Crossed the Lard Bridge

[makes_scents]

Didn't take me long to come over to the lard side. My 2nd batch was coconut milk lard soap which I was scared was going to seize up on me...came to a seriously quick trace, so I stopped and added my fragrance and hoped for the best...

Well this FO is said to accelerate trace and cause ricing....well in this recipe it reversed trace and didn't cause a single bit of ricing...BB Herbal Essence again (I gotta order more FO)

 

[commoncenz]

Welcome to the lard side. May the fats be with you. Lard is such a nice base oil/fat to work with and you will love the qualities it brings to your soap.

 

[Susie]

Welcome to the lard side. We have pies...made with lard crusts.

 

[not_ally]

It is kind of amazing that you used a milk *and* and a problematic FO on your second batch and it still worked out. It is the power of the LARD!!!

 

[makes_scents]

I am brave, I fear nothing. If it is going to mess up it is because I messed up. I take really detailed notes and learn from my mistakes. I have actually turned the curing process into a homeschool lesson for my kids. We test the ph of a bar each night before bed.

The ph of my first (non-lard) batch was above 10 (dark blue) and now it is roughly a 6.5 four days out and so far the ph of my Lard containing batch is roughly 8 and it has been in the mold since 3:30 pm.

Oh and I love pie Chess pie mmmmm

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

A digression, but your soap is 6.5? That shouldn't be possible so I think it is a mid-measure. Soap is alkaline, a salt (sodium olivate, for example) or it isn't soap

 

[coffeetime]

EG, I suspect the OP is using pH test strips on the surface of the bar. The slight bit of ash there is what he/she is likely picking up. Test strips are useless and so is pH measurement of soap (as I learned myself a few years ago).

 

[makes_scents]

I am testing the cut of soap, not the top. Either way it is a fun thing to show my kids. I have and intend to rely more on zap testing than ph strips to ascertain the lye levels in my soap.

The point I was making with the ph post was that the lard soap at less age is already lower than the non lard batch that was made 3 days before. As far as accuracy goes the only way to truly know the ph of something is to test it in a lab setting. The ph strips give at least a BASIC idea of where in the range you are. Both batches at the current moment test within the 7-10 range that soap should be at. I figure the 6.5 result was my misreading the color (legally blind).

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Aye, it's true that different recipes will have different pH levels

 

[IrishLass]

Both batches at the current moment test within the 7-10 range that soap should be at.

Makes_scents- I think you meant to say 8-10 instead of 7-10 (although the high-end range can cure out to 11.5 and still be safe). As the good Gent said, soap by definition is an alkaline salt of a fatty acid. If it's really and truly any lower than 8, then that takes it out of the alkaline realm and into the neutral zone where it will actually start separating and cease to be 'soap' anymore.


IrishLass