# Lard soap



## BoomerBandit (Jun 15, 2019)

Hey guys,

I was wondering what types of oils you use with Lard? Also what percent of Lard do you use if you do use it. I have never used animal fat in cp soap and was wanting to try. Any info would be great!

Thank you,


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## bohunk (Jun 15, 2019)

I HP and have used anywhere from 30-70% lard in my soap over the years.  Most people, from what I've seen over the years, tend to use 30-50% lard.  You can use it in conjunction with any other oils; the blend depends on what you're seeking in your soap.  I'm currently using lard in conjunction with olive, coconut and castor as my base oils.


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## Susie (Jun 15, 2019)

I use this recipe, I am not telling secrets, as I have posted it many times before.

Lard 65%
Coconut Oil 15%
Olive Oil 15%
Castor Oil 5%

Superfat- I used 5-8% before I moved where there is hard water.  Now I am loving the 2-3% range better.

Sugar- 1 Tablespoon PPO


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## bohunk (Jun 15, 2019)

Susie, that's very very close to my current formulation.  I'm using 60% lard, 20% Olive Oil, 10% coconut Oil and 10% Castor.


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## BoomerBandit (Jun 15, 2019)

Susie said:


> I use this recipe, I am not telling secrets, as I have posted it many times before.
> 
> Lard 65%
> Coconut Oil 15%
> ...



Have you had any luck with FO's or colorants?


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## shunt2011 (Jun 15, 2019)

I use 45% lard with avocado/rice bran/olive or sunflower, CO, Shea and castor.  I have no issues with micas or fragrances FO/EO.


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## cmzaha (Jun 15, 2019)

I use 45% tallow and 25% lard in my non vegan soaps. I am one of the few that has dos problems with lard if I go over 25%.


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## lsg (Jun 15, 2019)

I use coconut, Castor and rice bran oil with lard.


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## MGM (Jun 15, 2019)

I have made a number of batches with 100% lard...keeping meaning to post some pics/complaints/questions about it. Apparently, it's one of the (relatively) rare mono-oil possibilities.


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## Obsidian (Jun 15, 2019)

I use 50% lard along with safflower or sunflower, coconut and castor. 

No issues with FOs or color. Makes a nice hard, long lasting bar.

I have also made 100% lard. Nice, very gentle soap but it very lacking in lather. A better combo is 80% lard, 20% coconut.


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## Zany_in_CO (Jun 15, 2019)

You can sub lard for shea butter or palm oil in any recipe you already have (recalculate NaOH, of course). My favorite LS is 50/50 lard and PKO. Good lather. Feels wonderful on the skin, but probably not a good combo for hard bars.

TIP: Use oakmoss to neutralize the odor of lard in hard soap. Link:
*https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/oakmoss-to-offset-the-odor-of-lard-tallow.64271/*


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## Susie (Jun 16, 2019)

I have found that almost any EO/FO will cover the scent of lard.  Just be sure to use something that sticks.


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## TheDragonGirl (Jun 17, 2019)

I've used up to 100% in soap before! But usually when I want to do a lard specific soap I do 75%lard, 20% coconut oil and 5% castor oil.


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## DeeAnna (Jun 17, 2019)

Obsidian said:


> ...I have also made 100% lard. Nice, very gentle soap but it very lacking in lather. A better combo is 80% lard, 20% coconut.



That's been my experience as well -- an all-lard soap is mild and long lasting, but it doesn't necessarily lather all that well. Add 15% to 20% coconut and the result is really pretty nice, especially after a generous cure time. In my experience, a mostly-lard soap is decent after the usual 4-6 week cure time, but will improve a lot as the months go by. 

I normally use a little less lard for most of my batches, because I think a little less stearic and palmitic acid and a little more oleic acid helps the soap to build a nice lather quicker and more easily. My current recipe is similar to Susie's --

Avocado Oil 5.0%
Coconut Oil 15.0%
Sunflower high oleic 20.0%
Lard 60.0% 

The avocado is in there for fun and label appeal. If I didn't want to use it, I'd add the avocado's 5% to the sunflower. 

