Once you go Lard - you never go back

[The_Phoenix]

Am I the only one who has a hard time with lard? It always seems to make my soap really soft and I get extreme soda ash. I guess I have to try it again but that’s been my experience. I have a vegetarian family so I get flack for using animal products. What am I missing? I don’t do plain soap, I like a lot of design and additives.

Oh my gosh, we're neighbors, @Virgogoddess ! I live in RSM.

What % are you using lard?

 

[Angie Gail]

My standard recipe uses 30% lard (the highest percentage of my 5 oils/fats) and it is really nice. I also include goat's milk and recently also added colloidal oatmeal and it makes very smooth, creamy soap. I get mine at Wal-Mart too in the big bucket.

 

[Hope Ann]

I use 55% lard in my normal recipe and I get lots of ash every time. The soap is soft coming out of the mold but hardens up nicely during cure.

I use about that and also get ash. I also add some butter so mine unmold fast.

Hope

 

[Virgogoddess]

Oh my gosh, we're neighbors, @Virgogoddess ! I live in RSM.

What % are you using lard?

I’m right next to Trabuco high so seriously down the street! I’ve done 20-30%. Maybe lard is just not for me?

 

[jcandleattic]

I would love to be able to us lard, it is so easy to work with, and makes a nice soap for most, but I break out when using it. It's not an allergy persay, but do have a tendency to get adult acne when I use it. I don't even cook with it)

 

[earlene]

I dont think they will have it, Pork is not a common meat we use. 70% people here are vegetarians and even some state have bans in processing certain meats. So, getting animal fats will be tricky.


True, I dont even know where to get it, thats why I checked amazon.

You don't need to use lard or any animal fat to make good soap. There are plenty of soapmakers who do not use animal fats, and there are plenty of customers who prefer soap made without animal fat.

Indians mostly consume Chicken, Mutton and Beef. Beef is very Controversial in India. So animal fats are also very controversial.. So the only option is to buy from other countries. But the cost of shipping and import duties will be very high and also these will not work commercially.

IF you want to try soap with animal fat, you can render your own fats from the animals you may eat, such as the chicken or mutton. I don't eat animals and cannot stand the smell of animal fats, so I wouldn't do it, but plenty of soapmakers here do render their own from collecting the fat from the animals they slaughter or get fat from friends who hunt, or from a butcher. Some have posted about the odd-to-me animal fats they have rendered and made soap from (bear, and any number of animals).

But, as I said, you don't really need animal fats to make soap anyway. In spite of the title of this thread, it is not really true that once you try lard, you will never go back. I don't like it; I did try it because I have family who are not vegetarian, so did make some lard soap for my brothers, but I don't like how it smells (fresh lard, lard in a can, lard when melting, lard in the soap batter, cured lard soap, lard soap lather when washing hands - all of it is offensive to my nose). It is not worth it to me to try and hide the odor, either. If I don't like something, why should I tolerate it?

The one time I made lard soap at my Daughter-in-law's house, the smell made her so sick to her stomache that I had to take it outside. And she cooks with lard. But in soap, the odor was too much for her, and she was not pregnant.

Am I the only one who has a hard time with lard? It always seems to make my soap really soft and I get extreme soda ash. I guess I have to try it again but that’s been my experience. I have a vegetarian family so I get flack for using animal products. What am I missing? I don’t do plain soap, I like a lot of design and additives.

No, you are not the only one who has a problem with it. I believe at least one soaper here doesn't like to use lard because she got DOS with it so often.

I would love to be able to us lard, it is so easy to work with, and makes a nice soap for most, but I break out when using it. It's not an allergy persay, but do have a tendency to get adult acne when I use it. I don't even cook with it)

When I was young, bacon fat always made me break out. My MIL thought I was making stuff up (not my favorite MIL, but that is neither here nor there), but it happened every time I ate bacon or anything cooked in bacon grease. I wasn't vegetarian yet, and I did love to eat bacon (I was bacon-deprived as a child, so tried to make up for it after leaving home.) Anyway, I certainly wouldn't want to use something that makes me break out in pimples. I can't eat chocolate either, which is really sad, but one piece of chocolate or a chocolate covered ice cream bar and I pay for it for days afterward.

 

[Carly B]

It is! I've made it for myself and love it!

@Misschief, do you do anything to overcome the piggy smell? I love lard and use it in most of my soaps, and hubby loves the soaps with tallow or a lard/tallow blend, but even after saponification, they have a trace of livestock aroma, for lack of a better term. I can't imagine what the body butter would be like. Would you mind sharing the proportions?

 

[Misschief]

@Misschief, do you do anything to overcome the piggy smell? I love lard and use it in most of my soaps, and hubby loves the soaps with tallow or a lard/tallow blend, but even after saponification, they have a trace of livestock aroma, for lack of a better term. I can't imagine what the body butter would be like. Would you mind sharing the proportions?

I use a brand name lard (Tenderflake) and have never noticed any kind of piggy smell at all.

 

[Kaolin washer]

I put one TBL spoon of caraway seedin my 500 g batchand it smells so good and works fine. I can smell the dirty pig in the lard to tho, but if you use less and put in some spices , you may not notice it

 

[bluebirdwing]

You don't need to use lard or any animal fat to make good soap. There are plenty of soapmakers who do not use animal fats, and there are plenty of customers who prefer soap made without animal fat.

True, I have never used animal fat based soap before. But, I was just curious since lots of people recommend lard.