Salt bars...what size of salt grain do I get???

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I would be afraid to use coarse salt as anything but an accent on the top, I would be worried it would be scratchy and even more crumbly than regular salt.

Mind you, Ive only made 2 salt bars, but I love them dearly and will keep making them with plain old canning salt

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Edit - If I had to pick from the website in the OP, I would pick fine sea salt and fine himalayan salt - maybe both and make a two toned salt bar, half with red and half with white :)
 
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I've only used pink Himalayan salt, so I can't speak for any other salts. But, I do recommend fine grain. The first salt bar batch I made, I used coarse and it's almost unusable. I put it away for about a year to see if that would help (or at least make the heart grow fonder) :) The big pieces of salt just crumble out and don't dissolve.
I've made two batches since with the fine salt and 93% coconut oil/7% Shea butter, and they're luxurious!
 
I use either fine grain sea salt or canning salt. I did use medium grain once and it was pretty scratchy, I had red streaks all over my body after using a bar. I could see the potential for a cut.
 
I made a rookie mistake and used really coarse rock salt to make my first ever salt bars. They set within seconds so I had to shove my gloves hands into hot solid soap 'batter' and try and smoosh it into the mold. I did separate cavity molds and the soap did turn out ok, but it was very crumbly and a bit sharp on the skin so I would use fine grain. Have you thought about using the euro salt bar recipe 'soleseife' in another thread? You dissolve the salt in the water first. I made that recently and was really pleased with it, much better than my crumbly disaster bar.
 
Does it still have a salt scrubby feel? Or does it feel like regular soap?
 
I haven't ever made a salt bar with fine grain salt so I can't compare, but it does feel a bit scrubby as 100% of the salt didn't completely dissolve.
 
Actually depending on the type of salt some will stay a bit scrubby. My "Kelpie" bars are always a bit scrubby even with fine salt but it is the particular salt I use. On the other hand my Pumpkin Salt bars become just like a piece of glass. Salt water does naturally have gentle exfoliation properties and softens
 
I've noticed a pretty big difference in the definition of "fine" too - I've gotten two different brands of "fine sea salt" and I noticed one was definitely bigger than the other in size.

Just an interesting observation.
 
If the salt is too coarse just run it through a coffee grinder and you can get powdered salt this way if your so inclined.
 
Just a note...I went to buy Himalayan pink sea salt from Salt Works and noticed that the same salt powdered instead of fine grain was half the price. I was maybe going to give the soleseife soap a try, so I bought the powdered because it will dissolve faster.
 
I don't think the salt grain size matters, because the salt will be dissolved in distilled water. Unless your not dissolving your salt, but putting the grains directly in the soap.
 
I've used several grains and types of salt and ended up liking the finest grain, and usually the cheapest priced salt. The finer the grain the more cohesive the end result of your bar; meaning it have a more uniform, solid texture that's also more professional looking. I also mixes better - even with an accelerating fo. The larger grains make a more rustic looking bar.

Himalayan salt, even in small amounts was scratchy.
 
I don't think the salt grain size matters, because the salt will be dissolved in distilled water. Unless your not dissolving your salt, but putting the grains directly in the soap.

That's exactly how you make salt bars. You will ALWAYS want a fine or extra fine grain of pure salt and you may want to really do the research before attempting to use pink himalayan salt in a salt bar.

I was always under the impression that grinding down coarse salt was a bad idea because it would make little sharp shards of salt that could irritate skin.

KEEP THAT IDEA AFLOAT!!! Microscopic cuts on your skin will make you hate salt bars for forever and a day.
 
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KEEP THAT IDEA AFLOAT!!! Microscopic cuts on your skin will make you hate salt bars for forever and a day.

The best way to make super fine salt from bigger crystals is to dissolve as much as you can in hot distilled water and then boil away the water. You can get crystals as fine as talcum powder that way.
 
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