Not happy with lard recipe, need help

[Luckyone80]

So here is the lard recipe I made last week and again just over the weekend. My problem with it is the soap still isn't hard after 24-36 hours. Is this normal? Is there anything I can fix with the recipe to make the soap harder faster? I added 1/2 tsp of salt and sugar to each recipe and while I normally see a difference when I do with other recipes, I haven't with this one.

The soap pics are of the soap I made over the weekend, I thought using a smaller mold would help the soap set up faster but it was still kind of soft after 24 hours, I had to pop the mold in the freezer for an hour in order to get the bars out in tact.

 

[Obsidian]

Try lowering your water a bit more and increase the salt to 1-2 tsp per pound oil. That recipe should be plenty hard.

 

[LBussy]

It's a fair amount of water compared to what I use. I make a similar one and it's still "soft" after 24 hours but cuttable. Given there's more water it does not surprise me. I say let it cure and as it dries out it should harden up. I use 33% lye concentration which is 28% of oils compared to 36% in your recipe. It will still make the same soap, just has more water to evaporate.

Like the work on the top, pretty swirls!

ETA: Never fails, someone always beats me to it!

 

[Luckyone80]

I always use 36% in my other recipes so apparently lard is a whole other "animal" and has to be treated as such, lol

So LBussy - you use 28% water, that seems so low but I will deff give it a try. Thanks!

 

[IrishLass]

I agree with Lee. That's a lot more water compared to what I use, too, unless I'm HPing or working with a very naughty FO, that is. Otherwise, like Lee, I like to use a 33% lye solution (i.e., 28% water as per the oils in your particular recipe). Don't be afraid to go that low on the water. That particular amount of discount is actually a very nice middle-of-road discount that works very well for 98% of my batches.

In general (for me, anyway), lard soaps are always a little on the softer side of things at first (even those that gel), but they harden up quite nicely during cure. Just give it time.

IrishLass

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with the others -- use less water. Like Lee, I usually use a 33% solution concentration and my soap is nice and firm in 24 hours. Don't let that scare you off ... if you only increase your lye concentration by a couple of percent, you should see a difference.

To give you some perspective, I used a 30% lye solution concentration (that's not quite "full water", but more water than usual) to make my last 2 batches, just to say I did it. I used otherwise tried-and-true recipes. Both were definitely softer than usual and took quite a bit longer to firm up enough to unmold. That's only a 3% change in concentration, so a little bit of change in the water makes a big difference in the soap. Based on this experience, I don't have any desire to soap with "full water" -- that's way too much water for me!

Also, I suspect your soap didn't gel in those small molds? Getting the soap warm enough to gel might help too.

 

[Susie]

I hate to be the dissenting vote here, but I never change the % of water from the 38% default on SoapCalc. I have never had trouble unmolding my soap. But I make loaves, not individual bars, so that might be the issue.

 

[Luckyone80]

I hate to be the dissenting vote here, but I never change the % of water from the 38% default on SoapCalc. I have never had trouble unmolding my soap. But I make loaves, not individual bars, so that might be the issue.

Susie - my first two tries with that recipe were loaf molds. The first one only 2 oz less than the other and it unmolded just fine, the larger at 26 oz was soft for days before I could cut it. I don't know if it was the FO and colorants I used in that larger batch or what. So then I tried the same recipe with the individual bar mold and same thing, they were too soft to unmold after 24 hours.

So I will make one more batch and this time discount my water to around 30% and see what that does. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Luckyone80]

Also, I suspect your soap didn't gel in those small molds? Getting the soap warm enough to gel might help too.

None of the 3 batches I've made with this recipe have gelled.

 

[JustBeachy]

I'm thinking you have about 45% too much lard in the recipe, but then again, I am an officer in the SAP foundation.

That said, they're good looking soaps, they may just need a bit more cure. I think you're on the right track with the water reduction, at least making a batch at 30 will give you an idea if that's the culprit.

 

[srblatt17]

I also use a 30% discount on regular CP soap and full amount for HP.

 

[Sonya-m]

I wonder why this is? It's exactly the same recipe I used last (and today so I will see) and it unmolded fine after 24 hours. That was in a loaf, today is in a slab (was attempting a peacock swirl but we won't talk about that )

 

[shunt2011]

It could also be the difference between gelling and not gelling. Ungelled soap may take longer to be firm enough to unmold. I'm another one who will quite often use full water and never have a problem unmolding and cutting between 18 & 24 hours. It is a bit softer but not problematic.

 

[cmzaha]

I hate to be the dissenting vote here, but I never change the % of water from the 38% default on SoapCalc. I have never had trouble unmolding my soap. But I make loaves, not individual bars, so that might be the issue.

I also use the default in a lot of my soaps and really have never found it to make a difference with my unmolding. I do use a 30-33% lye concentration when I know the recipe and fo's and I am using. I would up the lard and lower the olive oil to 20% and even add in palm if you have any and not opposed to using it.

 

[Susie]

OK, well, it was a thought. I don't use FOs or colorants, so I am no help there. Let me know how the water reduction goes, will you? I may put that on my list of experiments to do.

 

[lenarenee]

I agree with Lee. That's a lot more water compared to what I use, too, unless I'm HPing or working with a very naughty FO, that is. Otherwise, like Lee, I like to use a 33% lye solution (i.e., 28% water as per the oils in your particular recipe). Don't be afraid to go that low on the water. That particular amount of discount is actually a very nice middle-of-road discount that works very well for 98% of my batches.

In general (for me, anyway), lard soaps are always a little on the softer side of things at first (even those that gel), but they harden up quite nicely during cure. Just give it time.

IrishLass

This has been my experience as well, in fact I made 5 batches of lard soap (70%) and because it took 2 days to be hard enough to unmold from a silicone mold, I kept reducing the water - as far down as 30%....which helped a lot! One soap did a partial gel...and I unmolded at 12 hours.

 

[Dahila]

Is the full water giving more time to work with soap? I use full water and not problem to unmold in 24 hours, I always add SL maybe it is a reason.

 

[Luckyone80]

OK, well, it was a thought. I don't use FOs or colorants, so I am no help there. Let me know how the water reduction goes, will you? I may put that on my list of experiments to do.

I made another batch today and reduced the water to 28% from 36% and I added salt and sodium lactate. I will hopefully be able to cut it tomorrow, I will keep you posted.

 

[biarine]

Hi I am from Uk, I made a 100 percent lard soap with no problem I use 35 percent and hot process. It's very nice and moisturising. But our problem here in uk we can't find a good quality lard, our lard in here is smell piggy

 

[Susie]

The lard I buy has a slight piggy smell also. I just use a little EO to cover it up. It really does not take much.