Salt Soap Scrub

by John McPhail
(Melbourne Australia)

Thank you for your website and wonderful information along with all the ideas and recipes.


I tried your salt soap recipe yesterday. Scales to the following Castor Oil 105 gms
Coconut Oil 750 gms
Grapeseed Oil 225 gms
Yield approx 2 Kg

Water 150 gms + coconut milk (no additives)200 gms put into the ly and water when temp @ 40 deg C
This then added to the oils at 40 Deg C Trace occurred after approx 3 min then added 750 gms Himalayan Pink salt and stirred, not whisked, until mixed.
A little hard to do as it seemed so much salt. Poured into mouuld and again using a spoon mixed to get a good dispersion of the salt throughout the soap.
Covered for 18 hours and cut this morning.

Here lies the difficulty. I found the soap to be "crumbly" when cutting.

The soap is already harder than most of my other soaps and it is salvageable I think. Ill know in a few days. Worst case I'll re-batch it.

My question is how do I manage the soap so it is not so crumbly before I cut it.

Thank you for your assistance.


Answer:

Yes that can certainly happen. Salt soaps must be cut as soon as the soap can be handled or it will become too hard.

Here is a quote from the recipe:

"This soap should be cut when it has firmed up and can be handled. This was at about 12 hours for me. If left too long the soap will harden and you will not be able to cut it withuot it crumbling apart."

My salt soap is firm but still quite warm to the touch when I cut it. Even then there will be a bit of crumbling on some edges.

Cathy

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Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		High SF
by: Anonymous

Hi John, glad you are happy with your salt bars. I like the sound of the oils you used so I ran it through the soap cal lye calculator just to check as I always do and to come out with the same amount of lye that you mention I had to change the SuperFat to 30%. I have never gone higher than 20% Superfat and that is only with a bar that is 100% coconut oil. I'm wondering why you used a SF this high? Also you mentioned that there was a 16 Water discount but once again for that amount of water soap calc says that is 30% of total oil weight. What lye calculator do you use?

Most interested
Kerrie
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		My Salt Bar Is Soft
by: Erika

I made this exact formula, including mixing at 44 deg. Celsius...

Coconut Oil 800 gms (61.54%)
Castor Oil 150gms (11.54%)
Apricot Oil 100gms (7.69%)
Grapeseed Oil 250gms (19.23%)
Water 390
E/O Ylang Ylang 20 ml
NaOH 148 gms Discount 16%

I used a plastic mold.

My soap is still somewhat creamy soft, not really super hard, 48 hours later. Will it harden up? Will it still be okay to use after the curing period?

I did use 'pure' reverse osmosis bottled water (bottled myself from a depot) in this case. Could this be why the soap was so mushy/soft initially? Or, is mushy/soft to be expected due to the high 16% discount?

Also, with previous soap I've made using distilled water, the lye water temperature has always gone above 150 initially, when first mixing the lye and water.

I did notice that, in this case, the lye never reached a temperature above about 135 degrees when I first mixed it with the reverse osmosis water.

I watch my temps really closely and ensure the oil and lye water are within 10 degrees of each other before mixing; in this case, both were at 110 when I began to mix.

I didn't notice anything unusual as far as trace is concerned and used pink Himalayan salt.

I just don't know if the softness is expected, or not. And, if not, is the water I used the problem? Or, could it be something else?

Thanks so much for any help. Really loving this site!

Erika


Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Salt Scrub Bar 2nd batch
by: John McPhail

Hi all
I have just done my second batch of salt scrub, and the end result is great, 'm very happy with it.

Recipe

Coconut Oil 800 gms (61.54%)

Castor Oil 150gms (11.54%)

Apricot Oil 100gms (7.69%)

Grapeseed Oil 250gms (19.23%)

Water 390

E/O Ylang Ylang 20 ml

NaOH 148 gms Discount 16%

Temp for oil and lye solution 44 Deg C
750 gms Sea Salt half coloured green the other half coloured blue using chocolate colour powder added at light trace then stirred not blended until firm enough to pour.

The colour ran so now its kind of pink/purple colour must have been a reaction with secondary saphonification.
It still looks great.
Very saleable.

You still have slight crumbly this is more due to salt crystals scouring the soap rather than crumbling.

Will try the soap in two weeks and see what its like. In future Iwill go back to Hymalyian Pink Salt.

I placed the soap in a wood mold, I forgot about some in a silicon mold, sorry Kelly. Easy to get out after 5 hours and cut well nowhere like the first batch where I had chunks breaking off,see above.

Cheers

John

Comment:

That's wonderful John! So glad this batch worked out for you.

I would love to see a batch with the Himalayan salt in it. I bet a white batch with the pink salt would look wonderful.

Thanks for sharing your recipe as well.

Cathy
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Reply: molds and Apricot oil
by: Anonymous

Hi Kerry
Thanks
Here is some info for Apricot Oil
Apricot Kernel Australia CP
prunis armeniaca
Lightly textured and scented it easily penetrates the skin without leaving a greasy residue. Rich in essential fatty acids: oleic and linoleic. Good for dry and mature skins.

Fatty Acids: Linoleic acid 20-34%, Oleic acid 58-74%, Palmitic acid 4-7%, Iodine value 92-108.

I will b e adding this to the recipe for adding some richness to the bar also as its a soft oil hoping it will give me a little more time in pouring :-)

Cheers

John
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		salt scrub
by: Kerrie


Hi John,

You will love the silicone moulds, i also do my beeswax soaps in them. I am curious as to your adjustment to the recipe. I haven't heard of apricot oil, and what would you be decreasing to allow for this. What would be the benefit of the apricot oil.
Let us know how it works out.
Thanks
Kerrie
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Reply: SIlicon Mold comment
by: John McPhail

Thanks Kerry
I have some silicon molds now, I'll try some in those, also I have adjusted the recipe by adding 100 ml of Apricot Oil (7.6%) and the next batch will be a mix of wood mold and silicon mold to see the difference.

Cheers
John
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		salt scrub soap
by: Kerrie


When i made my salt scrub bars i used plastic moulds and silicone moulds. It was a great idea as there is no need to cut the soap. The silicone worked the best. Hope this helps.

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