80% Lard Soaps..OK, I Get it Now.

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I did used lard a while back using 70% lard, 15% CO, 15% Avocado oil and 5% castor, I put Vetiver EO. My friends like it but I don't like the smell of vetiver and lard combined. I felt sick but it's very creamy and nice in the skin.
 
Yes I did my sense of smell is very strong I love vetiver but with the smell of lard combine I can't stand it.
 
I'm going to have to revisit this type of recipe.
I was making a batch of shaving soap today to finish up my article (part 3 is the actual process) and I decided "while I'm at it" ... did lard/co/castor and my wife's favorite FO.

I used a red coloring that I originally bought for lip balm (to make it pink) and it sucked there. I figured it would emulsify better here. It did but it turned tan. I guess it was not lye safe.

My recipe notes say "Whee-Pig! Soap" because it was supposed to be pink. I guess it is the same color as a real pig anyway.:p

So, Lee, give it at least a month -- two if you have the patience. I think adding a tish more CO and a dash of castor as y'all are doing will make this type of soap perform even better sooner.
Will do. I'll make myself feel better about the wait by taking a shower with a nearly year old castille.

Let's get back to this village idea.
I know I did hijack the thread didn't I? :Kitten Love:

As long as the village has Internet, I'm there. I also make fireworks so I have the 4th of July celebration covered.
 
I was doing a test on indigo and patchouli, and just threw together a recipe using up my almond oil that was going to go bad. It ended up being 65% lard, 15% coconut and 20% almond oil - 5% superfat, sugar in the lye water. Its a freakishly good soap, people are asking for more, and lathers way beyond what I expected. So I guess my point is, lard goes with everything :D

First of all - thank you again for this recipe! It's so creamy - it's unbelievable! Do you find that people have told you it's too slippery? For some reason, that's the reaction I'm getting from my husband and son when they used it for the first time. They like it, but it's too slippery and like washing your hands with lotion. Um...that last part is the whole point but, whatever...men... :)

Is there anything you can do to reduce the slip a little?
 
First of all - thank you again for this recipe! It's so creamy - it's unbelievable! Do you find that people have told you it's too slippery? For some reason, that's the reaction I'm getting from my husband and son when they used it for the first time. They like it, but it's too slippery and like washing your hands with lotion. Um...that last part is the whole point but, whatever...men... :)

Is there anything you can do to reduce the slip a little?

Yeah, try some clay like French green or something. I noticed it makes the bars less slippery. Perhaps AC or oatmeal would do the same. I just made a batch and am waiting for it to harden properly, its a slow poke.
 
The extra slippery-ness was something that bothered me at first too but I got used to it. You could use a little extra fine pumice, its not gritty at all and should provide more grip. or tell them to man up
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I have some Rose Kaolin Clay coming today from WSP. Maybe I'll give it a try in there to see if it reduces the slip a little. I really love this soap! I may sub a little almond oil for some butter (have the hard butter sampler pack coming in today too from WSP). Gave a bar to my sister to test out so we'll see how she likes it.

How much clay ppo would you add? 1T or 1t.?

The extra slippery-ness was something that bothered me at first too but I got used to it. You could use a little extra fine pumice, its not gritty at all and should provide more grip. or tell them to man up
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LOL - I'd love to just tell them to man up :) My oldest son is pretty picky and high maintenance :) I would have thought this soap would have been right up his alley per say. I was going to put FO in my batch, but forgot. I smell NOTHING when I put it to my nose, but his super sniffer says it smells the oils. Think it's all in his head :)
 
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OK, just a quick lard question - is lard for soap the same as the stuff I buy at the grocery store to make pie crust? I haven't made lard soap, but now I'm tempted - unfortunately, I'm planning a soap day today, and the grocery store is my only local supply store!
 
I have some Rose Kaolin Clay coming today from WSP. Maybe I'll give it a try in there to see if it reduces the slip a little. I really love this soap! I may sub a little almond oil for some butter (have the hard butter sampler pack coming in today too from WSP). Gave a bar to my sister to test out so we'll see how she likes it.

How much clay ppo would you add? 1T or 1t.?



LOL - I'd love to just tell them to man up :) My oldest son is pretty picky and high maintenance :) I would have thought this soap would have been right up his alley per say. I was going to put FO in my batch, but forgot. I smell NOTHING when I put it to my nose, but his super sniffer says it smells the oils. Think it's all in his head :)
Most Rose Clay needs to be used lightly. Like red clay it will run color badly. I do not measure how much I use but I use just enough to get a light pinkish color.
 
I made this high-lard recipe:

75% Lard
20% CO
5% Castor

Used distilled water that I infused with sweetgrass to make a deep green "tea". 31% lye solution concentration, 2% superfat. Tetrasodium EDTA powder at 0.5% of the soap (fat + lye + water) weight. Sweetgrass FO from Nature's Garden. No sugar, milk, etc., although I suspect the sweetgrass contributed some sugars. Batter was probably in the 110-120 deg F. The recipe traced slowly -- plenty of time to do fancy work, had I been so inclined.

I added a tiny titch of green ultramarine to part of the batter in a lame attempt at doing an in-the-pot swirl. My coloring didn't work, as you can see from the pic of this soap -- I learned I didn't add nearly enough to change the color enough to matter. The green is basically all from the sweetgrass infusion. So far the color from the sweetgrass is holding, but I don't expect it to last. Dried sweetgrass bleaches out with time to a golden tan (see other pic), so I expect that's what will happen to the color of the soap too.

Very good lather after 4 weeks of cure -- nice blend of dense suds and fluffy bubbles. I'd give this recipe an "A+" grade for lather. I like the initial hardness of the soap as well -- the soap easy to unmold and cut.

The soap happily gelled without being insulated or CPOP'ed. At first, I covered the molded soap with a tea towel and set out on the counter while I cleaned up. I had planned to put it into my cold oven for feline and canine safety, but when I finished cleaning up, I noticed the top was cracking slightly, so I set the mold on a wire rack and put a fan on it to cool it down.

Like Susie said about her high-lard soap, I expect this will become one of my go-to recipes. Up to this point, my go-to base recipes had 50% to 60% lard and 13% to 17% coconut with castor and some mix of olive, HO safflower, and/or avocado making up the balance. I like the simplicity of the recipe, how nicely the batter behaved when soaping, and the lather and skin feel of the bar.

sweetDreams.jpg


sweet grass braids old and fresh img_6574.jpg
 
I have really hard water so I use 2% CA for every batch of soap. Since I always make 2# batches, I know to add 18 gm CA to my water and an extra 11 gm NaOH to my lye solution. I've been using a premade 50% lye solution, so I add the 11 gm to the water and dissolve it before I add the rest of the lye solution. That helps bring the temp back down.
 

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