Lard V no Lard

[Lee242]

Is there a benefit to using lard or not using lard in CP soap

 

[earlene]

To me the obvious benefit is you will have made a soap that is vegan/vegetarian friendly. (If you keep other animal fats out of the soap.)

 

[psfred]

There are several ways to look at this. The vegan/vegetarian point is quite valid -- raising animals for food is quite high in carbon emissions.

There are other things to consider though. Lard makes are very nice, hard, long lasting bar of soap. Also, lard is very similar to human fat, so it going to be the best superfat there is for skin conditioning (all jokes aside).

In terms of soaping, it also has a wide range of saponification rates -- cooler soaping results in longer "open time" for swirls, colors, and so forth which can be pretty handy if you want a complicated bar. If you want it cooked and done for a simple soap, higher temps will get it ready faster.

Pure lard makes a very white soap, too. Will discolor some FOs though, as I found out yesterday.

It is cheap, readily available, and easy to work with.

Personal choice as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Obsidian]

For me, nothing compares to lard. It makes a wonderful creamy soap that is nice to the skin.

I'll always used lard, it's by far my favorite soaping oil.

 

[MySoapyHeart]

After finding lard at a store in Sweden (as lard can`t be found anywhere I live) it is my favourite oil to use. It makes a lovely soap, mild and creamy, superb for those who suffers from dry skin and bring hardness to soap instead of coconut, for those who are very sensitive to coconut oil.

Also, every recipe you add some lard to, will benefit from it.

It is inexpensive, and also, to use the lard and not throw it away after the meat has been saved is just common sense, as something so valuable will not go to waste.

In conclusion: No matter how many vegetarians or vegans this world will produce, there will always be people who see the benefit of using lard, and feel the difference.

I have lard recipes and I have vegan recipes. I love them all, but for different reasons.

 

[Rune]

After finding lard at a store in Sweden (as lard can`t be found anywhere I live)

Haha, I definately understand your problem extremely well. I'm a Norwegian too, and yes, here is absolutely nothing to be found, apart from very cheap olive oil and rapeseed oil. It is better in Sweden, but not very much. I was looking for swedish coconut oil, thought it maybe would be cheaper than Delfiafett (expensive Norwegian coconut oil), but could not find any hard oils, only butter, like cow's butter, or what it is called. And the liquid oils are way cheaper here than in Sweden. I forgot to check if swedish lye could be cheaper.

But yes, here is nothing to be found nowhere. Only at online stores abroad. Which is almost impossible to buy from since we can not legally shop for more than eqivalent to $44 (350 NOK) INCLUDED shipping. Otherwise it will be expensive in customs and VAT. And what is $44 dollars when you need like everything? But luckily, some shops do like to cheat and send it in a private name and write "Happy birthday" or something on the parcel, and send the invoice by e-mail.

I have seen somthing like lard or lard-ish. But I can't find it anymore. It was called Smult. Now they have only Flott Matfett. But if I don't remember wrong, Smult was lard or tallow (I don't know the difference).

By the way, I think Flott Matfett is quite good. It contains shea fat, coconut fat and rapeseed oil. I think shea fat is the same as or almost the same as shea butter, just in a cheaper and industrial quality, maybe? Not that Flott Matfett is cheap, but anyway, since we have nothing else, and it is cheaper than Delfiafett. I think I will write to them and ask about the percentages of each fat (it's not said on the package), so that lye can be calculated. And I will let you know if I find out.

I tried to find stearic acid. Of course impossible. So I bought a candle instead It said 100% stearin on the package. So I just melted it and used it. I had to throw the soap away anyway, it was a disaster like no other! Not the candle, but everything else in the soap.

 

[Susie]

Lard makes excellent soap. You would have to try it to understand how different it is from a vegan/vegetarian soap.

However, to those who say that raising meat is ruining our eco system, that may be so, I am not arguing that. BUT, lard is a by-product of that meat industry. No one is raising pigs to get lard. We are, by purchasing lard, keeping it out of the land fills. And we are making some dandy soap with that by product.

 

[styarr]

Once you go lard you never go back lol, it's in my main recipe now and it's so creamy and moisturizing. I love it.

 

[earlene]

Once you go lard you never go back lol, it's in my main recipe now and it's so creamy and moisturizing. I love it.

Not true for everyone. I do not prefer lard. I use it for some soap for my family, but do not prefer it for myself. I am much happier with my non-animal fat recipes.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

I'm going back and forth on lard. I like how it behaves when soaping and I like it's contribution to a balanced recipe with hard oils around 50%. The problem is that I can't get a consistent source that I can be sure won't smell. I've tried Armour and Snowcap (?... the blue one) and it seems that a third to a half are gonna smell in the finished soap.

You might remember that I made all those scent trials this spring so I've made a lot of soap this year - more than 30 lbs since New Years. As trials, they're scented heavy, but some of them are just overwhelmed by porkiness. I'm using an Aqua d'Gio clone now that doesn't smell like anything in the shower but lard. (Luckily the intended scent lingers after the shower.)

And yes, of course I know not to overheat or mistreat the lard. Heck, I refrigerate ALL my oils all the time. I've checked "best by" dates to find the freshest available, too. I just can't seem to trust a particular tub isn't going to smell like wild boar.

