# bacon grease soap



## old78 (Jan 31, 2018)

I have maybe one hundred pounds of it setting in a freezer in the basement among my preps waiting for the big crash..  I listened to a couple people talking about bacon grease soap and thought that would be a good way to use some of the grease and get use out of it. anyone have good receipt for it? it is very clean and we never saved any flavored grease.thanks


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## amd (Jan 31, 2018)

I made some for my son last year. Off the top of my head, I think I did 30% bacon grease, 40% Olive Oil, 25% CO, and 5% castor. I did a negative superfat to make sure that no oils would go rancid (I cleaned the bacon grease, but was still really skeptical that it would remain stable in soap) and left it for a long cure. I also added molasses to the batch (I think it was a 24oz batch and I used 2 TBSP). It's probably one of the creamiest soaps I've made. The soap has a strong "pig" smell to it. I used it a few weeks ago when I had to use the boys' shower... I swear I smelled like a pork chop all day.


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## Primrose (Feb 1, 2018)

amd said:


> I made some for my son last year. Off the top of my head, I think I did 30% bacon grease, 40% Olive Oil, 25% CO, and 5% castor. I did a negative superfat to make sure that no oils would go rancid (I cleaned the bacon grease, but was still really skeptical that it would remain stable in soap) and left it for a long cure. I also added molasses to the batch (I think it was a 24oz batch and I used 2 TBSP). It's probably one of the creamiest soaps I've made. The soap has a strong "pig" smell to it. I used it a few weeks ago when I had to use the boys' shower... I swear I smelled like a pork chop all day.



Just curious, what is a negative superfat? Wouldn't that mean you had excess lye?


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## toxikon (Feb 1, 2018)

I LOVE the soap I made with leftover bacon grease. It's super bubbly, moreso than my usual lard recipes.

Here's the recipe I used:
44% bacon fat
25% coconut oil
26% olive oil
5% castor

3% superfat
35% lye concentration

I wet-rendered the bacon fat a couple times to get it nice and clean and white. With a fruity fragrance oil, it doesn't smell bacon-y at all.


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## lsg (Feb 1, 2018)

You can clean your grease by using this method:
https://sustainablescientist.net/2013/03/04/making-bacon-soap/


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## DeeAnna (Feb 1, 2018)

Primrose said:


> Just curious, what is a negative superfat? Wouldn't that mean you had excess lye?



Not necessarily, depending on what number Amd used. A negative superfat is not automatically going to make soap that takes your skin off. While I recommend a 1% to 3% positive superfat (fat excess) to reliably ensure safety, a soaper can use lower superfat numbers and make perfectly fine soap too, but it does take more care to ensure safety. Here's what I've learned over the years of being on SMF and making my own soap --

If you use an online soap calculator like soapee or soapcalc and use a small negative superfat (aka lye excess) down to about -3%, that will likely give you a neutral to very slightly superfatted soap.

From about -3% to -5% or so, you might get a slightly lye heavy soap, but the excess lye is likely to disappear during the cure period (4-8 weeks).

Soap is more likely to stay lye heavy even after a long cure if the superfat is lower than about -5%, but it depends a little on the soap recipe. Once the superfat reaches -10% to -15% or more, the soap will almost certainly stay permanently lye heavy.

I'm speaking in very general terms here, because the actual percentages will depend on the fats in a given recipe and how their actual saponification values compare to the average sap values used by the recipe calculator, on the actual purity of your NaOH compared to the 100% purity assumed by the recipe calcs, the amount of water used in the recipe in proportion to the NaOH, and on any additives that may consume NaOH. So keep in mind my numbers are approximate -- your mileage may definitely vary on this issue.


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## old78 (Feb 1, 2018)

_I just looked on U-Tube and they're making soap with just lye, water and left over bacon grease, nothing fancy._


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## SoapAddict415 (Feb 1, 2018)

@amd, I see that great minds think alike [emoji16]. The one time I made bacon grease soap it was also for my son. Now you all have me thinking about making it again!


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## shunt2011 (Feb 1, 2018)

old78 said:


> _I just looked on U-Tube and they're making soap with just lye, water and left over bacon grease, nothing fancy._



You can but it won't be a very good soap with just bacon grease.  You can certainly give it a try and see what you think and see how it performs (does it get DOS etc).  A well balanced recipe would give you a better soap.  It's all about how much experimenting you want to do.  Just be sure to keep good records.


