Teach Soap

For those of you who use salt in your lye water to make a harder bar, how much salt do you use? Does it go by lb of oil, or by the water amt? Thanks

I just made my first "salt bar". I used 50% salt by weight and mostly coconut oil, a little castor oil, it is great stuff! I dont think that is what you are asking, and I don't have an answer to your question as I use SL to harden regular soap. But if my salt soap gets better than it is now, I will probably only make salt soap from now on.

I was asking about using just enough to make a harder bar, however I do love a good salt bar! I'll be making some of those for summer. For now though, I wanted to try to use salt instead of SL for a nice hard bar. Thanks for your reply!

So....does anyone here use salt in their lye water for a harder bar?

Sometimes. I have used everything from 2 Tablespoons of salt in the water for a 4-5 lb batch all the way up to "brine" (salt water for the lye, 3:1 water to salt). They all work well. I like brine bars a lot. The lather is nice, even on a majority olive oil soap that might otherwise be slimy.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
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I am curious about using the salt to harden your bars. How does this affect when you should cut your bars? Does it affect gel phase?

Thanks!!

I use sodium lactate instead to harden bars at about 1%.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I use about a teaspoon per 2.5 pound loaf. I like that it hardens the loaf, makes a smoother loaf as well. I will use sodium lactate occasionally as well. Salt is cheaper, and I honestly like it better.

Thanks so much!

so I'm new to using salt to harden but I tried adding salt to my lye water and it didn't all disolve. Is this normal? I did run it through a seive when I poured my lye water into my oils. Does anyone just add salt to the soap batter?

Thanks for your help!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I use 2 Tbs. for a 4 lb. batch.