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Salt and brine bars

Salt bar

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The oils

Oil Share
Coconut Oil 80.0 %
Shea Butter 10.0 %
Castor Oil 5.0 %
Olive Oil (virgin / refined / olive oil) 5.0 %

How it is made

Process Cold process
Alkali NaOH
Superfat 17 %
Water lye water at 33 %
Iodine value 21
INS 221

What the numbers say

Hardness 69 above 29–54
Cleansing 54 above 12–22
Conditioning 22 below 44–69
Bubbly lather 59 above 14–46
Creamy lather 19 16–48

Computed from the fatty acids of the fats above. The bands are what the craft has settled on, not chemistry — a bar outside one is not wrong.

Try it differently

8 variations

The same soap with one thing moved. Each opens in the calculator ready to change again.

Where these proportions come from

The superfat is not optional here. At 5 % this is a laundry bar.

Craft convention: 70–100 % coconut with a superfat of 15–20 %, because salt suppresses lather and the high superfat is what keeps the bar from stripping.

A canonical formulation: the proportions the craft has settled on for this kind of soap. Not transcribed from a document, and not copied from anywhere.

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