Salt Bar Question for Natures Art

I just saw your dead sea salt bars and was wondering how much salt to oil % you were using as they looked pretty full (and pretty btw ) yet I've always read DSS doesn't work, or won't set up due to the high mineral content ..

Is that just another soaping myth ?? And have you found any other differences when using DSS as opposed to Table or Seas Salt ?? I've been playing a lot with salt bars of late so very curious and hope you don't mind my picking your brains on this

I am not Kim............but I use DSS and love it. That is all I use in my salt bars and they are wonderful.

Yes, in standard salt bars, you need to use the regular salt. However, these are not regular salt bars. Dead sea salt, will not give you the same gliding smooth bar. It will be a slight exfoliating to it, and it takes a longer cure time. I also oven process it. I do a blend of fine grind and medium grind salts, add castor at 10% and bake it for 2 hours at 175 degrees. It comes out stiff but sorta gooey wet. if must then continue to cure for at least 2 weeks to get to the proper hardness. I like them better than reg salt bars, because i like a bit of scrubbiness. So bare in mind, they are a pain in the ass to make..lol and not everyone will like them if they are expecting a reg. salt bar. but try a small batch of your own and see how it goes!

Now, dont think that you wont get a smooth glide with thi, you will!! its just that it has a very very small amount of scrub, not irritating at all. and the bubbles are not high, but the creaminess is intense, and its like putting lotion on. its really very cool!. But yes, takes forever to dry out. the one i have listed now, its hard and usable, but still has a bit of softness too it. it can stand a bit longer cure to be the best im sure.

I did the same 50% ratio as a salt bar. Mind you I have played with this recipe for a bout a year..lol. You might even try using a percent of table salt for smoother glide if you like. I will try to get pics up of using it in the water to show how it does.

ok see the slickness almost like OO slime? but its does start to bubbles as you use it.

When someone tells me I cant do something, the rebel in me says oh yeah? betcha i can!! lol A couple years ago, I tried something new, and make solid tooth paste, aka soap. I was laughed at and said it wasnt possible. Well it became my best seller and is now copied by many..lol

I love breaking the rules! It just takes a bit of science, trail and error, and courage.

Try something that you were told isnt possible! Be a rebel!!

Long live the "NO RULES GIRLS"!! If it wern't for us nothing would ever get done!

Thanks for your kind and giving spirit Kim. You so freely shared the info on this and I think that is awesome Your DSS Bar is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.

thank you!!! hugs..

oh! important!! I almost forgot to mention, I always soap at 40% lye concentration so it does make a difference in the firmness and cure time!!

That is one gorgeous bar of soap.. Rebel girl!!! I am the same way, say it can't be done, I will die trying to prove you wrong ,lol..

Your welcome. Thank you for your generous spirit.

Now, the difference is it is not as hard as a reg salt bar, that crumbly everyone talks about is still there to a degree. So im marketing this more as a skin treatment than as a traditional soap. I recommend cutting off a slice and taking it in with you. Im still formulating getting it hardern but as it is now, its amazing on the skin. Very smooth and silky, very much like a soft semi-soft castile when it comes to the lather, but with some bubbles.

As to why you cant use DSS is that it generally just turn to mush..lol, so thats why im playing with the recipes. Im thinking if I add clay to it, it will up the cohesive factor, what do you think?

The reason I keep working on this bar is that when my dad got cancer and his skin started getting burnt from the treatments, I had to make him a whole bunch of special products, just for him. I did a basic castile soap, he couldnt use regular soap, ate him alive, i made a lotion that didnt irritate his neck burns, and I made this. When he started to heal from the deep raw burns, it was still way to tender and exposed to peel off the flaking dead skin. and everything just plain HURT. When i made this for him, we could sorta crumble it in our hands when it was wet and rub it gently over the area, it got rid of the dead skin, but so gently it didnt cause him pain, and then it added this amazing layer of rich moisture over the wound. It made it so much less painful for him.

AND it started to actually heal the raw wounds!

ps im cross posting, so sorry for those seeing double posts, just trying to get as much input as possible.

Yes, I think clay would help to bind things together nicely. I did a DS Clay Salt bar as opposed to the DS Mud bars that most do. It came out beautifully. And is a good seller. It does of course cause the batch to move fast so be prepared if you are going do any pretty stuff, lol.

I think ive actually hit on a new kinda product! Like a solid sugar scrub, but a soap with incredible healing DDS. Im going to do it in different bar shapes and see how well it does.

I'm also a fan of breaking all the soaping rules hence my excitement when I saw you'd done a DSS one

I also adore a bit of scratch and I adore salt bars so this sounds absolutely perfect to me - now I just have to find where I can get DSS over here ..

Thanks Heaps!! And yes I do think the clay will help firm up the bar, and probably increase the glide of the creamy lather too .. Please do update when you try it

One more question ..

I don't actually like Castor in my regular salt bars but you specified you used 10% so do you feel that it's important when using the DSS, and if so why?

I just priced DSS you see and it's crazy expensive down here so I'll only be able to make one batch, and would very much appreciate experienced input before I mess it up!

~ Clear

It was just my concern with my dad about the conditioning factor for his skin, and it turned out I really liked it. I was like adding glycerin to it. But im sure you can do it without it!

Gotcha! I'll go with my regular CO/OO/Hemp mix then ..

Can't thank you enough Kim! I'm as excited as when I first discovered Kitn's balls :P

~ Clear

its really cool, i gotta tell ya! Im thinking of packing them like a massage bar...

they slice beautifully and feel so amazing on the skin.

oh shoot, forgive me I've yet another question lol ..

So if they're oven processed I'll need to use a silicon mould as my Nizzy Divider won't take the heat, but if these slice beautifully then there's not rush to cut - is that right?

Heck I think I better wait until summer to try making them too as spring has just sprung here and that = rain rain daffodils and more rain here .. Probably the worst time of year to make a sentimental salt bar huh?!

~ Clear

oh yeah, your good, no rush to cut at all!!