I'm a newbie and I'd like to know the benefits of using salt vs sodium lactate and what is the recommended salt usage per pound. I'd also like to try beef tallow in my hp soap and wondered if I have to refrigerate it after opening. The label has been destroyed.
Salt vs Sodium lactate
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homesteaders
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I mostly do hot process. Sodium lactate, when added after the cook, helps greatly in making the soap more fluid, whereas salt does not help with that. SL is also supposed to help cp soap firm up a bit faster so that it can be removed from the mold and cut sooner, but that's not a problem with my hp soaps. When I work with a fat that I know tends to make a a softer bar, such as black bear tallow, I dissolve a little salt in the water before adding the lye. Not too much, though. About 1/2 tsp. ppo is enough to make the bars firm. The first time I made soap with only bear tallow, I used 1 TBSP ppo. The bars were too hard and crumbly.
If I were purchasing beef tallow, I'd refrigerate any unused amount after opening the jar. When I render the fat myself, I know there is no water left in it, so I pour it into canning jars and do a boiling water bath to seal the jars. Then I just store at room temperature, even after opening a jar. I cook with it, so jars get used up pretty fast.
If I were purchasing beef tallow, I'd refrigerate any unused amount after opening the jar. When I render the fat myself, I know there is no water left in it, so I pour it into canning jars and do a boiling water bath to seal the jars. Then I just store at room temperature, even after opening a jar. I cook with it, so jars get used up pretty fast.
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Soap Queen advises using 1 tsp. sodium lactate ppo. I have used it with no problem. It is said to help the conditioning and moisturinzing aspects of soap as well as increasing lather. Salt will increase the evaporation rate of moisture, thus making a bar harder, faster. Too much salt will reduce lather. In fact, most salt bars contain a high percentage of coconut oil.
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Soaperella
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To substitute sodium lactate at the standard 1 tsp p.p.o. (per pound of oils in recipe) you use 1 Tbsp of ordinary table salt p.p.o. & you want to add it to your lye water so it dissolves fully. I can’t speak to the difference in salt types, but I’ve used sodium lactate in every batch I made for years & have made maybe 10 loaves recently with salt because I was out of SL. While I prefer the sodium lactate, I find it’s a bit more effective for clean removal from my molds, salt does do a good job of hardening the bars also. Good luck!
