What does adding sea salt to soap do?

[saintalchemist]

What does adding sea salt to soap do? I saw some very bougie soap with sea salt in it sold at New Seasons health food store... And I'm wondering why and what the purpose is... and what I should know if I want to try it myself. Like any changes to trace or texture etc. Also do we add to oil, or lye+water, or after trace.

Thank you!

 

[Savage Daughter]

What does adding sea salt to soap do? I saw some very bougie soap with sea salt in it sold at New Seasons health food store... And I'm wondering why and what the purpose is... and what I should know if I want to try it myself. Like any changes to trace or texture etc. Also do we add to oil, or lye+water, or after trace.

Thank you!

Tons of information about salt bars in the forum if you do a search.

 

[KiwiMoose]

What's bougie mean?

You can add table salt to the soap batter at trace to make a salt soap. Alternatively you dissolve the salt in the water to make a soleseife (sp?) or brine soap. Salt makes the soap harder but can reduce lather (it's often used with increased coconut oil to offset it). A well cured salt soap has a thick, creamy lather - dense and lotion-like.

 

[Vicki C]

What's bougie mean?

You can add table salt to the soap batter at trace to make a salt soap. Alternatively you dissolve the salt in the water to make a soleseife (sp?) or brine soap. Salt makes the soap harder but can reduce lather (it's often used with increased coconut oil to offset it). A well cured salt soap has a thick, creamy lather - dense and lotion-like.

I think it’s short for bourgeois. Although when I googled “bougie” I see that it means “a thin, flexible surgical instrument for exploring or dilating a passage of the body.” which sounds… errr… sort of like a colonoscopy apparatus.

 

[LBell123]

I think it’s short for bourgeois. Although when I googled “bougie” I see that it means “a thin, flexible surgical instrument for exploring or dilating a passage of the body.” which sounds… errr… sort of like a colonoscopy apparatus.

Haha definitely not a colonoscopy apparatus! It is short for bourgeois and is slang for fancy or high end.

 

[JewelsSuds]

I frequently make salt bars and my family and friends love them! I use 100 percent coconut oil, superfatted to 20 percent. I also use coconut milk as the carrier for the lye. My son who builds homes and has his hands in concrete all day, will only use these. They create a luxurious lather, and just feel super good. Here's lather on a sample bar 24 hours after unmolding. Zap test was negative. So I tested the lather to show a friend. I cure mine for 6 weeks. They're insanely beautiful bars.

 

[LBell123]

I frequently make salt bars and my family and friends love them! I use 100 percent coconut oil, superfatted to 20 percent. I also use coconut milk as the carrier for the lye. My son who builds homes and has his hands in concrete all day, will only use these. They create a luxurious lather, and just feel super good. Here's lather on a sample bar 24 hours after unmolding. Zap test was negative. So I tested the lather to show a friend. I cure mine for 6 weeks. They're insanely beautiful bars.

@JewelsSuds that looks great. How much salt do you put in and when? Salt water with the lye (I'm guessing not, because you say you use coconut milk with the lye) or do you add it at trace? How much do you put in? How does it affect how much lye to put in? What is the lye ratio or concentration? If you could share your recipe, I'd appreciate it!

 

[JewelsSuds]

@JewelsSuds that looks great. How much salt do you put in and when? Salt water with the lye (I'm guessing not, because you say you use coconut milk with the lye) or do you add it at trace? How much do you put in? How does it affect how much lye to put in? What is the lye ratio or concentration? If you could share your recipe, I'd appreciate it!

I dont really have a set recipe. Its just 100 percent CO, superfatted at 20 percent and lye is usually done at 33 percent so I have more time to work with. Some recipes I do 40 percent lye. Sea salt is added at light trace with my fragrance. I use very well behaved fragrance oils, so the salt doesn't seem to give me soap on a stick. Sea salt can be used up to 100 percent of your weight of oils. So it's really up to you. Salt never changes the lye amount. I use soap calc. If I pour into a loaf, I cut in 1 hour when the soap feels like cheese. I get perfect bars this way. Or you can use individual cavities and you don't have to worry about babysitting. I still get a gel phase in a single cavity. Probably because CO soap gets HOT and I cover to keep dust off. A loaf I dont really insulate. I live in Fl, so to prevent cracking on the tops, I just lightly cover with cheesecloth and keep in a cool room.

 

[Vicki C]

I frequently make salt bars and my family and friends love them! I use 100 percent coconut oil, superfatted to 20 percent. I also use coconut milk as the carrier for the lye. My son who builds homes and has his hands in concrete all day, will only use these. They create a luxurious lather, and just feel super good. Here's lather on a sample bar 24 hours after unmolding. Zap test was negative. So I tested the lather to show a friend. I cure mine for 6 weeks. They're insanely beautiful bars.

Wow the lather is gorgeous I want to try this…

 

[Zany_in_CO]

What does adding sea salt to soap do?

