Thanks, JayJay. You're gonna love the salt bars. Totally worth the wait. This is the first batch of soap I made that I am not going to share. I will share the next one. Maybe.
One more salt question... Am I making this more complicated than it really is? :)
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These salt bars sound heavenly! I must to try making a batch. I have lots of regular sea salt and I also have a bit of dead sea mud. Would adding some of the mud for color and appeal (instead of clay) to the bars be alright? Or would dead sea mud + sea salt count like using dead sea salt, which is a no-no?
Interesting question, Silver. Don't know the answer, but my guess is that would be OK, I think that sea salt from the Dead Sea has certain minerals in it that make things oozy. So regular sea salt, even in combo w/the DS mud (if it otherwise works for you - I only did it once, in a non-salt bar - and liked it) should be OK. But just a guess.
Umeali, here's a recent, long thread about salt bars: http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=55002
The main things about these soaps is (1) using a *lot* of coconut oil in your mix - usually between 80-100% of your oil mix; (2) adding a lot of salt at trace (people vary a lot on this, between 30-100% of the weight of oils); and (3) super-fatting at a very high number, the most common is 20%, to counteract the effects of that much coconut oil, which otherwise would be very drying.
A couple of things to remember about them is that they often trace really fast once you add the salt, so you should have everything ready for your pour once you have done that, and that they will harden fast, within 1-4 hours, so have to check them often and cut as soon as it seems they are ready (read the link for that), or they will be crumbly. Finally, although ready to use after a four week cure, these are bars which - more than most - really seem to do better after a much longer cure.
They produce a bar with a really, really nice lather and a great skin feel.
A recipe is hard because it really depends on your own skin/soaping likes, for example I only used 75% CO, and a higher SF, because I have dry skin. I also made three batches at the same time using the same oils, but different amounts of salt in each one (30%, 50%, and 80%) because of the long cure time, I didn't want to make one, wait for 4 months, try another, wait again, etc. I liked the 50% one the best, but others prefer more or less, you will see from the thread.
I would post my recipe, but it is not typical because of my dry skin, and complicated because I add other additives into it (coconut milk, aloe juice, EDTA, sugar solution), and I think you would want something simpler.
The main things about these soaps is (1) using a *lot* of coconut oil in your mix - usually between 80-100% of your oil mix; (2) adding a lot of salt at trace (people vary a lot on this, between 30-100% of the weight of oils); and (3) super-fatting at a very high number, the most common is 20%, to counteract the effects of that much coconut oil, which otherwise would be very drying.
A couple of things to remember about them is that they often trace really fast once you add the salt, so you should have everything ready for your pour once you have done that, and that they will harden fast, within 1-4 hours, so have to check them often and cut as soon as it seems they are ready (read the link for that), or they will be crumbly. Finally, although ready to use after a four week cure, these are bars which - more than most - really seem to do better after a much longer cure.
They produce a bar with a really, really nice lather and a great skin feel.
A recipe is hard because it really depends on your own skin/soaping likes, for example I only used 75% CO, and a higher SF, because I have dry skin. I also made three batches at the same time using the same oils, but different amounts of salt in each one (30%, 50%, and 80%) because of the long cure time, I didn't want to make one, wait for 4 months, try another, wait again, etc. I liked the 50% one the best, but others prefer more or less, you will see from the thread.
I would post my recipe, but it is not typical because of my dry skin, and complicated because I add other additives into it (coconut milk, aloe juice, EDTA, sugar solution), and I think you would want something simpler.
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dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
Google salt bars and there are lots of threads. But they are not super complicated. The basics of a salt bar is 100% coconut with a 20% superfat. You add by weight anywhere from 50 to 100% of salt. So if you make a batch of soap that has 16 ounces of coconut oil, you will add anywhere from 8 ounces to 16 ounces of salt. The reason the bar is 100% coconut is that is the only way you will get lather, and the 20% superfat is so it won't be totally drying. Salt bars are very brittle and crumbly - you can't slice them. Individual molds are a must, in my experience. I have only done 1 batch and that was with 100% salt, so maybe with a lower amount of salt, slicing is possible.
Silver- I've made salt bars with 100% sea salt and a little bit of Dead Sea mud before (1 tbsp. ppo), and it didn't cause me any problems. I added the Dead Sea mud in such a way that it made a really cool granite look to my soap (see if you can tell which is the soap and which is the granite:
I basically dumped the mud into my medium-thick traced batter along with my salt and gave things a haphazard whisking before pouring into my mold. I used regular sea salt in my main batter, along with a rose clay ITP swirl, and a little Hawaiian Red sea salt sprinkled on top for accent. I was trying to mimic the pink granite we have in our back yard.
IrishLass
That is awesome, IL! Good thing the actual granite is not soap shaped, a mistake would be pretty painful
IL that looks totally awesome! Wowzers!!!!
MrsSpaceship
Well-Known Member
Wow, IL, that is some amazing looking soap. It looks like something a soap carver would love to get their hands on.
coffeetime
Well-Known Member
I make salt bars with 70% coconut oil, and a bunch of soft oils, 80% fine sea salt and 15% superfat. Not drying at all and oodles of lather.
