Honestly... the first time I used lard in soap I was skeptical. But then after 6 weeks cure, and you use the soap for the first time you think to yourself "oh Mr. Piggy you make lovely soap - and bacon." and then you forget what's in it and just revel in the lovely soap that you just made.
@amd, loved your comment with "Mr. Piggy."
I LOVE my soaps that include lard!!!
".....I once did a 1:1 comparison between lard and palm in one of my recipes: everything else being equal, in one batch I used palm, and in the other batch I used lard instead of palm.....and lard version won hands down, no contest. The lard version was creamier, gentler, and the overall lather was just so much nicer. The best way I can describe it is that the lard version had more of a 3-dimensional lather while the palm version had more of a 1 or a 2-dimensional lather......"
I agree that the lather Lard creates is WONDERFUL; you did well in explaining it.
"Lard soap has had and still has a bad rep in some circles...."
Sadly, you are correct; they don't know what they're missing. I've happened across sites that (still) state that lard clogs pores but I don't remember any scientific evidence being offered to support their position. I've used lard (and only lard) on my face and hands and my face never broke out.
For others, it's because a lot of people of a certain age grew up with grandma's homemade soap and it was awfully harsh.
Yup, my sister in law warned me I shouldn't make soap because it's harsh and will harm my skin and then proceeded to tell me how soap was back in her day as a kid....my husband remembers how harsh it was as well. He, however, had already used soap I made and told me that the stuff from the store can't compare with the handmade soap. I tried to explain that they "back then" just didn't have the knowledge that we now have at our disposal (understanding and knowing the SAP values of various oils and lye that is consistent). Back then they made their own lye solution and had to check the strength with a chicken feather or floating an egg. Often the soap was made lye heavy because soap that didn't contain enough lye wouldn't make soap and the batch was ruined--they opted for stronger than a ruined batch. If I'm understanding it correctly from what has been told to me by older folk and from my own research.[/QUOTE]
Lard was my grandmother's fat of choice for soap making because lard was cheap and easily available as a byproduct of Grandpa raised hogs. The soap would have been harsh no matter what fats were used, due to the recipes and tools many home makers had to use to soap back in the day. But things have changed.
Absolutely right, it'd be harsh no matter what fat was used. In times past, and actually still in respect to African black soap, people used (and still use) what is available to them. Pioneers and our grandparents/great-grandparent used lard because it was readily available and it was a way to use all of the animal--waste not/want not. I respect those who are opposed to animal products being used in soap, cosmetics, etc but if an animal is going to be consumed, the least we can do (those who don't mind it in our soap) is not waste any part of the animal so using it in soap is a great way not to waste. I'm guessing there are other places, other than Africa, where villages make soap with what they have at hand.
Vegans look down on animal fats. Tree huggers look down on palm products. Naturalists look down on Micas and Fragrance Oils. Somebody the other day looked down on someone because they used Canola Oil in their soap...OMG, somebody call the soap police!
Soap has been made for thousands of years. If you weren't lucky enough to live in a place where Olive Trees grew you used what was at hand, and for a lot of folks...that was animal fats. I haven't used them myself, but I have been researching them since I saw that the local store carries rendered Pig and Duck Fats. I've also been saving bacon grease in the freezer. We have a lot of hunters and fishermen and I thought it would be interesting to offer a product made from those areas. And who wouldn't want a soap make from BACON?!?
It can sometimes be very difficult to let go of old biases, but if it help, the INCI name of Lard is Adeps Suillus.
My great-grandmother made soap on the farm. Big black cast iron cauldron...same one she used to wash clothes in...over an open fire. Rendered animal fats and homemade lye. Definitely not the most skin friendly soap, but it washed the body and cleaned clothes and pots and pans.
Today...we used food grade sodium hydroxide, our recipes are calculated and weighed with just the right amount of this and that, our ingredients, even those sold as organic/unrefined, have been processed.
Well put, each and every point! Your 1st paragraph sums it up quite well. Monkies are trained to pick coconuts so I'm sure some are apposed to coconut oil. There are issues with palm as well; people are even against the kind that's responsibly sourced. Options would be quite short if we allowed others to dictate what fats to use rather than using what we personally like to use.
I respect others who choose to stay away from animal fats but also like the same respect for what I choose. I actually tried my hand at making a lye solution from our wood ash from our wood heating stove. It was fun and I was shocked that I was able to float an egg to the right 'crowning' upon my first attempt. Even was able to make a really crude soap that washed a pan of mine--bubbled and everything. I am SOOOO glad that we have
soap calculators nowadays and that I can buy consistent lye; I would hate to have to make soap this way. It was actually a liquid type soap that was made and I used it right away. I only made a very small amount and had no idea how much lard to put into my lye solution. I had to keep going back and forth with .....more lard.....more lye and so on so forth. It was cool that it worked though.
".....But once these are transformed into soap, they become a salt of fatty acids......Did you know the fatty acid profile of lard is very similar to that of human skin? It’s possible to get organic animals fats too, from animals that were properly raised....."
@lenarenee I'm glad you mentioned that lard is very similar to that of human skin. I did extensive search into lard a couple of years ago (
because I love reading) and came across that. I found sites where it was stated that those who work with processing animals for food consumption found that their hands were so soft and supple. Also, sites where people used lard on their face and hands to combat very dry skin. I found info about old-time products that used lard and these were sold as 'treatment for' and 'cures for' severely dry skin.
Often things aren't liked for one reason or another and then that item ends up being held in a bad light to keep others from using it.