One could sub any high oleic oil for the sunflower -- olive, safflower, canola, etc. You'd want to use a high-oleic or mid-oleic version of these oils, not the conventional high-linoleic type.

Another tip to increase the solubility and lathering ability of an all-lard or high-lard soap is to use a "dual lye" mixture. I normally use 5% KOH and 95% NaOH, rather than all NaOH.


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## cmzaha (Jun 17, 2019)

I find the dual lye  at 95 % NaOH and 5% KOH work in my high tallow high palm soaps


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## Cosmo71 (Jul 23, 2020)

Susie said:


> I use this recipe, I am not telling secrets, as I have posted it many times before.
> 
> Lard 65%
> Coconut Oil 15%
> ...


Thank you for this! I have home rendered lard and want to make a mostly lard bar and have been hemming and hawing over a recipe. I will try this!  What was the general color of your bar? I am looking to get a white bar but natural color is more important to me than adding TD.


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## Ladka (Jul 23, 2020)

I've made 80 % lard and 20 % coconut oil to obtain lovely white bars with good lather and bubbling but a bit drying to my  skin. Next time I'm going to reduce CO to 15 or even 10 %.
Often I make CP soap with about 50 % lard (sometimes I have leaf lard which is even whiter) and sunflower, CO and castor oils.


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## CathyB (Jul 23, 2020)

My recipe is 55 lard, 20 coconut, 10 olive, and 5 each caster and canola.  Or 35 lard, 20 tallow, then the same liquid oils.


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## Angie Gail (Jul 24, 2020)

I use 30% Lard (the highest percentage of any oil/fat) and then other oils including coconut oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil. I also add in reconstituted goat milk after the hot process cook. I'm in Texas with very hard water and this soap has a lot of great lather and is gentle on the skin.


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## Hope Ann (Jul 24, 2020)

Angie Gail said:


> I use 30% Lard (the highest percentage of any oil/fat) and then other oils including coconut oil, avocado oil, sunflower oil, and olive oil. I also add in reconstituted goat milk after the hot process cook. I'm in Texas with very hard water and this soap has a lot of great lather and is gentle on the skin.



Could I ask if you have found 20% coconut oil too drying with that low of lard? I'm still playing with percentages trying to find that sweet spot for my hard water.

Hope


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## MarinaB (Jul 24, 2020)

Sorry for a stupid question... Is lard a beef fat? Today I stop by at my Amish friends house. I would like to try to make soap with animal fat.


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## Jersey Girl (Jul 24, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> Sorry for a stupid question... Is lard a beef fat? Today I stop by at my Amish friends house. I would like to try to make soap with animal fat.


Lard is pig fat.


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## Cosmo71 (Jul 24, 2020)

I made the lard soap with the recipe from Susie above.  I was going to leave it unscented but have been wanting to use some lemongrass EO and lavender FO I had on hand.  It turned out absolutely beautiful.  I have had anxiety on when to cut my soaps but this seemed very hard after 24 hours.  I soaped at about 85F, sprayed with 91% alcohol, covered with saran wrap, and wrapped in a towel for about 20 hours. I honestly kind of dumped the colors in the mold and it came out beautifully. Now to wait for the cure!


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## Susie (Jul 25, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> Sorry for a stupid question... Is lard a beef fat? Today I stop by at my Amish friends house. I would like to try to make soap with animal fat.



Beef tallow is beef fat.  Tallow also comes from many other mammals, so be sure of the source.


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## Cosmo71 (Jul 25, 2020)

Jersey Girl said:


> Lard is pig fat.


Marina, I used pig lard and it came out wonderfully.  I will be looking for beef tallow and I have sheep so I will be trying sheep tallow as well.  It will make me feel better to know I am using more of the animals who provide me with my necessities.


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## Jersey Girl (Jul 25, 2020)

Cosmo71 said:


> Marina, I used pig lard and it came out wonderfully.  I will be looking for beef tallow and I have sheep so I will be trying sheep tallow as well.  It will make me feel better to know I am using more of the animals who provide me with my necessities.


It’s my favorite ingredient as well. I use it almost all my soap. No other oil I’ve used compares although I’m excited to try tallow eventually.


