Thursday, May 08, 2008

Taking the Salt Bar Plunge (Redux)

After my terrible HP salt bar attempt-disaster, I’ve decided to have another go. I’ve tweaked the recipe again and again, and I think I’ve come up with something nice:


85% Babassu
10% Avocado
5% Castor

I have made babassu soap in the past and enjoyed it, so I believe it will work very well in a salt bar. I have added avocado because I love it, and the castor is there to help with the lather. To this soap batter, I’ll add a good quantity (equal to the weight of the oils) of fine sea salt.

I’ve also decided to put a small amount of Rhassoul in the soap. My hope is a touch of clay will help boost and stabilise the lather.

Fingers crossed!

8 comments:

Michelle said...

Can't wait to see how it turns out! You always make the best soaps :)

Sherrie said...

Oooh, I can't wait to see how it turns out! It's on my (ever-expanding) list of things to try!

gracefruit said...

Aw, thanks! I am still a bit nervous to try it. The HP batch was so horrid. Maybe I'll have more luck with this one.

Joanna Schmidt said...

Did the other soap crack or crumble? Please post pictures when you can. I would love to see the final, even if it isn't sale worthy.

Good luck!!

Heather@Twin Birch said...

Me too! I can't wait to see it! I'm playing with salt bars, too. What do you like about the babassu oil?

gracefruit said...

Joanna - I added the salt after cooking the soap and it cooled too fast. It turned into a mess of strange pellets that looked like chewed up styrofoam. There was no hope of getting it into a mold. Nightmare!

Heather, babassu is just lovely. It's packed with lauric acid and lathers like crazy in soap, but it's also quite mild. I made some babassu and cornmeal bars which were gorgeous. They REALLY exfoliated!

Joanna Schmidt said...

And?

Do you see how patient I am? I just love you all so much, I visit twice a day. Do I have a life, you wonder??? Yes, I just have so many interests, too! Like this!

gracefruit said...

Thank you, Kim!

Joanna, I've not had two minutes to rub together, but hopefully I'll get to this tomorrow. It's been one of those weeks!

E xx