I've finally made some soap

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

Jennifer, How much table salt do you use with a pound of lard?

 

[Rsapienza]

Jennifer, How much table salt do you use with a pound of lard?

Not Jennifer, but the rule of thumb is 1 tsp PPO (per pound of oil).

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

One last question about table salt. Do I add it to my LYE/H2O mix, to the melted lard or to the total soap mix while it is still around 120*? I know that the salt needs to be able to dissolve in a warm liquid. I will making my next batch not long after breakfast.

 

[TheGecko]

One last question about table salt. Do I add it to my LYE/H2O mix, to the melted lard or to the total soap mix while it is still around 120*? I know that the salt needs to be able to dissolve in a warm liquid. I will making my next batch not long after breakfast.

Easier to dissolve it in water than oil.

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

Is it ok to stir into the LYE/H2O mix after it has finished off gassing?

link to post with picture
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/picture-of-my-lard-soap.77519/

 

[Dawni]

Is it ok to stir into the LYE/H2O mix after it has finished off gassing?

You add the salt and dissolve it completely in whatever liquid you're using before you add your lye

I don't use sodium lactate anymore, but then again the "ease of unmolding" for me, which is usually why people use sodium lactate, is quite different since I HP mostly.

 

[Steve85569]

I know I'm a little late to the party but....

Since you are going make a lard soap you probably don't need to worry about ease of release or getting a hard bar.
I calculate your lye discount at about 1.5% so you should get a nice hard (44 of 29-54) bar with creamy lather (41 of 16-48) and a lasting bar (41higher lasts longer).


Welcome to the forum and the fun of being a soap maker!!

 

[Jennifer Horne]

One teaspoon ppo. Added to your water b4 you put in lye

 

[thetoe]

Doe's sodium lactate work better than table salt? Is it the same thing? I used it for the first time couple days ago and had good results!

 

[cmzaha]

@paragon. Thanks for your input. I'm not a Chemist nor am I ignorant. I'm inclined to stick with what I know and I don't really plan on moving over in to the "experimentation" phase. I do know enough about a few things, for instance, baking soda and vinegar have their own reaction.

Vinegar reacted to sodium acetate actually makes for a harder bar of soap in my opinion over either SL or Salt. It is not experimentation it is proven how to turn it into sodium acetate by vinegar x 0.0357 =sodium acetate. I works wonderfully at 50-100% usage. While Keeping it Simple is a wonderful concept it does not necessarily create an awesome soap.

 

[Quilter99755]

Before I knew that a hard bar of soap did not necessarily mean it lasted a long time, I did an experiment with Salt, Sodium Lactate and Beeswax and gave to my friends to test. The bars with the beeswax lasted the longest, but the ones with the Sodium Lactate seem to be preferred. Of the three, most of the people disliked the Salt bars complaining about a sticky feeling or something "not as nice". All came out of the molds about the same as far as my notes read, so as far as unmolding there was no winner. Of the three, Sodium Lactate was the easiest to "play" with since it didn't have to be melted or dissolved.

 

[KeepItSimpleSoap]

I'm a beginner at soap making so at this point I am not trying to make an "awesome" soap. It would be good for all beginners to make a batch of Lard soap. I'm still ignorant to all the various types and methods when it comes to soaping and then you add in the "artsy" aspect. Wow! I've seen some interesting soaps on here that involve multi colors, multiple ingredients and layering. It gives me an idea to make a cheesecake inspired layered soap.
With Lard I'm making a 12 bar batch for about 80 cents, 6.67 cents a bar. The Lard is free and I'm not including the cost of my time and effort, (I'm sure the electricity cost a little) just the cost of a 16 oz bottle of ROOTO 100% LYE at less than $ 4- a bottle.
Thanks again for everyone's input.