Kosher salt, flaked (Diamond Crystal type)
A harder bar that unmoulds sooner.
Opens the calculator’s starter recipe, 1000 g of oils, with this additive at the dose it fills in, ready to change.
What it is
Flaked kosher salt, the Diamond Crystal type, is salt in light flakes rather than fine grains, so a spoonful of it weighs little: a quarter teaspoon is 0.7 g and a level tablespoon 8.2 g.
USDA FoodData Central; UC ANR primary source
How much
- 0.5 tsp per pound of oils (measured as Salt, fine (table or canning)) filled in Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
- 1 tsp per pound of oils (measured as Salt, fine (table or canning)) Soap Queen supplier or guide
The calculator fills in 0.5 tsp per pound of oils (measured as Salt, fine (table or canning)): 6.6 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: in the water, before the lye.
- Weigh it dry and dissolve it in the recipe’s own water: no extra water.
Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
USDA FoodData Central; UC ANR primary source
Worth knowing
- Caution: Salt cuts lather markedly. Faiola, Pure Soapmaking primary source
Spoons and drops
- 1 tsp ≈ 2.8 g
- 1 tbsp ≈ 8.2 g
- 1 cup ≈ 131 g
USDA FoodData Central; UC ANR primary source
INCI name
Sodium Chloride
- CAS number
- 7647-14-5
- EC number
- 231-598-3
Guides that discuss it
Sources
Diamond Crystal kosher salt flakes: a quarter teaspoon weighs 0.7 g (USDA FoodData Central, branded label 2588153); a level tablespoon 8.2 g (UC ANR, May 2025).
Anne-Marie Faiola, Pure Soapmaking (Storey Publishing, 2016): "1 teaspoon of sodium lactate for every 16 ounces (1 pound) of oils or 0.5 percent" (the two disagree: a teaspoon of the 60 % solution a pound is about 1.45 % of the oils, so neither is taken from this book); salt at "½ teaspoon per pound of oil", added to the water before the lye; "Salt decreases lather significantly"; salt bars are 80–100 % coconut oil at a high superfat. Chapter 5: coffee grounds, "For extra scrubbing power, use a coarse grind, while for gentle exfoliation, a super-fine espresso grind is best. Use the grounds to make coffee before adding them, or they might bleed brown halos into the final soap"; "Adding colloidal oatmeal can accelerate trace in your soap recipe; premixing with water can help avoid this"; honey, "start soaping with lye-water and oils both under 100°F (38°C). Add the honey at trace ... Once the soap is finished, place it in the refrigerator or freezer immediately to prevent overheating". Chapter 7: "A half teaspoon of sugar per pound of soap added to your lye-water can help your bar lather up."
Soap Queen, making soap last longer: "about 1 tsp. of table salt per pound of oils".