Tell me about Salt bars...why great?

[rparrny]

My first attempt...<gulp>

Okay, I made my first attempt at a salt bar this afternoon. 80% CO 20% Castor Oil and 50% Sea salt. Scented with eucalyptus EO about an ounce.
Came to trace as I was adding the salt and it was a mad dash to get it in the loaf mold (I know, I know...but I don't have enough bar molds to handle the job...they are on order), its a hot and humid day but I have the AC on...the left over I put in molds.
So I keep seeing posts about how quickly you need to unmold them, anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours to cut. Also about the heat of the loaf at cutting time. I just measured the temp of my loaf, 95F...is this a bad sign? This is after 45 minutes. The top is firm but it is not ready for unmolding. Of course I just got a call from a good friend who wants me to come over and have a swim in their new pool....
Then there was the big chunk of salt that I missed...only noticing it as I poured it into the soap...I hope my quick mixing broke it up.
I feel like the first time I let my son go to a friends house down the street by himself...

 

[not_ally]

I wish I had better advice to give you, but I have never measured the temp of the loaf when cutting. I wait until it has just b/c firm on the top and the sides, ie; there is no "give" and it unmolds easily, as a regular loaf would after whatever your normal amount of time is (I usually use sodium lactate and CPOP, so it is generally 12-ish hours for me.) For me, so far, that has been b/w about an hour and a half and maybe 3 1/2 hours with the brine/salt bars, I check them every half hour or so.

When it feels that way I cut, usually it gets warmer as you get to the middle. The knife/wire might stick a little on the last slice or two, but not to the extent that it has been a problem.

I guess if it unmolded easily but the first slice was still really hot/sticky, I would let it wait for some more time, ie; check again in half an hour, although that hasn't happened yet. Sorry, I know this is not very exact advice. Hopefully someone else has something more fail-proof.

 

[Obsidian]

I am a lover of salt bars, have been since the first time I used one. I used to start using mine at 6 weeks until I tried one that was 4+ months and realized what a difference it does make. When formulating a new recipe, I start testing at 4 weeks but since I have now settles on a recipe, I put my bars away and forget them for a few months.

 

[TeresaT]

Sudsy-kiwi, there are posts about not using pink Himalayan salt because it is sharp. Of course, I didn't see these posts until after I made my pink Himalayan salt soap. I thought I would be OK because I used my coffee grinder to pulverize the rocks into a powder. (I even did a "scratch test" on my arms with some salt paste and didn't get any abrasions.) However, I did scratch myself in the shower with the bar. I'm alright as long as I use a pouf or rub the bar in my hands, but definitely not directly on my body. If you are going to use the pink Himalayan salt, keep this in mind. Because of this issue, I won't give my first salt bars out to my friends and family that agreed to be testers. (Really. It's not because I'm greedily keeping them all to myself!). I'll make a new batch with softer salt and give them that.

 

[not_ally]

I will always have a goodly amount of salt bars ready and curing from now on. I definitely want to have the option to always use them and give them away w/o waiting. I still will probably make more other kinds of soaps - for me design options are more limited in salt bars - but in terms of feeling in use they might be unbeatable from my limited experience.

 

[Nevada]

80% Coconut, 20% lard, 50% sea salt, 20% SF made the finest Salt bar for me yet after 1 year of curing
3% Litsea, 1% Anise was nice for about 6 months. A little scent remaining.

 

[not_ally]

Thanks, Nevada! I just went and checked the recipe on my test batches, I had already forgotten what exactly was in them. 75% coconut, 10% SAO, 10% lard and 5% castor, 20% SF (plus some other stuff, including aloe for the lye liquid and full CM, so I'm sure the final SF was somewhat higher).

I think in part the castor was b/c I add it so habitually to effectuate lather. Is it necessary w/this much CO, or will it make it even better? I am definitely going to make a batch w/o the SAO and add that amount in lard, though.

Also, looking at those notes made me laugh, I did something in the last (of three) batches that required multiple expletives and monitoring upon cure. I didn't explain it v. clearly though (even to myself) so am going to have to re-read and check the soap!