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## Hope Ann (Jul 26, 2020)

Cosmo71 said:


> I have sheep so I will be trying sheep tallow as well.



I have heard rave reviews about sheep tallow.  I bet you love it.

Hope


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## Susie (Jul 26, 2020)

Cosmo71 said:


> I made the lard soap with the recipe from Susie above.  I was going to leave it unscented but have been wanting to use some lemongrass EO and lavender FO I had on hand.  It turned out absolutely beautiful.  I have had anxiety on when to cut my soaps but this seemed very hard after 24 hours.  I soaped at about 85F, sprayed with 91% alcohol, covered with saran wrap, and wrapped in a towel for about 20 hours. I honestly kind of dumped the colors in the mold and it came out beautifully. Now to wait for the cure! View attachment 48030



That is beautiful soap!  You might want to try soaping a little warmer, though.  Just so you don't get false trace from the lard.  Even 100F  would be a good temperature.  Just be sure that the oils are mostly clear before pouring the lye into it.


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## Cosmo71 (Jul 26, 2020)

Susie said:


> That is beautiful soap!  You might want to try soaping a little warmer, though.  Just so you don't get false trace from the lard.  Even 100F  would be a good temperature.  Just be sure that the oils are mostly clear before pouring the lye into it.


Thank you for the tip about soaping at a higher temp when using mostly lard. I am very new to making soap and there is so much conflicting information!  I am sure the conflicts all have to do with different ingredients and recipes and maybe just some preference.   I take good notes on all my soaps so why not try one at 100F and see what happens!


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## Angie Gail (Jul 26, 2020)

Hope Ann said:


> Could I ask if you have found 20% coconut oil too drying with that low of lard? I'm still playing with percentages trying to find that sweet spot for my hard water.
> 
> Hope


I actually use 22% coconut oil in my Lard recipe and it doesn't dry my skin and lathers really well.


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## MarinaB (Jul 27, 2020)

Thank you to everyone in this topic!  I got inspired.  The same day I got 20 lbs from an Amish farm on my way home. All weekend I am rendering fat.  Also, right now will order castor oil. 
I have a dream to make tallow based shaving bar.  How does it sound?  I will put 15% coconut oil, 15 % Olive oil, 10% castor oil and 60% tallow.  Does this proportion sound good?
Thank you again to everyone!

Also a question, can I do a cold process soap with tallow?


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## atiz (Jul 27, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> Also a question, can I do a cold process soap with tallow?


Yes, you can. It is a little more cleansing than lard, but makes a nice, hard, bubbly bar. Some people (myself included) like it together with lard and other oils.


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## DeeAnna (Jul 27, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> ...15% coconut oil, 15 % Olive oil, 10% castor oil and 60% tallow.  Does this proportion sound good?




Your recipe might make a good bath bar, but it's not so good for a shave soap. Usually the stearic plus palmitic (S + P) content in a shave soap is higher than what tallow alone will give you. I shoot for around 50% S + P content. 

Tallow alone is about 48% S + P per Soapcalc. Adding a combined 45% of coconut and olive and castor will drop the S + P content too low to make a cushiony, slick lather for shaving.

There are some good shave soap threads here -- check 'em out.


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## MarinaB (Jul 29, 2020)

I have used only BB lye calculator.  There is no beef tallow in their list of oils.
I will make CP soap--
14.4 oz  Beef tallow
2.4 oz Castor oil
3.6 oz Coconut oil
3.6 oz Olive oil

How much do I need water and lye for my soapmaking?  
Thank you!


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## SPowers (Jul 29, 2020)

My lard recipe is 60% lard, 20% CO, 15% palm oil & 5% castor oil.  Very nice to work with.  I made one bar with 75% lard and no palm as well.  Both behave nicely.


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## Angie Gail (Jul 29, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> I have used only BB lye calculator.  There is no beef tallow in their list of oils.
> I will make CP soap--
> 14.4 oz  Beef tallow
> 2.4 oz Castor oil
> ...


