Tallow Recipe Help

[Spoonie98]

Hello,
I have made a tallow recipe that we were pretty happy with. Before making the next batch we want some tweak's.
I am just not smart enough for the soap calculators. I've been trying since joining with no luck. Would anyone be willing to help with a recipe? This is strictly for personal use.

The recipe I've been using is:
24oz Grass Fed Beef Tallow
8oz Coconut Oil
8oz Olive Oil
15.2oz Water
5.49oz Lye
1.75 oz Essential Oils

This recipe has worked well for us but we'd like more lather, stronger smell and we'd like to add grit. Would like to make one batch with sand and one batch with oatmeal. Not sure what sand or oatmeal to use. Is it special or just regular sand and oatmeal?

One recipe I found online is:
Tallow- 6.4oz
Coconut Oil- 10.88oz
Olive Oil- 12.8oz
Castor Oil- 1.92oz
Sodium Hydroxide- 4.64oz
Water- 9.28oz

I am not sure how big of a batch this makes. It says it is an extra bubbly tallow recipe. It doesn't have any essential oils or grit though. I tried to figure out the calculator again using those oils but got lost again and couldn't make sense of it. I do have all the above ingredients on hand.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance! Pretty frustrated and running out of soap.

 

[AliOop]

Hi Spoonie,

It is really important to run all recipes through a lye calculator, or confirm the calculations with your own math. Typos can and do happen!

It is also really important not to use any old amount of whatever essential oil you may like. Some of them are not skin-safe, and others are only safe in very small amounts. You can check your EO blends on EOCalc.com. That will tell you how much of each oil is safe to use, and will also recommend the amounts for light, medium, and strong fragrance.

Regarding the potential new recipe you shared, that will be quite bubbly, but it will also be quite drying to the skin, due to all the coconut oil. There are other ways to increase bubbles, such as adding sugar, or goat milk powder. While that doesn't show on the soap calculator, sugar acts as a solvent so that the soap bubbles more easily.

Finally, instead of sand, consider fine ground pumice, cornmeal, or poppy seeds (or use them all). For the oats, you can use regular whole oats or quick-cooking oats. I think you will find them quite scrubby unless you grind them up a bit first.

Below are two possible recipes for you. The first uses only the oils you listed in your recipes, above. Note that the addition of castor won't add lather, but will make the lather last longer.

The second recipe splits the amount used for tallow, and uses half of that for lard. Those two together make very nice soap! But one thing to consider is letting the soap cure longer. My experience with soaps high in lard and tallow is their lather is much nicer after an 8-week cure.

 

[Spoonie98]

@AliOop Thank you
I have read dozens of times about running it all through the calculators. Like I said I can not figure them out. I do appreciate the warning though.
The 1st recipe I did was from a recent video so hoped it was safe. The video was of soap someone has sold for a long time. Hoped it was safe. Thankfully it worked well. Now that you’ve mentioned it we have noticed more lather the longer the soap has cured. Thought it was my imagination.
I do not want more drying so that will change things. Thank you very much for pointing that out.
The essential oils are soap making oils from brambleberry. Thank you for the information on the amounts. I do remember reading that on this forum before, now that you mention it. Will have to see if I can figure out that calculator. Maybe it will be easier and lead to grasping one of the soap calcs.
Will definitely have to try and read up on sugar. We are happy with the above (the first recipe) just wanted more lather and some grit. Otherwise we liked it very much.
I will look into the pumice. Some of the soap we bought for years had it and we liked it. Another had oats but I do believe they were slightly ground as you’ve suggested.
I have saved the tallow/lard split recipe. Appreciate those recipes! Currently we don’t have any lard on hand. We are using our home rendered tallow and we have a ton in the freezer.
Think maybe I’ll stay with the original recipe and add sugar and pumice or oats. Will look into that some more.
Greatly appreciated you taking the time to offer so much help and advice!