 

[JayJay]

80% Coconut, 20% lard, 50% sea salt, 20% SF made the finest Salt bar for me yet after 1 year of curing
3% Litsea, 1% Anise was nice for about 6 months. A little scent remaining.

Hey lard! I have recently become interested in reading salt bar threads and I believe this is my first lard sighting in a salt bar recipe.

Have you compared it to recipes without lard? If so, how is it different?

 

[IrishLass]

So I keep seeing posts about how quickly you need to unmold them, anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours to cut. Also about the heat of the loaf at cutting time. I just measured the temp of my loaf, 95F...is this a bad sign? This is after 45 minutes. The top is firm but it is not ready for unmolding.

Do you know whether it gelled or not? I ask because the gel stage is what I use as my guide to gauge when is a good time to unmold and cut my salt bars.

Basically, I watch my batch like a hawk after I pour, making sure to check on it every 10 minutes by gently pressing on the top of the soap with a gloved finger to check for when the gel stage has begun. Gel has happened as fast as ten or 15 minutes for me with a few batches, so that's why I check every 10 minutes (so I don't miss it). I don't go by merely looking at the soap to check for gel, because I've found time and time again that the sneaky salt actually masks it from being seen. :twisted:

This is how it usually goes for me: As I'm checking for gel every 10 minutes, I'll notice the soap becoming harder and harder as I gently press on the top, until it reaches a point of feeling rock-solid hard to my finger, but with no sign of gel having taken place yet. And then, bam, all of a sudden at the next 10 minute mark, it's in full gel, and if I'm not careful, my gloved finger will easily sink all the way to the bottom of my mold.

At that point, I take it out of the oven (I cpop my salt bars) and set it on my counter to set back up from gel, periodically checking for firmness with a gloved finger. I cut just as soon it feels quite firm again when I press on the top, but is still quite hot to the touch. I don't take it's temp or anything, but it's definitely hot enough to be very uncomfortable without gloves on.

As I cut, sometimes I'll notice the middle is still recovering from gel, but if it looks like it'll hold together, I just continue to cutting, and so far, it has not caused any problems for me when I do this. If it looks like it won't hold together, I'll just wait a little bit and try again.


IrishLass

 

[JayJay]

I will always have a goodly amount of salt bars ready and curing from now on. I definitely want to have the option to always use them and give them away w/o waiting. I still will probably make more other kinds of soaps - for me design options are more limited in salt bars - but in terms of feeling in use they might be unbeatable from my limited experience.

You all are making it really difficult for me to wait for my bars to cure. I want to grab one and jump in the shower right now! My soaps aren't even a week old. I can see it now, irritating my skin with freshly made salt bars... and the burning from the salt in my wounds. ... Okay I CAN wait.

 

[Obsidian]

80% Coconut, 20% lard, 50% sea salt, 20% SF made the finest Salt bar for me yet after 1 year of curing

I'm a huge lard fan, its my favorite soaping fat but I don't care for it in salt bars. My recipe is the same as nevadas but I used 75% salt.

It just doesn't lather as well as the bars I make with 20% OO and it leaves my skin feeling powdery. Even at over a year old, they still fell "young" to me.

I had made the lard salt bars especially for my daughter and they dry her out too but my other salts bars don't.

When it comes to a salt bar, you really do need to play around with what oils to add to your coconut and the salt amount. I used to use 75%-100% salt but finally realise that with my moderately hard water, that much salt reduced the lather.
I recently started using 25% salt and love it, lather like crazy even in young bars.

 

[not_ally]

IL, how do you *tell* when a soap is gelling? If I am concerned about it - I usually CPOP too, but in the rare cases when I don't, I use a clear silicone mold and try to figure it out by looking, but it is not always fail-proof.

I tried my salt soap batches w/three different amounts of salt, 80%, 50% and 30%. So far (only cured for 5 wks or so), the 50% bar seems to have the best balance of bubbles and moisture. But who knows, the expletive described bar - the 30% one - might have been perfect if I hadn't screwed it up.