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## amd (Feb 1, 2018)

Thanks for weighing in on negative SF, @DeeAnna ! I did it based on another thread in the forum where you had quite a lengthy discussion of why to do a negative SF, but I looked last night and couldn't find the specific thread. (I hope I will find it again once I get used to the new forum, because I reference that thread often.) I did also confirm with my notes and I had a -3% SF, and I cured it for 6 months (probably overkill, but it was my first time doing an intentional negative SF). I zap tested all of the bars before handing them over to my son and they were safe. My logic for using -3% wasn't very scientific, rather just the thought that I normally superfat at 3%, so doing that number as a negative should be safe. (I wouldn't apply that kind of unstable logic to something with a, say, 20% SF [grin])

The next time the son asks for a bacon soap, I will consider adding a fragrance to see if I notice the pig smell. He is just very picky about fragrances and usually wants everything "unsmelly".


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## DeeAnna (Feb 1, 2018)

Maybe you are thinking about this thread, Amd? https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zero-percent-superfat.62504/


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## amd (Feb 1, 2018)

DeeAnna said:


> Maybe you are thinking about this thread, Amd? https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/zero-percent-superfat.62504/



Nope, although this one does have some nice conversation points. The one I refer to had more information regarding the fatty acid profile breakdown during rancidity. My BFC (before forum change) watched threads list has finally populated into the new setup - last night they weren't showing up, so I thought I should give it some time before throwing myself on the forum-floor with a massive tantrum - and I can't find it there, although I do have 6 pages of watched threads and I am at work... so it's in there, I just need to find it!


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## old78 (Feb 2, 2018)

shunt2011 said:


> You can but it won't be a very good soap with just bacon grease.  You can certainly give it a try and see what you think and see how it performs (does it get DOS etc).  A well balanced recipe would give you a better soap.  It's all about how much experimenting you want to do.  Just be sure to keep good records.


I made a batch of the bacon grease soap and nothing I done was right.. the water that I added the lye to was hot-boiling, the bacon grease was very hot, I should have done some reading before I started but anyway, the mess went from boiling to something that looked like cottage cheese, so I took it out the back door and set it in a snow bank till it cooled, after I brought it back in the house, I set it on the burner again and beat it with a large whisk as it had separated and I just beat it till it was all together and white and creamy, also boiling.. I figured the stuff was ruined but I poured it in a box that I lined with plastic for a mold, I hadn't nothing invested but time anyway, everything I used was here for yrs. 
  the next morning I took it out of the mold, (still soft, ) cut it into bars and set them on a rack top of the fridge for another day, it did get a little harder. I just used one to wash my face and got a lot of lather ..l, it had an old soap smell like the soap we had in WW2, maybe like old Ivory that we used in the creek so it wouldn't get lost. even in the Army back in the 50s we had some old brown bars of soap to wash cloths, dishes and everything with smelled like this. My DIL said it smelled like pork but if I hadn't told her that I made it out of bacon grease, she wouldn't have known the difference. my wife didn't grab a bar and run for the shower but she didn't give it any bad reviews either, just funny looks
     I'm going to make another batch with the ingredients above and just add lilac smell and red dye to it.


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## toxikon (Feb 2, 2018)

old78 said:


> I made a batch of the bacon grease soap and nothing I done was right.. the water that I added the lye to was hot-boiling, the bacon grease was very hot, I should have done some reading before I started but anyway, the mess went from boiling to something that looked like cottage cheese, so I took it out the back door and set it in a snow bank till it cooled, after I brought it back in the house, I set it on the burner again and beat it with a large whisk as it had separated and I just beat it till it was all together and white and creamy, also boiling.. I figured the stuff was ruined but I poured it in a box that I lined with plastic for a mold, I hadn't nothing invested but time anyway, everything I used was here for yrs.
> the next morning I took it out of the mold, (still soft, ) cut it into bars and set them on a rack top of the fridge for another day, it did get a little harder. I just used one to wash my face and got a lot of lather ..l, it had an old soap smell like the soap we had in WW2, maybe like old Ivory that we used in the creek so it wouldn't get lost. even in the Army back in the 50s we had some old brown bars of soap to wash cloths, dishes and everything with smelled like this. My DIL said it smelled like pork but if I hadn't told her that I made it out of bacon grease, she wouldn't have known the difference. my wife didn't grab a bar and run for the shower but she didn't give it any bad reviews either, just funny looks
> I'm going to make another batch with the ingredients above and just add lilac smell and red dye to it.



Sounds like you could benefit from going over the basics of soapmaking! Have you watched the Soapmaking 101 videos on Youtube? Are you familiar with lye calculators to determine the amount of lye you need to use? You should also stick to soap-safe fragrances and colourants.


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## old78 (Feb 2, 2018)

lsg said:


> You can clean your grease by using this method:
> https://sustainablescientist.net/2013/03/04/making-bacon-soap/


I had strained the grease thru a coffee filter and cleaned it before freezing it


toxikon said:


> Sounds like you could benefit from going over the basics of soapmaking! Have you watched the Soapmaking 101 videos on Youtube? Are you familiar with lye calculators to determine the amount of lye you need to use? You should also stick to soap-safe fragrances and colourants.


in the past four days, probably 60 hours, I read and watched almost everything, I do use the soap lye calc. the lye part was what always scared me about soap making, I used to hang around with my mother and GM many yrs ago and they made their own lye,.