 

[AliOop]

Have fun with it, and don't forget to report back how it turns out.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I still remember my own trials and tribulations with calculators. This is a good tutorial for using soap calc If you want to give it another try:

youtu.be/AqKxin0q1bM

I’m having trouble embedding the link, so you’ll need to copy and paste it into the browser search bar. You can also get there from here, where the link is provided in the section on soap calc:

https://www.ellyseveryday.com/soap-calculators

 

[Spoonie98]

I still remember my own trials and tribulations with calculators. This is a good tutorial for using soap calc If you want to give it another try:

youtu.be/AqKxin0q1bM

I’m having trouble embedding the link, so you’ll need to copy and paste it into the browser search bar. You can also get there from here, where the link is provided in the section on soap calc:

https://www.ellyseveryday.com/soap-calculators

Thank You! I love this ladies video’s! I’ll give it a go! Much appreciated!

 

[Val’s5]

Hello,
I have made a tallow recipe that we were pretty happy with. Before making the next batch we want some tweak's.
I am just not smart enough for the soap calculators. I've been trying since joining with no luck. Would anyone be willing to help with a recipe? This is strictly for personal use.

The recipe I've been using is:
24oz Grass Fed Beef Tallow
8oz Coconut Oil
8oz Olive Oil
15.2oz Water
5.49oz Lye
1.75 oz Essential Oils

This recipe has worked well for us but we'd like more lather, stronger smell and we'd like to add grit. Would like to make one batch with sand and one batch with oatmeal. Not sure what sand or oatmeal to use. Is it special or just regular sand and oatmeal?

One recipe I found online is:
Tallow- 6.4oz
Coconut Oil- 10.88oz
Olive Oil- 12.8oz
Castor Oil- 1.92oz
Sodium Hydroxide- 4.64oz
Water- 9.28oz

I am not sure how big of a batch this makes. It says it is an extra bubbly tallow recipe. It doesn't have any essential oils or grit though. I tried to figure out the calculator again using those oils but got lost again and couldn't make sense of it. I do have all the above ingredients on hand.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance! Pretty frustrated and running out of soap.

Hello there!
Curious if you tweaked your recipe and if ya liked it? As far as grit, wdyt about coffee grinds?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I am not sure how big of a batch this makes. It says it is an extra bubbly tallow recipe. It doesn't have any essential oils or grit though. I tried to figure out the calculator again using those oils but got lost again and couldn't make sense of it.

You might want to try using SoapCalc. The "Default settings" make it a no-brainer for entering that recipe which is great for Newbies!

Hover your mouse over the "1" then "2", "3" and so on. The explanation of each step pops up. It takes a little getting used to, but you don't have to worry about the water setting or the superfat setting or the fragrance setting because the Default settings work well for most recipes.

Practice, practice, practice makes perfect! Once you get used to it, you can tweak to your heart's delight. This goes for the Soapmaker Friends Lye Calc as well!

#1 Choose NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) cuz that's what your recipe uses.
#2 Choose "ounces" cuz that's what your recipe uses.
#3 & #4 - Do nothing. They are fine where they are.
$5 - Skip for now and go to
#6 - Go down the list. Add each oil by selecting it first and then tick the "+" to enter it into the column to the right of the list.
Once your oils are selected, choose "Ounces" to type in the amount of each oil.
#7 - (1.) Hit "Calculate Recips" to get the TOTAL ounces of oils in your batch.

At that point you can change the size of the batch easily.
After calculating the recipe in ounces, you also get the % of each oil in the batch. Simply change where you selected "Ounces" to the "%" sign.

Then. Go back to #2 and enter the size of the batch you want to make, i.e. 16 oz. (or 500 grams) and Calculate again. The amounts under "Ounces" will change to accomodate the size batch you want.

#7 - (2.) Hit "View & Print Recipe". Go to the next page, use the "Print Recipe" to get your Printout. Study it.

Now this is where #5 "Soap Qualities and Fatty Acids" comes in. They also appear on the 2nd page. Find that info on your printout. Compare the results of your recipe to the "recommended range" to make sure your recipe is within that range.

