# Lard Substitute?



## catbinch (Feb 7, 2018)

Hello, I've been making soap pretty infrequently, and all of my bars have a LOT of lard in them (at least 45%). I personally love lard as its the most moisturizing oil i can easily access, but my issue is that lard doesnt keep very long (a little less than a year) and a lot of people where i live are really apprehensive of lard because "oh its greasy/not vegan." I was thinking lanolin but I dont know if I would have the same issues with lard or no. Thank you so much for reading my lard ramblings, lol


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## amd (Feb 7, 2018)

Lanolin is from sheep, so you won't be appeasing the vegans. I have never soaped with it, but I imagine because lanolin is a wax (? I think I read that somewhere) you won't be able to use it as a 1:1 substitute for lard. Are you able to keep the lard in the freezer? It will give you a better shelf life.

ETA: someone please correct me if I'm wrong about it being a wax.


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## shunt2011 (Feb 7, 2018)

The only replacements for Lard would be Palm or a mix of butters (Shea/Cocoa/Mango).  Lard and Palm are pretty much interchangeable, but still needs to be run through a soap calculator.  Using butters will require testing on amounts etc.....


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## catbinch (Feb 7, 2018)

...Ive actually never thought of putting lard in the freezer, lol. great idea! Pretty sure lanolin is a wax though!

Is palm oil terribly expensive? I might get a gallon off amazon and try it.

Would lanolin/palm oil work well with coconut oil?


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## shunt2011 (Feb 7, 2018)

catbinch said:


> ...Ive actually never thought of putting lard in the freezer, lol. great idea! Pretty sure lanolin is a wax though!
> 
> Is palm oil terribly expensive? I might get a gallon off amazon and try it.
> 
> Would lanolin/palm oil work well with coconut oil?



I've never used lanolin in my soap.  So, can't speak to that.  Palm and CO work well together along with some other liquid oil (Avocado, OO, HO Sunflower, HO Safflower) and some castor.  You can make a nice soap with those.


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## amd (Feb 7, 2018)

I use a lot of caution when using waxes in soaps - jojoba and beeswax are the only two I have used in very small percentages (less than 5%). Waxes have a lot-if-not-mostly unsaponifiables so they won't react with the lye. Adding in small amounts will help bar hardness, but you have to make sure it is well incorporated. Easier for jojoba, not so easy with beeswax. I usually end up with speckles of wax throughout my soaps. Lanolin is more balm-like, if I remember, so it may be easier to melt and incorporate with other oils. I have a container of it but have not used it or played with it. Again, I would keep it to very small percentages because of the unsaponifiables.


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## earlene (Feb 7, 2018)

catbinch said:


> Hello, I've been making soap pretty infrequently, and all of my bars have a LOT of lard in them (at least 45%). I personally love lard as its the most moisturizing oil i can easily access, but my issue is that lard doesnt keep very long (a little less than a year) and a lot of people where i live are really apprehensive of lard because "oh its greasy/not vegan." I was thinking lanolin but I dont know if I would have the same issues with lard or no. Thank you so much for reading my lard ramblings, lol




*IrishLass* put together a blend of oils that simulate (or should I say emulate?) lard it the fatty acid profile.  It's not a soap recipe on it's own, but a blend of non-animal fat oils to be a vegan replacement for lard within a given recipe.  Here is a link to her post about that.  Just to re-iterate, it is a blend of oils to be used to replace the same amount of lard in an existing recipe for which you want to replace the lard.


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## IrishLass (Feb 7, 2018)

Here's my lard facsimile formula that Earlene is talking about:

Palm oil 55% / Shea butter 30% / Olive Oil 15%


IrishLass


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## DeeAnna (Feb 7, 2018)

I definitely would not use lanolin as a substitute for lard. It's more of a special purpose ingredient than a main soaping fat. I'd suggest using lanolin at no more than 5% or so in soap. Be aware it does not saponify well and higher amounts can make the soap softer and leave the skin with a waxy or greasy feel after use. 

I'd use Irish Lass' "faux lard" blend instead as a sub for lard.


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## catbinch (Feb 7, 2018)

Thank you all so much for the advice! I will definitely try the faux lard recipe, thanks!


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## Saffron (Feb 7, 2018)

Hi,
Something to bear in mind regarding using lanolin in soaps/ balms/ body butters - it is known to cause allergic reactions in some people. I personally stay away from it for that reason.


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## lsg (Feb 8, 2018)

Too much lanolin can also make a sticky bar of soap.


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## dixiedragon (Feb 8, 2018)

I would also recommend trying palm or tallow. Look for a brand of shortening called Spectrum - Wal-Mart carries it in my area. It is palm oil. For tallow, check out Great Value (Wal-Mart store brand) Shortening - not the all veg one. It is mostly tallow.


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## toxikon (Feb 8, 2018)

dixiedragon said:


> I would also recommend trying palm or tallow. Look for a brand of shortening called Spectrum - Wal-Mart carries it in my area. It is palm oil. For tallow, check out Great Value (Wal-Mart store brand) Shortening - not the all veg one. It is mostly tallow.


Is this the one, Dixie? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spectrum-Organic-Shortening-24-Oz/26380937

I was thinking about grabbing some palm for veggie recipes and if I can get it local that's great.


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## dixiedragon (Feb 8, 2018)

Yup that's it!


