# I love Lard Soap...



## Vic1963 (Aug 12, 2009)

Of all the recipes I have tried the last month or so..., still the best feeling on my skin is the one I made with Lard and a little coconut oil. 

Hubby likes the soybean wax soap...but it gets you a little to clean...if you know what I mean.  Like you almost squeek when you rub your hands together......hahah.

I like how the Lard soap leaves my skin feeling, and It is so gentle that I can wash my face with it and it leaves it feeling soft.  I have very sensitive skin on my face so that is saying alot.  

It is unscented.......and I don't really even smell the lard.  It hardly has a smell at all , and its a hard white bar...which I like also.

But are other people put off by the word " Lard" when they go to buy soap ?


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## andreja (Aug 12, 2009)

Well it depends. I am not, my friends aren't. But we aren't vegan or vegetarian. 

So vegan or vegetarian people won't like lard in soap. But there are some carnivores who can't imagine putting animal fat on their body.


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## TheSoapyEwe (Aug 12, 2009)

I love my lard soaps too, they do make your skin feel wonderful!
I also have a Crisco based soap I make for all the vegans out there and it too leaves your skin feeling wonderful! 

I personally think that most people expect to see lard or tallow as an ingredient in handmade soaps. They are so familiar with soap from the old days and know that it was used to be made with lard.
I have in fact had a few customers ask about my soaps with no lard, they wanted to know where the lard was....LOL


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## Kerye (Aug 12, 2009)

I am not at all put off about lard in soap!   

As a matter of fact I made my first batch of lard soap yesterday! I did lard and CO. I had heard that it was a great soap, so once I try it myself, I plan on making more for family and friends to try....


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## Vic1963 (Aug 12, 2009)

Can I ask how much CO that you put in your Lard Soap ?

I did 75% Lard 25% CO


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2009)

I'm glad to see that people like lard soap!  I made my first batch last week for my mom.  She can't use any soap or beauty product with natural ingredients since it interferes with her medication.  (And she's a former soaper!)  So I thought I'd give it a try--I hate seeing her have to use commercial junk! 

She was a little hesitant about it, having heard stories of "lard soap" (with old-fashioned lye) that would "clean", i.e., strip off anything, including the top layer of skin!


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## Dixie (Aug 12, 2009)

My newest fav recipe has 15% Lard in it! 
I don't know anyone who is apposed to Lard in their soap except those that are vegan.


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2009)

I'm definitely with the lard and beef tallow is even better. 
I plan to have lard/tallow in all my recipes and only one soap all-vegetable, because let's face it: ya don't see many vegans in Mississippi!--I'll make an (inferior) all-vegetable soap for the few I run into.


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## TheSoapyEwe (Aug 12, 2009)

I usually use 70% Lard, 25% Coconut Oil, 5% Castor Oil


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## nickjuly (Aug 12, 2009)

Have only tried lard once in a recipe and it thickened very quickly. Is this normal?

Thanks!


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## reallyrita (Aug 12, 2009)

*I love lard soaps*

Lard is usually very slow to trace so it might have been something else in the soap recipe...an FO  perhaps.  I find that if I soap warm, my lard batch will trace faster than if I soap my usual RT. My lard soaps are made with CO and OO as well as the lard.  When I add Shea butter, I get a faster trace also.


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2009)

I am getting ready to do a lard/coconut soap tonight. Glad to hear you love it, I initially wanted to stay vegan. But, I decided I really want to try the lard soap. Wish me luck


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## Egzandra (Aug 12, 2009)

Good luck!  I love all of my soaps with lard and tallow in, and also a mixture of animal and vegetable fats, like coconut oil and sunflower oil.

I did a lard and coconut oil soap the day before yesterday. (80/20). It took ages to trace, maybe 3 hours, although I was just stirring it by hand, and it is still a bit soft for cutting 50 hours later.

The three all-veg soaps I have made have been slightly disappointing for various reasons, although they are all perfectly usable.

A coconut oil and cocoa butter soap has got lots of ash, not just on the surface.

One with a high proportion of almond oil in as well as other oils including coconut oil feels lovely on the skin but needs extra care by the sink, gets gummy easily.

My olive oil and coconut oil 75/25 also gets gummy if allowed to stay wet.

So in future if I make more soap I will stick to recipes with at least a proportion of tallow or lard.


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## artisan soaps (Aug 12, 2009)

..


