Salt Bar emergency

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

vidahlia

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2013
Messages
92
Reaction score
27
So I made 4lbs of salt bars almost 20 hours ago and they haven't set up. They're the texture of pudding still! Any suggestions? I don't want to lose 4lbs of soap.
 
Post your recipe and technique or there isn't much to go on. Check your scale - does a nickel weigh 5 grams? Is your lye still good? If lye absorbs too much water in storage it weighs more so you end up using too little.
 
Okay, so I used the same old ratio as always, 2lbs oil, 4.4oz lye, 7oz water, which has always worked.

I used solely sunflower oil for the first 2lb batch, which I've never used before. Maybe that's it?

The second 2lb batch was a mix of sunflower oil and olive oil. And a splash of lemongrass EO.

I didn't measure my salt, but i know I used about half the volume of the oils.

I know it's not a lot to go on, but any ideas? Do you think there's a way to salvage?
 
You do know that salt bars won't lather without a high amount of coconut don't you? Just for fun, I tried making a salt bar out of regular oils once and it was like trying to wash with a piece of plastic. Really, really hard and zero lather.

Is you salty batter zappy at all? It should have set up by now if everything was measured out properly. Not quite sure how to salvage it since you can't rebatch salt soap. I'd probably toss it and try again but this time, use at least 70% coconut oil and SF at 20%
 
Not lye heavy. Got the ratio from an experienced soaper. Been using it for a while myself without problem.
Nice tip on the coconut oil. I made a salt bar with olive oil a few months ago, and one with lard, so i never considered using coconut oil. Next time :) thanks for the tip.
 
I agree with coffee time. you experienced soaper friend needs to tell you (or maybe learn themselves) that not all oils saponify using the same lye ratio. also, coconut oil soap is the only oil soap that will lather in salt water. that should be a consideration when trying your next salt bar.

have you licked your soap to see if it zapped?
 
I personally would pour them out into a crock pot and rebatch them adding in a high percentage of coconut oil along with the proper amount of lye. Even if the salt melts it will be a nice brine soap bar. If you used sea salt it will most likely not all melt down especially if you used salt other than fine grind. I would definetly not toss the batch but you will want to up the superfat to at least 15% which you can accomplish by adding in some extra oil to the original batch. Hope that was not to confusing. I just do not throw away soap when it can be fixed and most can. I do concur with everyone else, use a calculator.
 
Last edited:
Not lye heavy. Got the ratio from an experienced soaper. Been using it for a while myself without problem.
Nice tip on the coconut oil. I made a salt bar with olive oil a few months ago, and one with lard, so i never considered using coconut oil. Next time :) thanks for the tip.
The amount of lye required changes with the type of oil used, this is why we rely on lye calculators for soaping. Your friends ratio might be fine if you never ever changed anything in the original recipe.

To say that x amount of lye is correct for y ounces of any and all types of oil is potentially dangerous. If your friend is experienced, they would know that and explained it to you. What do they think is wrong with your soap?
 
Okay. I got it now! I didn't know the oils made a difference. I got that recipe from a lard-based soaper. Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm quite the n00b, so I'm sure ill be back!
Thanks!
 
Glad you realized that different oils have different SAP values. I was just about to re-iterate what coffeetime said earlier about running all recipes thru a lye calculator.

And I also second what folks have said about using a high % of coconut oil in salt bars. I've only made one batch of salt bars so I'm by no means an expert but even with 100% coconut oil + 20% superfat the lather is still very creamy . . . not really bubbly like regular soap.
 
Okay. I got it now! I didn't know the oils made a difference. I got that recipe from a lard-based soaper. Thanks for all the tips guys. I'm quite the n00b, so I'm sure ill be back!
Thanks!

I hope that you do come here rather than to the other soaper. I was going to say "no offense to them" but I don't care if they would take offense or not - they have been giving either bad information or not enough information and both are dangerous when soaping! They should have explained that if you change the oils you also need to change the lye amount, too.

A salt soap made with CO is a wonderful thing - lathers up creamy, as others have said, feels so fresh on the skin.
 
Nice tip on the coconut oil. I made a salt bar with olive oil a few months ago, and one with lard, so i never considered using coconut oil. Next time :) thanks for the tip.

how was it? i am seriously curious as to how a salt bar w/o a coconut oil will perform in the lather department.
 
Seven, my 100% lard salt bar didn't turn out. It was literally a block of plastic as someone had stated! Lol. I assumed i just made an error(which i did!) But the one I made with 100% olive oil, (I believe it was olive), turned out fine, and I use them regularly, as does my boyfriend. But i also didn't use nearly as much salt as recommended. I used maybe a cup, for a 2lb batch, and it still had the characteristics of a salt bar. That's why I assumed you could just use any oil. They didn't have an amazing lather, but it was an okay lather- a little sudsy. I've never actually used CO to make any soap- I've only ever used it in chapsticks. Can I use any CO? I believe there are different ones, solid at such and such temps, yes?
 
I agree with the suggestions already made. You should never follow someone else's recipe without running it through a soap calculator. Especially if switching out oils. You could actually injure someone or yourself if not calculated properly. I also suggest you do some research/reading to learn more about the soapmaking process. Also, salt bars are generally made with high Coconut oil as it is the only thing that will lather with salt. There are a lot of threads with information on how to make them as well. Good luck to you!
 
Back
Top