Beeswax in salt bars?

[Obsidian]

Has anyone tried beeswax in a salt bar? What did you think of it?

 

[shunt2011]

I wonder. It would certainly make it harder I think. But, it may also make it last longer. Though mine seem to last a fair amount of time. Curious to hear others opinions.

 

[Cindy2428]

If it gave enough working time, I'd bet it would help with the thick ash I get. Maybe cut the salt to 50%...... Hmmm.

 

[dibbles]

If it gave enough working time, I'd bet it would help with the thick ash I get. Maybe cut the salt to 50%...... Hmmm.

It would be worth trying for that reason alone. My salt bars always get thick ash too. I don't do anything fancy - just a little oxide for a tint of color. Maybe soaping fairly hot and moving fast. I use individual cavity molds. I think this is going on the to try list

 

[Cindy2428]

I have a long list of "wish list soaps to try", but this may move up the list after this months challenge. I love me some salt bars

 

[shunt2011]

I need to make several batches this weekend. Might try one with some beeswax. I only use 30-40% salt.

 

[KristaY]

Salt bars are the only soap I can count on having a lot of ash EVERY TIME. If beeswax helps the problem, I'm in. I won't be making salt bars for a while so I'm following along....

 

[Arimara]

I'd love to hear about the results if you do this. The salt bars I made are on the scratchy side so I'm wondering if I did it right or if I could use a mortar and pestle to grind it more. It seems not to behave like a regular 100% CO soap for my skin. Even with the 20% SF, my skin hates those soaps.

 

[Cindy2428]

Arimara - what kind of salt did you use? The grind will really affect the texture even with a low salt %. After some experimenting my favorite is dendritic salt; I have used up to 80% and find I like 55-60% best.

 

[Obsidian]

Looks like I need to go get some coconut oil to make these. I never though about how it might reduce ash, that would be great. What percentage of wax are you all interested in? I will be using 5% just like I do in my regular soap, I really like the feel.

 

[Cindy2428]

I'll vote 5%

 

[shunt2011]

I'm going to try 3% only because sometimes salt bars can set pretty quickly. I don't generally use beeswax in soap so this will be a first. Fingers crossed.

 

[Cindy2428]

Sending you good vibes Shari - You don't need any luck with soaping; just a prayer to keep potential soap gremlins away.

 

[shunt2011]

Thank you, I may need all the good mojo possible. I'll try tomorrow for sure and will let you all know how it goes good or bad.

 

[Obsidian]

I plan on trying a 5% batch tomorrow if nothing else comes up. My salt batter takes forever to trace even at 80% coconut oil so a little help reaching trace quicker would be nice. Not planning any color/scent or additives.

 

[Cindy2428]

I'm planning on an all nighter with my mosaic soap - m&p so I don't want my "tiles" getting too cold. Good soaping ladies! Another first experiment in recent history with salt bars and bees wax - Yea!

 

[Obsidian]

How much salt are you using shunt? I'm going with 35% salt, 80% coconut, 15% OO, 5% wax with 20% SF.

 

[shunt2011]

I use 30-40% . I'm going to do 80% CO, 17% avocado and 3% wax with 20 SF. Lye is cooling.

Okay, bars are made and plopped in their molds. It moved faster than my regular recipe. Having to soap hotter than usual. I'm sure they are going to have air space in them when I unmold. Made them with a mix of Lime Sugar and Persian Lime. We will see what happens when I get them out. Good thing I love salt bars.

 

[Obsidian]

You are ahead of me, I just got out of bed a bit ago lol. I suppose I can at least mix up my lye and grate my beeswax.

Have you ever tried hemp oil in your salt bars? I used 9% in a batch a few weeks ago and they seem nice already. Lathered up really well after just a couple days. I also add nori, not sure what its doing to the soap but its my favorite additive for a salt bar.

 

[shunt2011]

I have not tried hemp in my salt bars. Good to know it makes a nice bar thus far. I took them out of their molds and they aren't so pretty. I had intentions of swirling two different greens but now they are all an olive green and some have some air space in them. I just did another batch without wax and had all the time in the world to work with them. So, wax sped thing up really quickly.

I'll take some pics later. They are huge bars.