the salt. Salt really does not act like a colorant and will not add whiteness to your soap. Coconut Oil, Lard, tallow and olive oil will make white bars of soap. Problem with OO you will have to deal with the initial green unless you are using light Pure Olive Oil such as Refined Grade A

 

[PrairieLights]

Washing with a salt bar is like dancing in the ocean waves while bruddah I'z sings to you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DKWlrA24k

I always have a batch of salt bars ready, I love them so. I use 80% CO (5% castor and 15% OO or Almond) and 80 % of oil weight in salt. I keep meaning to try other percentages, but I keep doing this one because its just so good. I dont bother decreasing my recipe to fit the loaf mold, and just pour the extra into cavity molds. I like the look of a cut salt bar, even if they are a pain to catch in time.

Oh for goodness sakes!!! :roll: I cannot read any further. Now I absolutely MUST go make a couple bars.:crazy: You had me at "IZ"

 

[BlackDog]

Holy balls, you guys. I just tried my first salt bar after mere 6 week cure, and it was everything I hoped it would be. My fragrance didn't stick, which would normally totally bum me out, but I can't even be mad because that bar felt so great.

 

[JayJay]

Holy balls, you guys. I just tried my first salt bar after mere 6 week cure, and it was everything I hoped it would be. My fragrance didn't stick, which would normally totally bum me out, but I can't even be mad because that bar felt so great.

Wonderful!!

It's been 5 weeks since I made my first salt batch (25% salt). I think I'll try mine tonight!

 

[scraggybeard]

Looking to try my first salt bar, unfortunately all I have is a loaf mold that I usually do 54oz batches in. My recipe would be 85% CO and 15% avocado oil with 20% superfat and 80% of oil weight in salt. Does anyone have an idea of how much volume the salt would add? What amount of oils should I plan on using in the 54oz mold?

 

[kumudini]

I don't think the salt adds a significant volume. I only have to keep one or two individual molds for extra batter and my batches are the same size as yours although I use slightly less salt at 65% Of oil weight, which I don't think matters anyway.

 

[DeeAnna]

With salt at 85% of the soap batter, yes, the salt will definitely add a lot to the total volume.

Scraggy -- I can't help you myself, but here are threads that might be useful to you:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=27106
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=24852
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=33302

And if you want even more threads on this topic, see https://www.google.com/search?q=salt+bar+soap+volume+site:soapmakingforum.com&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[handavaka]

I just unmolded a batch of salt bars that I've resized, to take some of the weight off of my big bars.

 

[HappyHomeSoapCo]

Yes! Using the same batch size as all my recipes, my salt bars are much bigger!

 

[lenarenee]

Wonderful!!

It's been 5 weeks since I made my first salt batch (25% salt). I think I'll try mine tonight!

The curiosity was killing me after I made salt bars; tried an end piece at one week and wow! was it awful. Still awful at 2 weeks. But at 3 - I started using daily as the lather was starting to come into it's own (and not causing dry/tight skin. Can't wait to the 2 month mark when I try another!

I just unmolded a batch of salt bars that I've resized, to take some of the weight off of my big bars.

Those look awesome!!

 

[handavaka]

@lenarenee

Thank you very much! I've made them in my regular soap molds, but that required me to remain vigilante and stick around for the unmolding and the little window you get to cut a straight cut without damaging or cracking the corners. So tried in a round and definitely so much easier for me to unmold, stamp and transfer to drying racks without damage. I'm usually making 2-3 different soaps at a time, and it just makes sense to make it this much easier. They are 3oz lighter too!

 

[JayJay]

The curiosity was killing me after I made salt bars; tried an end piece at one week and wow! was it awful. Still awful at 2 weeks. But at 3 - I started using daily as the lather was starting to come into it's own (and not causing dry/tight skin. Can't wait to the 2 month mark when I try another!

Mine was nice at 5 weeks. I had to work on the lather a bit but it was not drying as I was expecting.

@lenarenee

Thank you very much! I've made them in my regular soap molds, but that required me to remain vigilante and stick around for the unmolding and the little window you get to cut a straight cut without damaging or cracking the corners. So tried in a round and definitely so much easier for me to unmold, stamp and transfer to drying racks without damage. I'm usually making 2-3 different soaps at a time, and it just makes sense to make it this much easier. They are 3oz lighter too!

They are gorgeous.

 

[handavaka]

They are gorgeous.

Thank you Jay Jay!![emoji4]

 

[Weety]

Washing with a salt bar is like dancing in the ocean waves while bruddah I'z sings to you
[ame]

I always have a batch of salt bars ready, I love them so. I use 80% CO (5% castor and 15% OO or Almond) and 80 % of oil weight in salt. I keep meaning to try other percentages, but I keep doing this one because its just so good. I dont bother decreasing my recipe to fit the loaf mold, and just pour the extra into cavity molds. I like the look of a cut salt bar, even if they are a pain to catch in time.

Do salt bars turn whitish/ash??

My salt bars did. Rinsed then a couple of times. Anyone else have that problem?