Lard in shampoo bar?

[Obsidian]

I need to make more shampoo bars and am going to replace the shea with lard. The numbers are nearly the same so I'm pretty sure it will be fine. I'm kinda hoping by removing the shea, the soap won't be so draggy.

Has anyone else used lard? What did you think about it?

 

[Consuela]

My first shampoo bars used lard... and shea butter...

And it's impossible for me to know if the lard was oily - or if the olive oil was oily - because I changed up my recipe lots before settling on my current one...

My recipe only uses about 5% shea butter - at that amount I don't find the bar draggy, nor do I find my hair oily... (Well except for right now because of these prego hormones....). But it was originally at like.... 20%. It was A LOT. And I didn't like the bar at all.. I found my hair disgustingly oily - and while hubby liked it - I despised it. (My hair is long too).

How much percent are you thinking of using?

ETA: I think if you only use a small percentage - then it really should be fine

 

[Susie]

Right after Thanksgiving, I am planning to make a shampoo bar with lard at about the 35-40% range. I have not decided yet. But I have never made one with that much shea, so I won't be able to compare it correctly.

 

[girlishcharm2004]

I make my shampoo bar with tallow, but I suppose that doesn't help you out since it's not lard -- no shea, though.

 

[CaraBou]

I don't see why lard would be trouble, though shea does seem like a good thing for hair. I've used shea in several batches of regular CP bars (non poo) up to 20% without feeling dragging, if that helps at all. I still have some of them and will try to confirm this recollection this weekend. Looking back on my notes, it appears that all of my draggy soaps have had castor over 15 or 20%. I've also read that when you have a high proportion of soft oils, it takes less castor to create the drag, but I don't know what the numbers are. I usually soap with at least 50% hard oils (i.e., not liquid at room temp) so I can't really confirm this.

 

[Obsidian]

My recipe only has 10% shea and 10% castor. I know shea is good for hair but I have suck a low SF(3%) that I really don't see it doing anything that great in a bar. I'm also not crazy about it in bar soap.
Guess the only way to really know about the lard is to just try and it and see. I can always use it on the dogs if I don't like it.

 

[Consuela]

I also add castor about 7 percent? And I sf my soaps and shampoos differently. I have also used 20 percent castor and I recall that recipe was draggy.

 

[Obsidian]

My new shampoo bars are in the mold, hopefully they will compare to the ones I have now that I like so much. I've used castor at 20% in a body bar and it wasn't draggy, its the butters that give me the most trouble with drag. I only SF my shampoo at 3% but my regular soap is usually at 8-10%

 

[AnnaO]

I used lard at 10% in the shampoo bars I have made for hubs and me, using Genny's original shampoo bar recipe; I subbed the shea butter out for lard as hubs has a sensitivity to it.
To date I've not made a shea version - our stockpile will keep us going for a good while yet - perhaps even years :shock: - so I cannot comment upon how they compare.
But I can say that we haven't considered our lard version to be 'draggy' - rather it soaps up very slick indeed and lathers copiously and quickly. (SF is 6% - plus I subbed out the original soybean oil for sunflower, due to its not being easily available to me).

I made some GM soap just under a year ago which was 60% lard and no castor - even though it has turned out after a good long cure to be a great bar, its lather is slower and dense and takes a while and some work to get going - to us that bar is 'draggy'... I mention this in case our definitions of the word 'draggy' differ

 

[Obsidian]

I also use genny's recipe but this time besides replace the shea, I also replaced the soybean with coconut as I wanted something a bit more cleansing. I love lard in my soap and find those with a high% are slicker and milder but you are right, it doesn't have a huge amount of lather. One of my favorite bars is 75% lard, 20% coconut and 5% castor.
Draggy to me mean the bars doesn't slide across the skin/hair effortlessly. I like a really slick bar.

 

[jules92207]

I have been meaning to do the same thing by changing up the Shea in Gennys bar with lard and adding some coconut too. I am anxious to hear how you like it cause that "drag" I find annoying too.

 

[Obsidian]

I think the lard will be a very nice addition. I just did a test hand washing with the bars I made this morning and they are nice and slick, hopefully it will carry over onto my hair. I'll probably do a test hair washing in a couple weeks, I did a steep water discount and the bars are already quite hard. Replacing the soy with coconut probably helped with hardness too, really anxious to try these.

 

[Susie]

Please let us know? I found one shampoo bar hiding in the orange soap, so I can wait a bit longer before making more, and I surely would like to make some lard shampoo bars! (My name is Susie and I have a lard addiction.)

 

[jules92207]

Ok, you convinced me. I think I will try a small batch and see how it turns out.

 

[AnnaO]

Please let us know? I found one shampoo bar hiding in the orange soap, so I can wait a bit longer before making more, and I surely would like to make some lard shampoo bars! (My name is Susie and I have a lard addiction.)

Ooh Susie... take it from me... lard shampoo bars are indeed fab :razz:
I save my shea butter for my body butter and lotion bars (eta - because of hubs' shea sensitivity)

 

[Obsidian]

I am so impatient, I used one of my new bars tonight. The bars are definitely more glidey across the hair and the additional coconut made my hair feel cleaner. I'll report back on how it feels once its dried.

 

[Dahila]

I use shampoo bar per Obsidian (How is the small one doing ? ) and next time I will add lard instead of shea butter. Probably not in a year or so. )