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## toxikon (Feb 2, 2018)

old78 said:


> I had strained the grease thru a coffee filter and cleaned it before freezing it
> 
> in the past four days, probably 60 hours, I read and watched almost everything, I do use the soap lye calc. the lye part was what always scared me about soap making, I used to hang around with my mother and GM many yrs ago and they made their own lye,.



That's great! There's so much to learn, isn't there?? Lye can definitely be scary at first. Just always remember to wear gloves and don't leave your lye solution somewhere where you could knock it with an elbow. When my lye solution is cooling I always push it to the back of my counter, against the wall, so there's a lower chance of accidently spilling it.


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## earlene (Feb 2, 2018)

Welcome to the forum, *old78*.  And thank you for your service to your country!  

So you say your DIL said it smelled like pork, but you believe she wouldn't have known the difference if you hadn't told her it was made with bacon grease.  That may be true, but also it could be that she has a sensitive nose.  Some people have noses able to smell lard in cured soap made with lard.  Some people I have read can smell olive oil in cured soap made with olive oil.  So it is possible she may, indeed be able to smell pork.

Either way, for the fragrances and colorants, make sure to choose ones that are stable in lye soap and not ones meant for melt & pour.  There is a difference, and it is disappointing to spend money on an additive only to have it disappear completely before the soap is even ready to use.   You could choose to simply use a few more natural colorants that you can find in the spice cabinet, just to see how they work.  Turmeric gives yellow to orange and it sticks pretty well in soap.  Some others are not good choices in soap, either because the color fades fairly quickly or they are too 'stimulating' on the skin.  So if you want to use a spice or herb, do a little research and/or ask here.  Many of us have hands-on practical experience using a variety of these kinds of organic materials in soap.  Even using tea or coffee in place of water in your soap will color the soap beige to brown, depending on how strong the infusion.

By Red Dye, I am not sure exactly what you mean, but if you mean dye meant for fabrics, no, not skin safe.  I advise against the use of any synthetic dye meant for fabrics.   You can use indigo powder, though, to get grey to blue shades in lye soap.  I have not heard or read about any organic substance that would produce a red that doesn't just turn to brown in lye soap, so maybe red is probably not going to happen unless you buy some micas or oxides that are lye stable.  But be advised that if you use too much red, the colorant may bleed and you may find yourself washing with pink bubbles.  Same happens with activated charcoal or black oxide.  You can make a very black soap that lathers grey.  Even coffee soap with too much coffee lathers brownish beige.


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## old78 (Feb 2, 2018)

By Red Dye, I am not sure exactly what you mean, but if you mean dye meant for fabrics, no, not skin safe.  I advise against the use of any synthetic dye meant for fabrics.   You can use indigo powder, though, to get grey to blue shades in lye soap.  I have not heard or read about any organic substance that would produce a red that doesn't just turn to brown in lye soap, so maybe red is probably not going to happen unless you buy some micas or oxides that are lye stable.  But be advised that if you use too much red, the colorant may bleed and you may find yourself washing with pink bubbles.  Same happens with activated charcoal or black oxide.  You can make a very black soap that lathers grey.  Even coffee soap with too much coffee lathers brownish beige.[/QUOTE]

how about food coloring?? thanks  the fragrance is the same I use for candles


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## earlene (Feb 2, 2018)

I have used food coloring, when I was new and wanted to see what it did.  Even though they are rated safe for consumption it's not really recommended as sometimes some of them stain the skin (remember coloring Easter eggs with food dye?) and they tend to bleed or blend or fade into to each other.  Some of them don't necessarily last in soap.  Apparently not all brands of food coloring are created equal.  And it probably also depends on the soaping recipe you are using.  When I made soap with it, it stuck the life of the soap, and had a really pretty pastel rainbow-ish effect in a soap that was really quite translucent.  So for that particular recipe and that particular brand it worked for me.  But as colorants go, I haven't used it since because micas are some much more vibrant.

Not all candle fragrances are going to be safe or work well in soap.  You should look at what the vendor says about if it can be used in CP soap.  If it can be used in CP, it can be used in HP.


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## earlene (Feb 2, 2018)

amd said:


> Nope, although this one does have some nice conversation points. The one I refer to had more information regarding the fatty acid profile breakdown during rancidity. My BFC (before forum change) watched threads list has finally populated into the new setup - last night they weren't showing up, so I thought I should give it some time before throwing myself on the forum-floor with a massive tantrum - and I can't find it there, although I do have 6 pages of watched threads and I am at work... so it's in there, I just need to find it!


Was it this post?  https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/testing-for-superfat.60369/#post-603202


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