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2009)

I am lard soap lover too . There is nothing I have tried that makes a bar of soap like lard does  . Lard Soap Rocks !! 

Kitn


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## vivcarm (Aug 12, 2009)

Again a similar story didn't like the thought of it, but well I eat meat and wear leather..... and once I tried at 25% my fave soap so far, everything I have made before and after doesn't even come close, my dry red flaky skin on my face has gone and I can't stop using it now. Only one problem what do I do with all the other soap! Ha Ha, I will just have to give them to my veggie pals!


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## agriffin (Aug 12, 2009)

Lard soap is my favorite.  I do 50% lard, 23.5% cocnut oil, 23.5% olive oil and 3% castor.  Tried and true, never fails!  Make a really hard bar and feels great!


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## krissy (Aug 12, 2009)

my favorite recipe is a high percent of lard too. it is my favorite base oil and then i throw in a couple different ones.


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## wookie130 (Aug 12, 2009)

Count me in with lard!!!  It makes for a nice, creamy, hard white bar.  Really, I do prefer it to palm, and I am a former vegan myself.  

A soap made with lard is a soap made with lurve...lol


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## xraygrl (Aug 12, 2009)

Big lard soap lover here too! When I first started soaping way back when I used only veggie oils, but once I tried lard soaps I couldn't give it up! I generally use 50-60%, and sometimes higher for bastile soap.


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## honor435 (Aug 12, 2009)

ok, so i made my first lard batch today, and i was kinda against it, not sure if i will sell this one, but i want to know what its like! It is hp, with honey butter fo, yum.  I ask people if they are against using lard soap and they say "ew", then i tell them that their dove has "tallow" in it, and dial and almost all store bought brands.


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## Egzandra (Aug 13, 2009)

I think it's great that some of the best oils for making soap, eg lard and tallow, coconut oil and olive oil are also the easiest to get! And, (perhaps with the exception of the oo,) also the cheapest. Now I just have to get the family to try them and my soaping happiness will be complete.


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## Bunny (Aug 13, 2009)

Yep nick, rita is right, lard is a slow tracer, which is good because you can use that to your advantage.

I have always been a fan of lard/tallow soaps since I was a child. I used to help my Granny make "stove top" soap out of her meat drippings, and she never used coconut you know. Just meat drippings that we rendered by boiling a couple different times in a big pot of water. Sometimes, if she got some good raw fat, she would just bake it in the oven to cook-off the clean fat, and then we would make soap with it. Her soap was always sooooo creamy and nice. It felt so much nicer than store-bought soap.And when I first started making soap, I made it on top of the stove too. It turned out good, but I like the more modern methods better (CP and oven HP).


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## IrishLass (Aug 13, 2009)

I _love_ my piggie soaps. When I first started soaping I kinda looked on lard as a cheapie 'filler' fat. I didn't have anything against it conscious-wise, mind you, but I just looked down my nose at it like it was inferior to the other more luxurious fats. Then I tried a lard bar in a swap and absolutely _loved_ it, and set out to create my own lard soap forthwith. I have 2 really good 'keeper' formulas with lard now that I would be so sad without (one with lard and one with a combo of lard/tallow). I've also compared lard to palm side by side in exact recipes subbing one for the other, and the lard bars win hands down each time.  


IrishLass


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## alwaysme07 (Aug 13, 2009)

I love lard soaps! There is only one I really like without lard and that one is salt soap.


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## honor435 (Aug 14, 2009)

ok, i made some lard soap in the crock, holy moly. slippery, hardly had to wash the pot! It that normal???


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## Milla (Aug 15, 2009)

I've made some lard soaps and they are very creamy.  What superfat is everyone using?  I was using 5%, but not sure if that's normal.  Thanks!


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## Egzandra (Aug 15, 2009)

I had been using 5% but I made a batch this week with 8% superfat.  Someone else will come along to let you know how their soaps with a higher superfat behave further down the line. I hope mine don't go rancid with the extra fat, because I made lots.


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## xraygrl (Aug 15, 2009)

Honor,

Did you use sugar or milk in the batch?


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## Bubbles Galore (Aug 15, 2009)

I regularly make a 75% lard soap and it's a firm favourite. I handed a piece to a friend tonight to try on her dry hands and she said "ewww" when I told her it was lard. Boy, didn't her face change when she washed her hands with it. She loved how it felt after she dried her hands.