The BB calculator only show plant oils. I switched to using the one at WSP here: - Wholesale Supplies Plus

This one also includes animal fats and gives you a breakdown of the properties of your soap.


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## Cosmo71 (Jul 29, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> I have used only BB lye calculator.  There is no beef tallow in their list of oils.
> I will make CP soap--
> 14.4 oz  Beef tallow
> 2.4 oz Castor oil
> ...


Marina, I played with the numbers until I got your measurements. Looks like 9.1 water / 3.4 lye for a 38% water as portion of oil and 5% superfat.


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## Ladka (Jul 29, 2020)

SPowers said:


> My lard recipe is 60% lard, 20% CO, 15% palm oil & 5% castor oil.  Very nice to work with.  I made one bar with 75% lard and no palm as well.  Both behave nicely.


 Can you explain what "nice to work with" and "behave nicely" include please?


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## MarinaB (Jul 29, 2020)

Cosmo71 said:


> Marina, I played with the numbers until I got your measurements. Looks like 9.1 water / 3.4 lye for a 38% water as portion of oil and 5% superfat.


Cosmo71, Thank you very much   I will make a set of 3 bars for a man.  It would be 3 different aromas and tallow based soap bars.



Angie Gail said:


> The BB calculator only show plant oils. I switched to using the one at WSP here: - Wholesale Supplies Plus
> 
> This one also includes animal fats and gives you a breakdown of the properties of your soap.


Thank you very much!  I love love love that calculator!


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## SPowers (Jul 29, 2020)

Ladka said:


> Can you explain what "nice to work with" and "behave nicely" include please?



They are both slow to trace which is helpful when you are new in particular but it enables you to do design work without it getting too thick.  Be aware there are FO's that can cause acceleration.


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## MarinaB (Jul 29, 2020)

SPowers said:


> They are both slow to trace which is helpful when you are new in particular but it enables you to do design work without it getting too thick.  Be aware there are FO's that can cause acceleration.


There is Sea Moss FO at BB - that is the most acceleration I have ever gotten ( no time to mess around.


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## SPowers (Jul 29, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> There is Sea Moss FO at BB - that is the most acceleration I have ever gotten ( no time to mess around.



I haven't tried that one but one of the fragrances I used (it was a blend of a few so not sure of the culprit) really accelerated to the point I had to glop it in the mold.  Very rustic looking the the peaks are dangerous!


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## MarinaB (Jul 30, 2020)

I would like to say THANK YOU to a topic starter and all who contributed some input into this subject.  Today I made my first CP beef tallow based soap!  I just got inspired! Such creamy feeling from that soap.
I put lavender&cedar  FO from BB. 
Do you have idea when I should cut it?  When I made 100% coconut oil based soap, I usually cut it in 5-6 hours after I made it.


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## DeeAnna (Jul 30, 2020)

You want to cut soap when it's at the right texture, not by time. If you make the same (or similar) recipe a lot, you'll get a feel for the amount of time it takes to get to the right texture. But when doing a first-time recipe, what works for your other recipes might not work for this one.

I want to cut my soap when it feels firm but still yields slightly to gentle pressure without denting. It will feel like refrigerator-cold mild cheddar cheese or colby cheese. If you have some of this cheese in the refrigerator, you can calibrate your fingers by pressing on the cheese.  

I do not want the soap to feel like aged cheddar or Parmesan (too hard, too brittle) and I don't want it to feel like cold cream cheese either (too soft).

A soap high in tallow can become brittle and hard to cut early on -- a lot like a soap high in coconut oil -- so start testing early so you can cut it before it's rock hard. It's been awhile since I made a soap like this, but I'd start checking about 6 hours and see if it's ready. It might be or it might not depending on the other fats in the recipe.

A soap high in lard generally isn't a brittle soap in my experience and is able to be cut over a longer time compared with high tallow and high coconut soaps. My high-lard soaps are often ready to cut at 12-24 hours, but are still pliable enough so they can be cut for several days after they have been made. I sometimes split a normal sized bath bar into half to make samples, and I often make samples like this some days after the original bars have been cut.


