This past weekend I was hanging out with Benjamin (Prairie Soap Company) at the shop and decided to knock out a few projects for my blog. I took along my favorite molds for salt bars and decided to do three different salt bars using interesting additives, natural colorants and amazing essential oil blends (which Benjamin helped me out with!). This series will include an African Black Soap Salt Bar, a Cocoa and Coffee Salt Bar and an Orange Oatmeal Salt Bar!

African Black Soap Salt Bar

Cold process salt bars are super awesome to make for a couple of reasons.

They are cheap to make! My favorite salt bar recipe is 100% coconut oil with a 20% superfat. Coconut oil is one of the cheaper oils to make soap with.

They have a luxurious lotion-like lather. Salt kills fluffy lather so don’t expect a super bubbly bar (even with 100% coconut oil). You will get some bubbles but they quickly turn into a lotion-like lather – silky, smooth and decadent.

You would think that the soap is scratchy or exfoliating. Nope. Quite the opposite. I’ve heard bathing with a salt bar being compared to bathing with a smooth, silky river rock.  You can have as much salt in your salt soap as you like.  I prefer 50% of the oil weight, but sometimes do up to 100% (equal weight salt to oils).

The soap comes out ROCK HARD and seems to last quite a bit in the shower. My salt bars last forever.

Because they set up fast and hard, I prefer to do salt bars in individual cavity molds. My favorite salt bar shape, and a way to make them unique and different than my regular bar soap, is a half round /half cylinder shape. This mold from Bramble Berry is absolutely perfect.  Anne-Marie sent me one to play with and I immediately bought three more!

salt soap mold

African Black Soap Salt Bar Recipe

Coconut oil – 567 g
Water – 160 g
Lye – 83 g

Crumbled African Black Soap – 189 g (Soaperschoice.com)
Fine Sea Salt – 283 g

Essential oil blend
Rosemary – 15 g
Tea Tree – 10 g
Balsam Peru – 10 g
Bay – 5 g
Clary Sage – 5 g
Lavender 40/42 – 20 g

If you are new to making cold process soap, please visit my basic tutorial.

Step 1 – Make your lye solution.  Weight out the water and the lye into separate containers.  Pour the lye into the water and stir.  Set aside to cool down.

Making the lye solution for salt bars

lye solution for salt soap

Step 2 – Weigh out the coconut oil and melt.  Melt just until melted and no longer.  Set aside to cool down a bit.

coconut oil for salt bars

coconut oil salt soap recipe

Step 3 – Weigh out the salt, black soap crumbles and essential blend so that everything is ready to go!

african black soap for salt bar

salt bar soap with black soap

Step 4 – Time to make soap!  Add the essential oil blend to the oils.  Add the lye solution to the oils.  Mix until you get a very light trace.

salt soap bars

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Once you have a light trace, add the salt.

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Mix and add the African black soap crumbles.

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african black soap

Mmmmm, kinda looks like sausage gravy!

african black soap salt bars

Pour into the molds.

salt bar mold for soapmaking

soap mold for salt bars

Salt soap gets hard pretty fast so you’ll be able to unmold the same day!

Be sure to let these beauties cure for a good 4-6 weeks and they’ll become nice and mild.

cold process salt bar soap

Happy (Salt Bar) Soaping!

-Amanda Gail

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