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## kittywings (Aug 15, 2009)

(sigh)... why are you guys doing this to me?!!  I've always been one of the "ewww" group being a somewhat laid-back veggie (meaning I don't freak out if I accidentally have something with beef stock in it and I wear leather shoes) mostly though, I picture it clogging pores.  

I found myself standing in front of the lard at the store the other day, but I didn't do it.  However... I somehow see myself doing it again sometime soon.

... plus, I found out the secret to my grandmother's AMAZING apple pie (and I'm hard to please)... lard.

Looks like I'm off to the Mexican grocery store!


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## krissy (Aug 15, 2009)

it doesnt clog pours, i looked it up cuz it had me thinking that too. 
also i think (in my case at least) people dont like the word LARD. like that word makes you think of inferior things or I remember someone being called a l*rd *ss when i was little and knowing that wasn't nice. lol, really, get a 1lb thing of it and try it, it makes a great soap!!


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## Saltysteele (Aug 25, 2009)

i'm going to be doing a couple batches this weekend, my first attempts at making soap, and will be doing lard.  will probably be using the recipe of someone here 50% lard, 23.5% olive, 23.5% co and 3% castor.


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## honor435 (Aug 26, 2009)

Xray
no sugar or milk.
I have to say i never wanted to use lard, but thought i would see what the stink(literally) is about! I do like it, but not convinced it is any better than po,co,oo recipe. It IS cheaper though.


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## ohsoap (Nov 2, 2009)

IrishLass said:
			
		

> I _love_ my piggie soaps. When I first started soaping I kinda looked on lard as a cheapie 'filler' fat. I didn't have anything against it conscious-wise, mind you, but I just looked down my nose at it like it was inferior to the other more luxurious fats. Then I tried a lard bar in a swap and absolutely _loved_ it, and set out to create my own lard soap forthwith. I have 2 really good 'keeper' formulas with lard now that I would be so sad without (one with lard and one with a combo of lard/tallow). I've also compared lard to palm side by side in exact recipes subbing one for the other, and the lard bars win hands down each time.
> 
> 
> IrishLass



So glad to hear this, I made my first lard soap this afternoon and I am hoping to be able to say the same thing as you!


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## Maria (Nov 2, 2009)

I am put off by the smell of lard while it cooks. Most of my vegetable oil recipes have cocoa butter it them and smell really nice while cooking. I only put lard in a couple times other than when making Grandma's Soap and they were not good sellers. Maybe there are more vegetarians down here.


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## jadiebugs1 (Nov 3, 2009)

alwaysme07 said:
			
		

> I love lard soaps! There is only one I really like without lard and that one is salt soap.



I just recently tried making my salt soap using lard in place of the shea butter.  Figured they lend similar qualities, would slow down trace (yep, I actually got to POUR the soap in the molds instead of glopping this time!) and definetely be cheaper.  

So far the differences I've noticed include it required a little longer to unmold, didn't crumble as much as the shea type, had a bit of a piggy smell to it it's first few days of curing, and is not getting as hard as fast.  

Now, about a week after cutting....I don't really smell the piggy anymore, it's getting a little harder and turning out rather nicely.  

My daughter and I have recently been using nothing on our faces except the salt soap made with shea butter.....I'm thinking (and hoping) that this is actually going to work out nicely with the lard.

And as for the cheap price of lard???  I've noticed at Wal-Mart, it's not that much cheaper than other oils and shortenings.  It's starting to get a bit pricey too. (I so wish I would have grabbed a bucket or two when it was on sale at Wal-Mart about a year ago....$18 for a 5 gal. bucket!!!)


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## mandolyn (Nov 3, 2009)

I used to be an all veggy soaper, but once I tried lard, I was loving it!!

Here's the deal. Even if you SF at 8%, how much free oil is in a 4 oz bar of soap? Then, consider how much of that actually remains on your skin after rinsing. If you do the math, you can see what an eentsy bit of maybe lard (if you're using other oils, too) is going to remain behind on your skin. It makes me chuckle when I hear, "Ewwwwwwwww!!"

I love the creamy, silky lather that lard brings to my soap!


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## ohsoap (Nov 3, 2009)

I'm hoping that if this recipe turns out as nice as I hope, then I will be switching from Palm to Lard.  I had wanted to go sustainable Palm but with shipping costs I just can't afford to do that.  
I was very strongly an all veggie soaper, but I'm not a vegetarian, and I think I've only met 2 vegans in my life.  I want the Good soap, not just a good label.


