Salt soap bar question

[Meridith]

I just made my first batch of salt soap bars and what a totally bomb!! I used the following recipe I had written down but made some substitutions ( don't know where I got this as I didn't write that info down) Since the Dish and the Whisk are down, I couldn't reserch this there and look for other recipes that I could compare and then tweak. So I used what I had with a few subs:

Coconut 45%

Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 35%

Palm Kernel Flakes 11%

Castor Oil 5%

Bw 4%

10 oz water

4.7 oz lye

3 1/2 pounds of salt

I made these last night at around 6:00 pm last night. I put them in the oven on 170, promptly turned the oven and let them stay in overnight while they cooled down. This morning, they were hard as a rock. I also notice moisture on the saran wrap I covered the soap with and when I unwrapped the soap, there was what looked like water on the bottom of the mold. It was not the consistency of melted butters, oil or the FO. It was too hard to cut using my Delsie cutter so I had to use my hand held cutter blade. It crumbled when I cut it and the small piece I tried in the sink to wash my hands with had absolutely zero, zilch, nada bubbles.

Was it so hard because of the salt? Or was it because of the BW? The recipe actually called for stearic but I subbed out BW since I didn't have any stearic and figured this was to make the bar harder. I've read BW will do the same so that is why I used it. Should I reduce the amount of salt to help reduce the hardness and the crumbliness? Are there changes I can make to the recipe itself that might help? Is this a type of recipe that one must find the correct balance between the amount of coconut oil and salt used? Tia!!

[Carol M]

No expert here, but I pulled out my notes from the last batch of salt soap I made a few weeks ago. I used: 50% coconut, 10% olive, 5% palm, 15% pko, 10% butters (I use a mixture of 4), and 10% sunflower. I added 1 tbsp sugar/ppo to water before lye, and also silk fibers. Made a very nice, hard bar that lathers rather well. I do OHP, though, so I add my salt (regular uniodized table salt) after the cook and only use about 25%; any more than that and it is too thick to pour easily. This sets up almost immediately, so you will need to cut it within a few hours. I tried to use individual molds this time and won't do that again; after pouring the first three or four, the "batter" was too thick and made the surface of the other bars very lumpy.:undecided And, of course, with salt soap being so hard, you can't go back and "shave off" the rough surface later. I do really like it, though; with HP soaps, softness is always a problem and this method addresses that. Sounds like the salt extracted excess water from your mixture; I haven't had that happen, as with OHP, most water cooks out.

[Sherie]

Hey Meridith, I didn't use BW or Stearic in my Salt batch and it set up super fast. I think I cut it within 2 - 2/12 hours. I was told no CPOP. My batch was pretty warm when I molded it but I was told it would be. HTH

[Grumpy Girl]

I CP/OP mine without a problem. The recipe I used is posted somewhere in the gallery, I don't have my notes with me here. I do know I use 70% coconut oil. I also use a Kelsei, so they're easy to cut/shape/clean within minutes of pulling them out of the oven. I only keep them in the oven for about two hours or until they gel, then pull them, unmold immediately, and bevel/shape them and let them cool before I polish them up.

I use as much salt as oil, no more no less and have never had a problem.

[Meridith]

So then it looks like I might have left it in the oven too long too(from 6 pm to 10 am the next day). I also was thinking, after seeing how hard this batch was that I could probably forego the BW as well as the stearic. Is there a maximum amount of CO to use? I think I really tweak this recipe and try incorporating more softer oils.

I will definately try this again and leave out the BW, reduce the amount of my salts and also try adding some sugar to my lye batch to see if this helps with the lathering. I've only added sugar twice in regular batches and did like the lather. And, I will not leave it in the mold so long.

One more question please: Has anyone used GM instead of water in a salt soap bar? Thanks so much for the help guys!!

[Grumpy Girl]

You can use up to 100% coconut oil with salt bars without a problem. I've done it before but like the other recipe I use with 70% CO better. Regular CP rules don't seem to apply to salt bars. I've never tried GM, let me know how it works for you.

For my Kelsei I use 20 oz of oils and 20 oz of salt. I also use sugar in the lye water and it seems to help the lather a bit but not like when I use it in regular CP.

[gloworm]

I did do a couple of batches of salt bars months ago. Can't remember exactly but I know it was high in coconut, equal amounts oil to salt(table) and I worked super fast and put it in individual molds because I had heard they were almost impossible to cut without crumbling. Sets up really fast and unmold quickly or it is too hard to clean up the bars. I think I followed directions from the soap dish (Iben's salt bars).

Glo

[Rebecca_IA]

Mine oozed a bit too after making them. Just let them sit out and dry out/reabsorb the liquid and they will be fine.

You'll want to either cut these types of bars while still warm or do them in individual molds. Mine don't gel.

[Meridith]

Thanks for the tips. I sure appreciate it.

[Grannyscandles]

What is BW?

[maryann]

What is BW?

Beeswax

I'm interested in making these and do not have the kelsei mold so..... if I unmold and cut quickly I'll be OK??

[Meridith]

I think I will do my next batch in my Kelsie mold since I tend to get busy and might forget to unmold it when I should.