Salt Bar and Charcoal Powder Suggestions?

[Firefly]

Hello,

The only time I've had successful salt bars is by doing them in the oven. The last time I made them I did them non gel and kept them in the fridge and used too much TD in them to whiten them. They were hard but they crumbled and I think it was due to not doing them in the oven and also using TD in them. I also found them a bit harsh on my skin as they weren't smooth as they are when I do them in the oven.

Do all of you do them in the oven when you make them? Or has anyone made them successfully in the fridge?

Also I want to make a regular CP soap with charcoal and wonder what form you all get it in? I called a few places and found it at an aquarium shop and it comes in granular form and I haven't had a chance to go check it out yet.

Is this how it's supposed to look or is it supposed to be like a fine powder? Will the granular consistency work?

[sudsnwicks]

When I do salt bars, I don't put them in the oven. The mold I use can't go in the oven, you see. Neither do I put them in the fridge. I just leave them out at room temp.

For charcoal, it will need to be a fine powder, or else it is likely to be scratchy. You can get a small amount from here:

http://www.healingherbs.biz/products/charcoal.html

[Firefly]

sudsnwicks,

Thanks for the tip about the salt bars. I may try them that way at some point. For now I'll stick with the oven method as it seems to work well for me and skip the TD.

I too thought granular would be too big so thanks for the link.

[surf girl]

I have made just one salt bar batch, and left it out at room temp as per the above post. It turned out great.

For activated charcoal, I have used both the capsules (i.e. very powdery) and Charcodote, which is a charcoal suspension. For using roughly the same amount of charcoal ppo, I found the capsules to make a darker black, but not dramatically so.

[Carrie]

I do my salt bars at room temperature in a kelsei mold so I don't have to cut them.

I agree, use the powdered charcoal.

[MikeInPdx]

I use individual silicone molds for mine and then oven gel them. I also agree about the powdered charcoal.

[eugenia]

Here's a charcoal link for you, it's a fine powder.

http://www.healingherbs.biz/products/charcoal.html

[Firefly]

Thanks for all your comments. I just made a batch yesterday and did them in the oven in my Bella mold (soaphutch mold sort like the kelsei but 3.5 x 2.5) so I wouldn't have to cut them. I used dentritic salt (as I have tonnes of it and am out of sea salt). Also used witch hazel as well as I read that somewhere.

The bars came out stunning but they were really wet on the sides and bottom. This morning before work I used paper towel to wipe them dry and will let them sit out for a day or so and will keep drying them if necessary. Is it normal for salt bars to be wet? My batch was 21 ounces and I used 1.3 FO as I normally use 1 oz per pound and it was a Neroli FO.

surfgirl,

How did you use the capsules I found some locally at a health food store. Do you break open each capsule to get the powder amount?