How to Make Salt Soap Bars

By David Fisher, About.com Guide

If you're looking for a way to combine the cleansing, exfoliating and detoxifying qualities of a salt bath with your handmade natural soap, you can combine them in a "salt bar."

Salt soap bars - or salt bars as they're generally called combine the best of both natural soap and a sea salt bath. The final bar is super hard, and produces a "lotion-like" lather - creamy and low - and many people (including me) love the way they make your skin feel!

You basically make them like any other cold processed soap with three big exceptions:

1. Adjust your recipe so that it contains at least 70-80% coconut oil. The salt counteracts the lather of the soap, so the high coconut amount is needed to make lather. (No, I hear you asking, the coconut oil isn't drying in these bars. Most soap makers will up the superfat a little - I generally up it to about 8% - but these bars are not drying.)
2. Add salt at trace - what will seem like a LOT of salt. There are three general traditions when it comes to the amount of salt used in salt bars:
   1. 100% of the soap amount - that is, if your recipe makes 2 lbs. of soap, you add in 2 lbs. of salt
   2. 100% of the oils in the recipe - that is, if your recipe has 24 ounces of oil in it, you add in 24 ounces of salt
   3. Some lesser amount of salt - I know soap makers who will do 50-70% of the total oils and are happy with their bars.
3. Unmold and cut the soap as very soon as it sets up - often in as little as 2 hours after pouring.

So gather up your soap making gear, a big container of salt, and let's make some salt soap bars.

Previous

• How to Make Salt Bars
• Create Your Salt Bar Soap Recipe
• Add the Salt to Your Salt Soap Bar Batch
• Pour the Soap
• Cut the Soap SOON!
• Using Divider Molds or Single Cavity Molds

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