Experiment #1: Wet Salt Bars
Well, it wasn’t a complete failure, but something isn’t quite right here. Yesterday I completed my first salt bar experiment using 80% coconut oil, 15% shea butter, and 5% castor oil with a 15% superfat. As the soap started to thicken, I added some Mediterranean Sea Salt fragrance oil and a green oxide coloring. Finally, I added Fine Dead Sea Salt equal to the amount of oils and just stirred it with a spoon. I thought it would get pretty thick once I added the salt, but it didn’t. After pouring it into the mold, I put it in the oven at 170 degrees for two hours. It was warm and gelled when I pulled it out. I left the lid on the mold, and four hours later, it was all wet and oozing!! Since it was still warmish, I decided to go ahead and cut it before it got too hard. This was a small batch of soap and I cut it into small bars. I wish I had taken a picture of the pool of wetness on top of the soap before I cut it, but you can see how moist it was. The blue soap mold liners are very wet. I even had trouble getting it out of the mold because the moisture had created a vacuum on the bottom. This morning the soap was harder, but still soft enough for me to break a bar in half. I’m going to see if it will harden as it cures. I’m thinking the culprit might be the type of salt that I used. There are lots of other minerals in the Dead Sea Salt that might interfere with the soapmaking process. Never fear, I have two other types of salt that I plan to try next! (Notice I filed this post under the “Making Soap” category, not the “Botched Batches”!!)
May 28th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I’ve only made one batch of salt bars, it was my third batch. I read tons on forums and online and decided to just use regular table salt. The only thing that I had happen, is that I didn’t let it sit long enough after gelling in the oven. I cut them too warm, but I didn’t want them to get too hard and break. They work just fine and other then being ugly when you first use them, a wash cloth rubbed on them to lather them makes them look polished and smooth as they should.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I think they look pretty good! How are they hardening up?
May 31st, 2008 at 11:14 am
They are getting harder, HOWEVER, they are still weeping! I’m going to take another picture – they are all standing in a small pool of wetness. Stay tuned for the next post about Experiment #2 – they are much better!
May 31st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Sounds like fun! Can’t wait to see how they turn out!
November 5th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I read today elsewhere on the net that you cannot use Dead Sea Salts in these bars. There is some mineral in those salts that causes the continual ‘weeping’. I wonder if that was the problem?
November 5th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Yes, most definitely, Kerry. I wish I had known before I made these! I’ve had much better luck with “regular” sea salts. You can get some at Walmart!
I plan to experiment some more with this type of soap. After the holidays though!