 

[rparrny]

Okay, so after 45 minutes or so, the top was firm but when I pulled at the sides of the loaf pan it was still sticking. So I popped it in a cold oven, turned it on to 350 and as soon as it came to temp I turned off the oven and left it in there 15 minutes...when I took it out, the top with my "waves" had melted a bit and the top of the loaf crystalized and looked sandy...it was still not unmoldable. I decided it was a wash and went to my friends house for a swim...ironically her new pool is salt water...lol. Got home 2 1/2 hours later, the loaf was warm and unmoldable. I put it in my loaf cutter and wow, I've never felt a loaf so hard in my life but it DID cut clean. I was shocked. I didn't see any clumps of salt but the center of the loaf was kind of clear. I don't know if that will change as is cures. I now like the sandy looking top and envision a loaf with a light brown sandy top and a green bottom for my next batch. My molds will be here by the weekend. The torture will be waiting 6 months to see the results...
BTW, how to you tell if the soap is gelling?

Hoping my pics uploaded...

 

[IrishLass]

IL, how do you *tell* when a soap is gelling? If I am concerned about it - I usually CPOP too, but in the rare cases when I don't, I use a clear silicone mold and try to figure it out by looking, but it is not always fail-proof.

The only tried and true way that I know of that works 100% is to gently press on the top of the soap. Like you said, going by looks is not always fail-proof, especially with salt bars, or batches that use TD in them, both of which hide gel from the eyes.

With my regular (non salt) batches, I'm usually not concerned about keeping a look out for gel as I am with salt bars. I have a time-tested 'system' that works for me 9.9 times out of 10 which pretty much gives me a high level of certainty that my soaps will gel without me babysitting them, but I like to keep an eye out for when my salt bars gel because they cut easier with a minimal amount of crumbling when caught at the right time, which is just after they set up from gel but are still hot.


IrishLass

 

[shunt2011]

I agree with IL. I've cut salt bars when it looked like they were still a bit in the gel phase. I've found putting them into a warm oven for a bit helps get the gel phase going (I turn it off when I put the mold in). Generally within 20 minutes or so it's gelling and I usually cut it and they are still hot/warm. Remember to use gloves. It is difficult to identify gel with salt bars though.

 

[kchaystack]

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

 

[IrishLass]

Ditto what Kchaystack said- 350F is way too hot. I only heat my oven to 170F/76C. You don't want to melt the soap, but just encourage it to go through the gel stage.

I'm glad they turned out well in the end! Soap can be very forgiving most times.

BTW, how to you tell if the soap is gelling?

Post #129 and post #135


IrishLass

 

[vmakkers]

Sudsy-kiwi, there are posts about not using pink Himalayan salt because it is sharp. Of course, I didn't see these posts until after I made my pink Himalayan salt soap. I thought I would be OK because I used my coffee grinder to pulverize the rocks into a powder. (I even did a "scratch test" on my arms with some salt paste and didn't get any abrasions.) However, I did scratch myself in the shower with the bar. I'm alright as long as I use a pouf or rub the bar in my hands, but definitely not directly on my body. If you are going to use the pink Himalayan salt, keep this in mind. Because of this issue, I won't give my first salt bars out to my friends and family that agreed to be testers. (Really. It's not because I'm greedily keeping them all to myself!). I'll make a new batch with softer salt and give them that.

Sad day! I just soaped my pink salt that I had sitting with the FO last week. It looked so pretty to have the nice little pink specks in it but now I'm worried it's gonna be a scratchy bar. The scent does seem to be a little bit stronger than my other ones which only sat with the FO for a few hours. I let the pink salt sit with the FO for probably almost a week....I got kinda busy. Now I kinda wanna go home and test one of the bars.

 

[TeresaT]

Sad day! I just soaped my pink salt that I had sitting with the FO last week. It looked so pretty to have the nice little pink specks in it but now I'm worried it's gonna be a scratchy bar. The scent does seem to be a little bit stronger than my other ones which only sat with the FO for a few hours. I let the pink salt sit with the FO for probably almost a week....I got kinda busy. Now I kinda wanna go home and test one of the bars.

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.

 

[Obsidian]

I have some bars I made with ground bath salts, they are fairly scratch so I just use a poof.