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## MarinaB (Jul 30, 2020)

DeeAnna, thank you for your really professional input!  I could feel, you are a very experienced soapmaker!  I am very appreciated your time you put here to explain to me some things.  
PS:  DeeAnna, I gave up an idea to make a shaving cream bar after your post. Maybe later.
Right now I go to check my soap!

What a surprise! I still can't cut my tallow based soap. Not ready to be cut after 13 hours.


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## DeeAnna (Jul 31, 2020)

If the soap doesn't get warm enough to gel, it can stay soft. I've had coconut oil soap that gelled and was hard as a rock after a few hours and other batches of coconut oil soap that didn't gel and stayed like putty for a day or so. It's all situational, and that is why cutting based on time isn't always going to be reliable.


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## MarinaB (Jul 31, 2020)

DeeAnna, Oh... I only made mono oil soap before. I used only coconut oil.  Why my tallow based soap goes into a gel phase in 6 hours after it was put into a mold? WHY?  Is it fine? 
What temperature should be for oils and lye solution? 
DeeAnna, I have made thousands coconut oil bars, but never my soap was in a mold longer then 6.5 hours.


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## Arimara (Jul 31, 2020)

MarinaB said:


> I have used only BB lye calculator.  There is no beef tallow in their list of oils.
> I will make CP soap--
> 14.4 oz  Beef tallow
> 2.4 oz Castor oil
> ...





Cosmo71 said:


> Marina, I played with the numbers until I got your measurements. Looks like 9.1 water / 3.4 lye for a 38% water as portion of oil and 5% superfat.


 I'm going to strongly suggest you at least use the water to lye ratio setting for this recipe (2:1 water to lye is a great start for this recipe).  As it is, there is a lot of water in it and with the amount of hard oils in it, you may verywell run into otherwise preventable issues with it. @MarinaB I also suggest using the forum's soap calculator or going to soapcalc.net. Both are great soap calculators to start and not as limited as brambleberry's. I have not used WSP's calculator but since it was suggested, give that a whirl too.


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## MarinaB (Jul 31, 2020)

Arimara, thank you for your input! I put 9 oz of water and 3.3 lye. So... Tonight I will mix 3.3 oz of lye and 6.6 oz of water. Thank you!


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## MommaSoaper (Oct 18, 2021)

MGM said:


> I have made a number of batches with 100% lard...keeping meaning to post some pics/complaints/questions about it. Apparently, it's one of the (relatively) rare mono-oil possibilities.


Do your soaps with 100% lard lather well? I made mine with 90% lard, 10% almond oil and it doesn't lather. Bit of creamy lather bit no bubbles. Is this bad, or expected of lard soap? Thank you!


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## AliOop (Oct 19, 2021)

MommaSoaper said:


> Do your soaps with 100% lard lather well? I made mine with 90% lard, 10% almond oil and it doesn't lather. Bit of creamy lather bit no bubbles. Is this bad, or expected of lard soap? Thank you!


I generally only make 100% lard soaps for folks who have very sensitive skin, or who want a first soap to use when their babies are old enough that their skin can tolerate soap. These soaps will generally have a lotion-like lather, more like a cream than bubbles.

You can up the lathering abilities by adding some form of sugar, such as sorbitol, or aloe vera juice or beer as your liquid. The bars also need a long cure - 12 weeks is ideal for them not to feel slimy with very low lather.

For my own use, I like 75% to 80% lard, with the rest being coconut and castor oil. Those oils, along with sorbitol at 1%, make a wonderfully gentle bar that lathers pretty well after an 8-week cure, although I still prefer 10 to 12 weeks. Given how much soap I have around my house, a long cure time is never a big deal for me anyway.


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## Zany_in_CO (Oct 19, 2021)

MommaSoaper said:


> Do your soaps with 100% lard lather well? I made mine with 90% lard, 10% almond oil and it doesn't lather. Bit of creamy lather bit no bubbles. Is this bad, or expected of lard soap? Thank you!


You have no "lathering oils", i.e., coconut, PKO, castor, in your formula. Take a look at the *Basic Trinity of Oils* formula to gain an understanding of the 3 legs of designing a winning soap recipe and go from there.


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