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## Absinthe (Nov 3, 2009)

I keep hearing veggie, and vegan issues, but does anyone sell, or swap with Jews or Muslims? I assume that at the very least Muslims would be opposed to knowingly use a product made from a pig, and Jews that kept kosher may or may not (might not matter if it is not food stuff) want a product made from a pig either.


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## chris21908 (Nov 5, 2009)

im also going 2 try a lard/coconut soap sometime today. im pretty much out of olive oil so this would be a good recipe!


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## chris21908 (Nov 5, 2009)

TheSoapyEwe said:
			
		

> I usually use 70% Lard, 25% Coconut Oil, 5% Castor Oil



i just tried this recipe about 10 minutes ago. it traced REALLY quick within a few minutes. after that happened i couldn't use my electric mixer anymore it was so thick!

one thing i noticed is the lard smell was somewhat noticeable when i smelled it after i put it in the mold. is this going to go away? i even added a little vanilla and pumpkin spice powder to see if it would neutralize the smell, but it didnt really do much.

ps. i used lard i bought at walmart.


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## Bubbles Galore (Nov 5, 2009)

I never have problems with stinky lard soap and everyone else has said that the smell goes away, so don't worry. I'm surprised at such a fast trace. What temp did you soap at Chris?  :wink:


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## ewepootoo (Nov 5, 2009)

I gave a box of soaps to my sisters with various recipes and one that was mostly Tallow. I asked them which soap they liked the best as they had no idea about what was in the different bars and they both said #8 batch, sure enough the Tallow soap. Their collective top lips were seen to visibly curl up when I told them what was in it, I will have to use a little trickery and deception on them in future. Steve


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## Vic1963 (Nov 5, 2009)

chris21908 said:
			
		

> TheSoapyEwe said:
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> 
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I use Lard from Columbus foods,  it is really white and not much smell at all if any.

I have some unscented soap that I made with Walmart lard, and unfortunatly, you can still smell the lard.  BUT, its a great soap for those who want just a plain lard soap.


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## chris21908 (Nov 5, 2009)

Bubbles Galore said:
			
		

> I never have problems with stinky lard soap and everyone else has said that the smell goes away, so don't worry. I'm surprised at such a fast trace. What temp did you soap at Chris?  :wink:



i soaped at 100 degrees. well the small is not strong but i just don't wanna smell like lard when i use the soap


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## jadiebugs1 (Nov 30, 2009)

jadiebugs1 said:
			
		

> alwaysme07 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Well, I wanted to update here, a few weeks down the road.  The Lard in the salt soap worked as far as a usable/sellable bar of soap.  However, I do not like it as much as the one with the shea butter.  I used a different FO than I usually use also, so that might be part of it too.  But I also noticed that my face broke out after a few days of using it.  (Could have been other factors there, but I didn't do anything purposefully different).  I still used it on the rest of my body, and it still felt good...but I'll have to stick to the shea butter in the bar from now on.  I think I might also do another test batch using the exact same recipe as the one with the shea, including the same FO...then note any differences.  

Has anyone else tried this??  (Using a bit of lard in a salt bar recipe)


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## Sunkawakan (Nov 30, 2009)

I used it in a sugar bar the other day.  I love it and won't give it up for anything! Lard/castor oil is one of my base recipies (I have 3 tried and true that I add things to as my imagination wanders.

Its my best seller and by far my favorite.  Havent used lotion since I started using making it.  I do use 1tsp/ppo in the lye water for hardness though not sure why as it does make a wonderfully hard soap.  Mom won't use anything but the unscented.  I haven't tried a salt bar with it, yet.  Its on the list after the Christmas rush is over, probably the week in between Christmas & New Years.


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## jadiebugs1 (Nov 30, 2009)

I can't wait till 'the christmas rush' is over either.  I'm almost sold out of CP soaps, but I can't make anymore that would be sellable this year anyway.  So I have to stick with the MP....and lots of it.  

Next year I'll be more prepared. :wink:   So January and February I'm gonna call my "soap making months" !  (then again in may & june and again in sept. and oct......lol)


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## Sunkawakan (Nov 30, 2009)

You COULD do crockpot   - but even thats pushing it for Christmas.  I like  even my crockpot soaps to cure for at least 4 weeks.  I figure if I get a special order between now and then I'll do it with the idea that it would be, more than likely, a week or two before it would actually get used.  If not, they're good even at unmolding stage.  And the latest date I'm willing to do a special order is the 10th with delivery on the 23rd.


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