OTOH, tallow and palm are consistent. They don't stink, and they make opaque, white bars without Ti. They have a bit less working time for swirls, but the end result is awfully nice.

For now, I'm limiting lard to about 25%.

 

[KristaY]

I tried using lard once. I bought it at my local grocery, exp date about 6 months away, and made several small test batches. Every one developed DOS and strong rancid smell at about 8 weeks. When they were 4 weeks old I began testing in the shower and I didn't like it. I definitely smelled the piggy-ness in the steam and it changed the scent of the FO/EO. I'm sure it was a bad batch of lard I bought but it really annoyed me. That's one reason I won't try it again. The other reason is I have many family members & friends that are vegetarian.

I'm not morally opposed to lard at all. I'm an unashamed carnivore and like the principle of lard being used since it's a byproduct of the pork industry. I wish I liked it in soap but I just don't.

In baking it's a whole different story. My favorite pie crusts and biscuits are made with leaf lard. Unfortunately I can't make them for family gatherings!

 

[SunRiseArts]

I like all oils. I like to try everything. I am somewhat a vegan, although not for any altruistic idea. I just cannot being myself to eat those things, but I enjoy milk, eggs, and many by products (specially ice cream!). Personally, I am not a big believer in the issues of carbon emissions as lately being claimed, but here are a couple of good article s/posts on why is a good idea to use lard, and how some vegan soaps that include palm could do more harm to the environment.

http://www.holisticblendssoap.com/s...environment-and-lard-soap-can-kill-yousort-of

http://www.lovinsoap.com/2012/06/were-going-palm-oil-free/

 

[SunRiseArts]

I tried using lard once. I bought it at my local grocery, exp date about 6 months away, and made several small test batches. Every one developed DOS and strong rancid smell at about 8 weeks. When they were 4 weeks old I began testing in the shower and I didn't like it. I definitely smelled the piggy-ness in the steam and it changed the scent of the FO/EO. I'm sure it was a bad batch of lard I bought but it really annoyed me. That's one reason I won't try it again. The other reason is I have many family members & friends that are vegetarian.

I'm not morally opposed to lard at all. I'm an unashamed carnivore and like the principle of lard being used since it's a byproduct of the pork industry. I wish I liked it in soap but I just don't.

In baking it's a whole different story. My favorite pie crusts and biscuits are made with leaf lard. Unfortunately I can't make them for family gatherings!

Maybe the brand you used?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Clearly, from all the comments, you will just have to give it a go and see for yourself. It is really worth getting enough for a couple of batches to see what you think of it - there are too many people on either side of the fence to decide just on other peoples' experience.

Personally, I love soaps with lard in. Heat it very gently and only as much as it needs to melt.

 

[Susie]

Depending on the batch size, I heat either in the microwave or a crock pot. Either way, I warm just enough to melt about 2/3 of the solid oils, then I stick blend the oils, then warm about 15-20 seconds, stick blend a bit more, repeat until it is just almost clear. Then I just wait, there is enough carry-over heat to finish melting the rest. The second it is clear, I start adding lye.

 

[reinbeau]

Lard makes wonderful soap. I have never, ever had an issue with DOS in lard, unless it was 100% lard I'd suspect another oil before I suspected lard. As for 'carbon footprint' and raising animals, they are raised, and exist (that we raise them in deplorable conditions is a whole 'nother rant), using the lard, which is a byproduct that gets tossed, is a good thing. I will say I use lard raised by good people who treat their hogs well. It's all in the sourcing.....

 

[Obsidian]

I've made 100% lard soap twice and it takes well over a year before the tiniest spot of DOS showed up. I use armour lard

 

[SparksnFlash]

Ah, the mental and ethical gymnastics I've gone through with that question.

Started out as wanting to do vegetarian. if not vegan soaps exclusively. However, not long into the processes, I learned about the rainforest issues with palm oil. UGH! So used only 'sustainable' palm oil thereafter.

One day I just wanted to make some soap (needed some post-parental visit de-stressing) but didn't have any palm. In the refrigerator was some lard that Mom had left. What the heck, it was already there, used it and it made a nice soap.

After that day I thought a lot about the lard v palm quandary. I still haven't found a solid meaning for 'sustainable', and the rainforest apparently continues to dwindle. Cows, pigs and other animals deserve life, but by the time I get the lard, it's a bit late for the animal, and as Susie wrote, they're not raising the pigs (or other animals) for the fat. Also, animals have been farting since animals have existed and will continue to do so oblivious to their impact on the environment.

There's a lot more my brain went through, and it actually held up my soap making for a time. (I tend to t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶ obsess.) It seems that soap making requires a bit of moral relativism either way.

Now I use lard (tallow) primarily, palm occasionally for vegetarian/vegan customers, and hope that my soap is helping and not hurting to the best of my ability. So, for me, it's to each his/her own going forward in the marvel that is saponification.

 

[penelopejane]

Lard is not cheap in Australia.
I don't like the additives they use to preserve it.
I have many issues with lard in soap and would not use it.

 

[Ivanstein]

Is it impossible in the Scandinavian countries and Australia to get pork fat from a butcher and render your own lard? It's how my grandma made soap back in the day