When I was creating Zany's No Slime Castile, "Faux Sea Salt" was a significant game-changer for the final result. Over the 20 years I've been soaping, I researched the ancient "classics", i.e., Aleppo Soap from Syria (Oiive Oil & Laurel Fruit Oil), Savon de Marseille, and the original 100% Olive Oil Castille from Spain. All have a long history in the wonderful world of soap making. It struck me that the one thing they all had in common... salt from the sea.

I then remembered an old soaping buddy from 2004 who had researched the elements of Sea Salt. She shared two formulas she found online (no longer accessible) for recreating sea salt for those of us (like me) who don't have access to the real thing. One formula was far more complex than the other. I chose the easy-peasy option: Regular Morton's Sea Salt contained most of the minerals found in the complex formula + Baking Soda.

To answer your question, adding salt to any bar increases hardness. Adding Faux Sea Salt to a batch of 100% Olive Oil Castile, Aleppo Soap dupe and Savon de Marseille dupe closely approximates the qualities of those soaps PLUS bougie appeal!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I made 100% CO, 20% superfat salt bars and i didn't like them. Yes, dense creamy layer, and nothing wrong with them at all but I didn't like the superfat ( which you need with all that CO) and I didn't like the dense lather. It was like washing my hands in lathering fat. Personal preference though - each to their own. Many people swear by salt bars.

 

[Vicki C]

I made 100% CO, 20% superfat salt bars and i didn't like them. Yes, dense creamy layer, and nothing wrong with them at all but I didn't like the superfat ( which you need with all that CO) and I didn't like the dense lather. It was like washing my hands in lathering fat. Personal preference though - each to their own. Many people swear by salt bars.

That’s good to know. I bet that’s why they feel good to working hands like @JewelsSuds ’s son - it’s a creamy massage at the end of the day.

 

[JewelsSuds]

That’s good to know. I bet that’s why they feel good to working hands like @JewelsSuds ’s son - it’s a creamy massage at the end of the day.

To me it doesn't feel like that. Its just a nice lather and leaves me clean without feeling dry. Everybody's skin is different. I would do a small batch and see how you like it. I've never gotten back any negative feedback when I gift or sell these bars.

 

[saintalchemist]

What's bougie mean?

You can add table salt to the soap batter at trace to make a salt soap. Alternatively you dissolve the salt in the water to make a soleseife (sp?) or brine soap. Salt makes the soap harder but can reduce lather (it's often used with increased coconut oil to offset it). A well cured salt soap has a thick, creamy lather - dense and lotion-like.

Lol yeah bougie is just like extra fancy (bourgeoisie, yeah...) but can have good or bad connotations depending on who's using it and how. But yeah personally I'm aiming for bougie! Thanks for the tips about the salt... very helpful!

 

[Shelley D]

When doing your research, you need to know there are 2 distinct ways to add salt to soap recipes: as a brine or as an exfoliant.
If you want to add it as an exfoliant, you want a fine table salt and you mix it in at trace to help suspend it throughout the soap. *Keep in mind, this shortens the life of your bar, as the soap dissolves faster when it's filled with salt.
As a brine, you dissolve your salt in water creating a saltwater to make your lye solution with. This is called a soleseife soap.
There is lots information in this forum and online about both ~ I personally prefer the brine solution because I avoid exfoliants dues to skin sensitivity issues. I love the way it hardens my olive oil soaps too so win-win!

 

[Tammyfarms]

I make both brine soap and salt soap. The salt soap is a summer favorite as it will really take care of nasty body odor. Not sure what the reason is for that but it’s my, and several friends, go to soap for getting rid of summer stink. I cure mine 6 months, next summers will be over a year old. I don’t use fragrance or essential oils in these as the cure time is so long. My salt of choice is Costco’s fine sea salt at 35% of oil weight added at trace and stick blended to medium trace. Do not use Himalayan pink salt as it has minerals that can scratch your skin. My recipe is @Obsidian’s which is
80% Coconut Oil
20% Olive Oil
35% Salt (oil weight)
Super fat 20%
Lye concentration 33%
I use silicone cavity molds.

 

[Marie_with_an_e]

Haha definitely not a colonoscopy apparatus! It is short for bourgeois and is slang for fancy or high end.

It’s a medical instrument used to facilitate in intubating patients, placing chest tubes, etc.

 

[MomInWA]

What about pink Himalayan sea salt? Is the minerality too much, such as Dead Sea salt?

 

[KiwiMoose]

What about pink Himalayan sea salt? Is the minerality too much, such as Dead Sea salt?

Yes - we don't use either of those. Pink Himalayan is too coarse and has drawn blood on some users, and Dead Sea Salt has a mineral content that is too high. Just plain old (non-iodised) table salt is the usual recommendation. And it's cheap, bonus!

 

[MomInWA]

Yes - we don't use either of those. Pink Himalayan is too coarse and has drawn blood on some users, and Dead Sea Salt has a mineral content that is too high. Just plain old (non-iodised) table salt is the usual recommendation. And it's cheap, bonus!

Awesome, thank you!