Sea salt & mud soap

[Nyathera]

I'm thinking about making sea salt & mud soap. I tried to look for a recipe, but I didn't found any.

Ok, I know that salt in a soap is not a new idea But how much salt? I'm thinking about making about 2 pound/ 1 kg batch. Not sure what oils to use, I will gladly take suggestions I have rough sea salt for this. (Is "rough" a right word for this, IDK :think

And the mud! Is it a bad idea? I have a mud from the dead sea, about 100gr / 3.5 FL. OZ. In what point I put the mud in the soap?

 

[toxikon]

By "mud", you mean clay right?

Both salt and clay can feel a bit stripping on the skin, so I'd keep that in mind and try not to go overboard.

You could make a salt bar or brine bar. With a salt bar, you add salt directly to your batter. With a brine bar, you dissolve it into your water prior to adding your lye. A salt bar is more textured, while a brine bar is marble-smooth.

With a salt bar, you can use up to 100% salt (percentage in regards to oil weight). With a brine bar, you need to use less because water can only dissolve its weight in salt.

With either bar - salt is a total lather killer, so most recipes use a very high percentage of coconut oil to counteract that. Coconut oil produces abundant lather so it balances out the salt content.

The simplest recipe would be:

- 100% Coconut Oil
- 50-100% Salt
- 20% Superfat

- 1 tsp/tbsp clay per pound of oil

Keep in mind that salt also makes soap rock hard VERY quickly, so it's best made in individual cavity molds. If you need to use a loaf/slab mold, watch it like a hawk and cut it quickly - sometimes within a couple hours of pouring!

You can put the clay into your lye solution to hydrate it before adding to the oils.

 

[Nyathera]

Yes, I mean clay :grin: I knew there is a better and more correct word for it, thanks!! :mrgreen:
And thank you for advices, so helpful <3 I keep in mind that hardening part! I think individual molds are indeed the best solution here

 

[toxikon]

Yes, I mean clay :grin: I knew there is a better and more correct word for it, thanks!! :mrgreen:
And thank you for advices, so helpful <3 I keep in mind that hardening part! I think individual molds are indeed the best solution here

No worries! "Mud" is usually used to describe clay/earth mixed with water. If the clay is dry, it's just clay.

If you want to play with the salt bar recipe, you could do 80% Coconut Oil and 20% Soft oils of your choice. I liked a salt bar I made that was 80% CO and 20% OO.

 

[dibbles]

I love salt bars. When you say 'rough' salt, do you mean coarse? If you are making a salt bar, you will want to use a fine grain salt. Coarse salt will be too rough on your skin. If that is what you have (coarse grain), then I'd use it to make a brine bar.

Another question comes to mind, since you said you have Dead Sea mud/clay. Are your salts Dead Sea salts? The Dead Sea salts will cause weeping in your salt bars from what I understand. I've never used them in soap - had fair warning on that.

I make salt bars with French Green Clay for color, and they turn out nice.

 

[Nyathera]

Guys, you are letting everyone know that English is not my first language! :'D just kidding, no worries, it's good to learn new things

Yep, coarse is the word! And that is a good point you are making Dibbles. The salt I have now maybe too rough. Luckily it is good for cooking too if I decide to make a salt bar I not sure yet! Or maybe I just try both, salt and brine bars with different kind of salts!

No, my salt is some "regular" stuff, not a dead sea salt. But I didn't know that I thank you for the information!

 

[cmzaha]

Guys, you are letting everyone know that English is not my first language! :'D just kidding, no worries, it's good to learn new things

Yep, coarse is the word! And that is a good point you are making Dibbles. The salt I have now maybe too rough. Luckily it is good for cooking too if I decide to make a salt bar I not sure yet! Or maybe I just try both, salt and brine bars with different kind of salts!

No, my salt is some "regular" stuff, not a dead sea salt. But I didn't know that I thank you for the information!

I do make a make a "Dead sea mud salt bar. I use wet dead sea mud at the rate of 6% of my oil weight and use it as part of the water. In these I use 50% Fine or extra fine. Pacific Sea salt or plain no iodine table salt. Can in salt also works great if you have such available. You absolutely do not want to use any grind other than fine or extra fine and I do not recommend Himalayan it is prone to be more scratchy. Also Do Not grind your salt, even if it looks like powder it an feel like little needles in your salt bars. You can also use a salt brine at a 25% dilution instead of salt. You can only dissolve 25% in water. If you make a brine mud bar just pour in any undissolved salt into your batter as long as it is not coarse pieces of salt. Dead Sea mud and salt bars are not great for people with really dry skin

 

[penelopejane]

I do make a make a "Dead sea mud salt bar. I use wet dead sea mud at the rate of 6% of my oil weight and use it as part of the water. In these I use 50% Fine or extra fine. Pacific Sea salt or plain no iodine table salt. Can in salt also works great if you have such available. . Dead Sea mud and salt bars are not great for people with really dry skin

Very helpful post as usual cmzaha. Thank you.