No lard or palm standard recipe?

[Maythorn]

HelloI like lard but there's a stigma against it for some reason, even with people who aren't vegetarian. Then I don't like palm either because of the environmental problems with it. Ecological kind is so expensive, too.

Here's what I do have on hand:

coconut oil
castor oil
shea butter, unrefined
olive oil

I only have 2 oz of cocoa butter and 1lb of pko so they won't go very far. Is it possible to make soap without lard or palm in a standard, go-to recipe?

Thanks so much. Missed you all and making soap. Lost my confidence or some darn thing!

 

[lsg]

Yes, it is possible. A blend of 30% coconut, 5% Castor oil, 8% cocoa butter and 57% olive will give you a pretty good bar of soap. You can substitute shea butter for the cocoa butter if you wish. You might dissolve 1 tsp. salt ppo in the water before adding lye. This will give you a little harder bar. I think lard is a wonderful addition to soap.

 

[Susie]

Do you think they would notice a bit of tallow in there? If not, I would use that in place of the lard/palm.

 

[Serenity]

Isg's recipe sounds good. You can play around with it a bit if you want to. Say, 20-25% coconut, 2-4% castor, 5-10% shea, remainder olive oil. Or keep it simple - 80% olive, 20% coconut - for a very creamy bar. Add the castor oil if you want it a bit more bubbly. Add some essential oil and you'll have a beautiful bar of soap.

Don't think too much about it, just take the plunge and get back into it. You'll be so glad you did! Good luck.

 

[Maythorn]

Thank you for the recipe and ideas about what to do with these ingredients! I never tried salt in soap except a failed salt bar. Sounds good!

I'm going to ease back into it with a unscented soap. I have scents that set up kinda fast and I think I'll wait til I'm back in the saddle for those.:wink:

 

[Candybee]

One year I sold only soaps made with lard. I had a basic recipe that used 25% lard in it and thats the one I made and sold for the entire year. After all that time I only had one customer comment about the lard. Just one. The truth is most people just want a well made soap so don't be afraid of using lard. If you are clever you can tote the benefits of a lard soap. Skin loves lard and it feels good on your skin. It makes a rich, creamy bar of soap. Its gentle, conditioning, and makes a lovely bar of soap.

If you are worried about your vegan customers make both vegan soaps and animal fat (lard, tallow, lanolin, etc.) soaps so you can offer both. I make both and point out the benefits of both and let my customers choose. I refuse to not make lard soaps just because someone may object to it. There are plenty of people out there who like them myself included.

If you want to make a soap without palm or lard then olive oil, coconut oil, shea butter, and castor oil combined will make a lovely soap. Play around with the soapcalc to work out the conditioning properties you are looking for. If I were going to make it I would probably start out with:
60% olive oil
25% coconut oil
10% shea butter
5 % castor

I like a high olive oil soap. This will make a nice gentle, creamy, conditioning bar. Or, you can lower the OO and up the shea and castor by 5% each. Either way let it cure for a minimum of 6-8 weeks. High olive oil soaps just get better the longer they cure.

 

[Maythorn]

I used to have lard listed as the first ingredient. It was more noticeable that way, of course. I like to add goats' milk, too, so I rarely do completely vegan. I like lard perfectly fine myself. Thanks for the input and recipe Candybee! Definitely agree about letting high-olive oil soaps cure longer.

 

[lsg]

I like to add raw silk fibers so can't claim to have all vegan soap. I do make a few recipes without silk, though. You can now buy cruelty free raw silk fibers.