Saturday, May 12, 2012

Amy's Soap Challenge Week #8 - Salt Bars

So it is week 8 of Amy's Soap Challenge. It's been so fun participating. If you haven't checked out the Soap Challenge you can click, here, to see all the info. Also check out Amy's website, she has so many nice goodies at Great Cakes Soapworks.


I decided to sit out this weeks challenge because I created a couple of salt bars during the challenge already. Since I don't sell my soaps I honestly didn't feel like having a half dozen more salt bars to add to the 20 or so I already have.


So, I will reintroduce my salt bar that I made.... Here is a picture and here is a link to my post AND the recipe. Enjoy!! :)


80% Coconut Oil, 10% Shea, 10% Castor and 20% SuperFat




Since coconut can be very drying I went with the 80/20 rule and superfatted big on my first batch. They are very firm and the individual molds made things a bit easier. The recipe is in the link above.

The loaf recipe was 77% Coconut Oil, 10% Castor, 10% Olive and 3% Shea and 20% SF. I also used half and half of fine and course sea salt at 80% ppo. They are pretty nice too. I split the soap up and colored it before I added the salt. Then I split the salt up and mixed it in and layered the colors. I liked making the colors in the loaf but using the individual molds are easier if you don't want the hassle of cutting them while they are warm.


This is what happens when you make soap when you are in a hurry. I put the cardboard on top without putting plastic between it and it during the oven process it puffed up and touched the cardboard and then it stuck to it. Then, in my hurry to cut it I cut such big pieces that you need a crane to pick one up. AND... They do not cut well (at all) after they cool down. They smell really nice... lol

10 comments:

  1. Wow, those are really sweet sweet soaps :)
    I like this warm colour !

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    1. Thank you so much. They are honey and lemon scented and they smell really good :)

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  2. I have those molds. Why didn't I think to use them? Tell us how well they work. I really struggled with the 80/20 rule and thought I'd risk it and go 100% to see what they were like and risk it even more with only a 10% superfat. I don't think they are bad, but I think I need to make a small batch to compare it with. Yours look really really nice!

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    1. Thank you :) Since coconut can be very drying I went with the 80/20 and superfatted big. They are very firm and not as drying as 100% coconut was. I just added the loaf recipe to the post if anyone is interested in that one as well. It's slightly different than the other recipe. Thanks for stopping by :)

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  3. They still look lovely in spite of your troubles with the cutting, x Linda

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    1. Thank you so much Linda! I really liked the colors and the fragrance. I've been using the broken one the last few days. Its really nice. I added the recipe to that one to my blog too.

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  4. Using single cavity molds really is easier than using a loaf, but the colors are really nice on your loaf bars. I was too scared I'd cut them and they'd crumble, so took the safe route with an eight cavity oval mold. I'll have to try your layering technique next time.

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    1. It was really easy to cut them when they were still warm. It's when I tried to cut them later that they crumbled. The top got messed up from the cardboard (really dumb move). If I make them again I will color them and put them in the individual molds still.

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  5. The ones from the individual molds don't even look like salt bars - they are so smooth!! I used a very similar recipe on the beer ones (except I used beer for the liquid, of course!) I think that one might end up being my favorite! Love the colors you used for the bars - even if they are a little imperfect. :)

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    1. I used fine ground sea salt for the molded ones so they are really smooth. I used half course and half fine in the loaf. Neither of them feel scratchy in the shower. The loaf bars I made are really pretty (color wise). I think one bar was like 8+ ounces.. lol. I tried to cut them in half later but they just broke instead of sliced. I knew they would but I thought I would try. Never know what you can do unless you try, right?
      I thought you didn't like the sticky feel of the beer one. Or am I getting them mixed up? Hmmm.

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