I noticed that many handmade soap makers use Sea Salt in their recipes. So, I searched and found that salt can be added to the lye/water mix, which it will dissolve, or it can be added at light trace.
My question is: Which is best, how much, pros and cons.
Thanks, Eddie
Sea Salt
Fri, 11/26/2010 - 9:16am
#1
Sea Salt
Tue, 11/08/2011 - 11:42am
#3
If you add salt to your recipes to get a harder bar, do I then have to worry about using the palm kernel flakes for the hardening of the soap?
Fri, 11/11/2011 - 3:25pm
#4
Hi LaNita
Soaps are less soluble in salt (NaCL) solutions, making solid soaps slower to dissolve in use.
This shouldn't affect the use of palm kernal flakes to also harden soaps.
That's my opinion & I'm stickin' with it :)
Anyone else have any observations on this?
Fri, 05/06/2011 - 6:52pm
#5
I add both salt and sugar to my lye water. I use 1/4 teaspoon salt for each pound of oil , and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per pound of oils. The purpose for the salt is to aid in the soaps hardness and the sugar increases the bubbles.
~Debbie in WV
Tue, 11/30/2010 - 2:35am
#6
Hi Eddie
We use about a teaspoon of salt per 4 pounds of soap, adding it to the freshly mixed water and lye while it is still hot so it will be sure to dissolve quickly & completely [I'm impatient].
I would think that adding salt crystals to new soap at light trace would leave it in crystal form and I'd rather not have the 'scratchiness' that might result.
Adding some sodium chloride to sodium soaps should result in harder finished soap that lasts a bit longer in the shower [It's a chemical equilibrium and soap solubility thing] but adding too much salt might be irritating to eyes, lips and other 'tender body parts'.
For those of us that add salt to their soaps, how much do you use and when and how do you add it?
Sun, 08/28/2011 - 5:39pm
#7
I am planning on adding a bit of salt tomy soap when I make this next week. I never have before. The adding to the lye solution makes sense to me. And that is what I think I will do. Thank you for the heads up on this.
I have been looking on the net and researching the different recipes of making soaps. I do love to research any subject that I am interested and will print out reams of pages on the subject.
TX-Debbie
For the past year I have been using 1 heaping tablespoon per batch. My homemade wood molds hold just a little over 6 lbs of oil. I have added the salt to the water before adding lye, and also after lye at around 140 degrees. I can not tell any difference. I now use Himalayan salt, which also has minerals.