Sodium lactate (powder)
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
The same salt as the 60 % solution, sold dry: 0.6 g of the powder stands in for 1 g of the solution. Classic Bells makes the solution again from 6 parts powder to 4 parts water.
Lotioncrafter supplier or guide, Classic Bells supplier or guide, Jungbunzlauer primary source
How much
- 0.6–1.8 % of the oils filled in (from the 60 % solution’s dose: 0.6 g of powder for 1 g of solution) Lotioncrafter supplier or guide
- 1–5 % of the batch (the source does not say of what; taken here as of the batch) Lotioncrafter supplier or guide
The calculator fills in 0.6 % of the oils: 6 g for the 1000 g of oils in its starter recipe.
When and how
- Usually: into the oils.
- Also used: into the lye solution.
- Dissolve it in about twice its weight of the recipe’s water, then blend that into the oils.
Classic Bells supplier or guide
What it does to the recipe
- It changes neither the lye nor the water: it is only weight in the bar.
Lotioncrafter supplier or guide, Jungbunzlauer primary source
Worth knowing
- It draws water from the air: keep it sealed. Classic Bells supplier or guide
- Caution: The dust irritates if breathed in. Classic Bells supplier or guide
Spoons and drops
- No source weighs a spoonful of it: weigh it.
INCI name
Sodium Lactate
- CAS number
- 72-17-3, 867-56-1
- EC number
- 200-772-0, 212-762-3
Guides that discuss it
Sources
Lotioncrafter, sodium lactate powder (PURASAL Powder S 100): "Added to bar soap formulations to harden bar", 1–5 %; for "1 ounce of Sodium Lactate 60% Solution, you can simply use .6 ounces of powder".
Jungbunzlauer, Personal Care folder (2025): sodium lactate, sodium citrate and sodium gluconate are "Fully neutralised salts"; sodium gluconate is "particularly adapted for mass market soap and bath products" and, in strongly alkaline solutions, "surpasses all other chelating agents, such as EDTA".
Classic Bells, "Sodium lactate": "10 to 30 g of SL solution per 1000 g of fats (1% to 3%...)"; "Over 3% can make bar soap softer and more rubbery"; powder remade as a 60 % solution from 6 parts powder and 4 parts water; the powder is "irritating if inhaled".