Himalayan Salt Bars

[Catscankim]

Just an informational post

when i started soaping last year, i jumped on the salt bar bandwagon, but i made them with extra fine Himalayan salt (before I knew not to use it).

Since then, I have both changed my recipe as well as started using regular sea salt (these bars are lovely btw, even if they dont get a long cure).

The Himalayan ones are a year old now. However, i do always keep one at the kitchen sink...they smell awesome (Abalone and Sea), leave a nice scent behind, and make my hands fell nice and clean without drying.

I wanted to use another salt bar in the shower, but didnt want to dip into my “selling bars” yet, before their prime, so i figured i would grab one of my year-old Himalayan bars since they will not be for sale anyway....OUCH!!! Rubbing a bar on your hands is much different than rubbing one on your body. It didn't cut or scratch me, but was definitely too abrasive without a washcloth. My forearms were red red (As opposed to just red lol).

So heed the warnings...Pink Himalayan Sea Salt...no no no (as opposed to just no).

I had originally entertained the idea that i could sell them with a washcloth and a little warning card....definitely not even doing that. Too scratchy. I like my other recipe too much to have someone not come back for more, or even worse...complain or sue.

I will be happy to use my 24 bars all by myself lol. I do actually like them. Just not directly on bare wet skin.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

Good to know. How long are you curing your salt bars for now? I'm in love with salt bars too and fiddling with my recipe...

 

[PapsSoaper]

I used Himalayan pink salt Granules at the side of my bars.. but the grains are sweating salt water... What to do.. please help

 

[Obsidian]

I used Himalayan pink salt Granules at the side of my bars.. but the grains are sweating salt water... What to do.. please help

The salt is attracting moisture from the air. You can try removing any salt you can and keeping a small fan on the soap while it cures.
A dehumidifier in your curing room can also help.
If you live in a very humid area, it might not stop until the salt has basically melted away.

 

[cmzaha]

I never used Pink salt as decoration on my salt bars, even if they look pretty since folks do not know to remove the grains before using the bars of soap. In my 10+ years of making salt bars, I have even found fine Pacific Sea Salt that was prickly, being the bulk Pacific Sea Salt from Winco. So just a word of advice, not all Pacific Sea Salt is equal which is the only sea salt I would use, and I ended up with 28 bars of un-sellable salt bars using Winco's salt, so I went back to purchasing from the San Francisco Salt CO, or using non-iodized table salt.

As for the sweating, I would do remove the salt crystals from the outside and hopefully you do not have any inside the bar.

Salt bars really need to be aged a minimum of 6 months with 12 months or longer better.

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I messed up the side of some bars (not confessing how I did that) and was able to carefully remove the outside with a potato peeler. You might try picking the salt out and then trimming it with the vegetable peeler Mine turned out great- you can't even tell I botched it.