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## earlene (Feb 8, 2018)

Absolutely true about lanolin, *DeeAnna*.  I do use it in a couple of recipes, and find 5% to be perfect.  But too many waxes do create a bendy, pliable strange feeling bar as well a an odd drag on the skin when washing.

*Catbinch*, for a vegan soap, soy wax is also good, but everyone keeps saying the price will go up soon.  Soy wax can be used in larger amounts, and doesn't cause that drag or the soft bendy bars.  My 30% soy wax soap with 3% castor is nice and hard.  It's less than 2 months old at the moment and not as luxurious as I prefer a soap to be, so too early to determine if I like this particular recipe, but soy wax does give firm hard soap.

The spectrum brand of palm shortening is also sold in Target.  I assume there are Target stores in the Denver area.


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## wardbond (Feb 8, 2018)

amd said:


> Lanolin is from sheep, so you won't be appeasing the vegans. I have never soaped with it, but I imagine because lanolin is a wax (? I think I read that somewhere) you won't be able to use it as a 1:1 substitute for lard. Are you able to keep the lard in the freezer? It will give you a better shelf life.
> 
> ETA: someone please correct me if I'm wrong about it being a wax.


Soapmakers companion says use no more than a teaspoon of lanolin per one pound of oil... In the chemistry sectiin it mentions lanolin is not a triglyceride so will never fully saponify... 

https://books.google.ca/books?id=sX...nepage&q=soapmakers companion lanolin&f=false


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## Zany_in_CO (Feb 9, 2018)

TIP: I once ran out of shea butter as I was in the middle of putting a recipe together. I went to soap calc. I calculated 100% shea buter and the numbers showed up in the right column. Then I went through the list of oils/fats/butters ticking them one at a time (just the ones I had on hand). Those numbers showed up in the column to the left of the shea butter numbers. Easy to compare side-by-side. Lo and behold, lard numbers were almost identical to shea butter. I've been subbing lard for shea and vice versa ever since.


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## earlene (Feb 9, 2018)

Zany_in_CO said:


> TIP: I once ran out of shea butter as I was in the middle of putting a recipe together. I went to soap calc. I calculated 100% shea buter and the numbers showed up in the right column. Then I went through the list of oils/fats/butters ticking them one at a time (just the ones I had on hand). Those numbers showed up in the column to the left of the shea butter numbers. Easy to compare side-by-side. Lo and behold, lard numbers were almost identical to shea butter. I've been subbing lard for shea and vice versa ever since.



Well that is interesting.  I have never used shea in really large percentages like some people use lard in large percentages.  Have you?  And if so, how did the soap perform compared to lard soaps?  Not that I am a fan of lard soaps, but I am just curious.


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## dixiedragon (Feb 9, 2018)

Earlene, I made a recipe that was 50% shea butter. It has a 2% superfat (to compensate for all of the unsaponifiables). I think it took longer to cure than a lard soap, but it was nice and hard and I liked it.

Castor 5
Coconut 20
Shea butter 50
Sunflower 25
2% superfat.


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## earlene (Feb 9, 2018)

Thank you, *dixiedragon*, I may try that one day soon.  I have a lot of shea and at only 5% it would take a long time to use it up.  So this might be a good time to see what a high shea soap is like.

Edit: added:

I ran out of Castor Oil and Sunflower as well.  I used up a lot of odds and ends of soaping oils in December, and those where two I used up.  But I have Safflower HO, so I will use it for this trial and forego the Castor as I don't want to venture out in our snowstorm (I thought it was going to be Spring soon!).  I'll add sugar to help with bubbles.  

Time to put in another order with Soaper's Choice.


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## Zany_in_CO (Feb 10, 2018)

earlene said:


> I have never used shea in really large percentages like some people use lard in large percentages.  Have you?


Not yet... it's on my "Round Tuit" list!


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## catbinch (Feb 16, 2018)

Just an update:

I tried HP soap for the first time with (unfortunately besides the point of this thread) 40% lard, 20% shea, 20% cocoa, and 20% coconut with oolong tea (which turns red when added with lye?) at 5% superfat. It turned out magnificent, probably my favorite soap I've ever made, honestly. If someone requests a bar of vegan of this recipie, im gonna try palm. I might sub shea for mango butter, not too sure yet. Thank you all very very very much for the suggestions, they are very much appreciated!!!


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## cmzaha (Feb 16, 2018)

I have used shea up to 80% with 12% CO, 8% castor.  From my notes it took 2 years curing to be really nice.


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## Saponificarian (Feb 17, 2018)

Earlene, I don’t soap without Shea Butter anymore because I love what it brings to soap. (Plus it’s local to me) Contrary to what people say that Shea cuts lather, I haven’t experienced that. My Shea in recipes ranges between 20-70%.

I have a mild soap I make that is Shea, Tallow, Canola or Soybean and Castor that is so mild but the lather is very very nice. No large bubbles but the lather is shiny and with bath pouf almost like whipped cream. Thick and heavy. Of course I cure my soaps for a minimum of 3 months and if I want to be fancy, I add 1 egg yolk per pound. 

I am currently using a Shea/Tallow recipe with PKO and Soybean oil that is out of this world great! It is 6months now and I made 2 batches of it yesterday so I never run out! It is that great!  Can you tell I love Shea?! 

If Lard is similar to Shea, I can understand why people love it. Can’t use Lard though.


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