CAUTION: You can spend several hours every day over a 2-week period (as I did LOL) using #5 to achieve an INS Value of 160 - so-called "Perfect Soap" by watching the values change as you add more or less coconut oil/tallow for hardness & lather; castor oil for boosting lather & conditioning, olive oil for more or less conditioning, etc.

That's crazy making for sure! But soapers tend to fall down that particular rabbit hole (as I did) fairly often. You learn a lot! Especially how to manipulate a calculator to achieve the soap that works best for you.

ADVICE: Make a small batch of the recipe as is. Tweaking and making as many small batches as you can, as often as you can, will have you up and running with the best of us in about 4 months if you put the time and effort into it.

It's best to avoid adding fragrance, color, and other additives like "grit" until you have a solid recipe ( or 2 or 3) that delivers every time you make it.

HAPPY SOAPING!

 

[cmzaha]

You have two choices if you really want to continue making soap, both involve learning how to calculate lye usage for soap either manually or with a soap calc using SAP values. You just cannot depend on written recipes. The only lye heavy soap I ever made other than making them on purpose as an experiment was written by a well-known soaping site and soaping instructor. That said, soap calculators are not hard to use and Soapcalc.com is simple with tutorials. Soapee.com is also another free very nice soap calc but does not configure all the additives Soapmaking Friend does. Soapee will save all your recipes Soap Calc only saves 10 and is cookie-based, so if you clear cookies your recipes will not be saved so you should print and save them. There is info on this page referencing how to manually how much lye to use. Design Your Own Soap Recipe! Even though this site has had no updates in several years the info is still very good. I actually learned how to make soap from this site before finding this forum.

I personally would start out with Soap Calc as Zany pointed out it is a very simple soap calc to use.

Once you figure it out my favorite Tallow based soap which I sold for years is 40% tallow 28% Lard with 15-18% Coconut Oil, 3% Castor balance any liquid oil you prefer. Sorry, I only work in percentages because my recipes would be too large for a beginner and you can make any batch size with percentages.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

@Spoonie98 - Please don't be offended. Both @cmzaha and I have the best of intentions -- i.e., we are long-time-soapmakers (How old? Don't ask! LOL) and can't stress this enough-- IF, as she says, "you really want to continue making soap"...

You have two choices if you really want to continue making soap, both involve learning how to calculate lye usage for soap either manually or with a soap calc using SAP values. You just cannot depend on written recipes.

AND... @AliOop too! Although she's just a relative youngster, she knows her soap calcs ! And confirms what @cmzaha wrote above.

It is really important to run all recipes through a lye calculator, or confirm the calculations with your own math. Typos can and do happen!

 

[Spoonie98]

You might want to try using SoapCalc. The "Default settings" make it a no-brainer for entering that recipe which is great for Newbies!

Hover your mouse over the "1" then "2", "3" and so on. The explanation of each step pops up. It takes a little getting used to, but you don't have to worry about the water setting or the superfat setting or the fragrance setting because the Default settings work well for most recipes.

Practice, practice, practice makes perfect! Once you get used to it, you can tweak to your heart's delight. This goes for the Soapmaker Friends Lye Calc as well!

#1 Choose NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) cuz that's what your recipe uses.
#2 Choose "ounces" cuz that's what your recipe uses.
#3 & #4 - Do nothing. They are fine where they are.
$5 - Skip for now and go to
#6 - Go down the list. Add each oil by selecting it first and then tick the "+" to enter it into the column to the right of the list.
Once your oils are selected, choose "Ounces" to type in the amount of each oil.
#7 - (1.) Hit "Calculate Recips" to get the TOTAL ounces of oils in your batch.

At that point you can change the size of the batch easily.
After calculating the recipe in ounces, you also get the % of each oil in the batch. Simply change where you selected "Ounces" to the "%" sign.

Then. Go back to #2 and enter the size of the batch you want to make, i.e. 16 oz. (or 500 grams) and Calculate again. The amounts under "Ounces" will change to accomodate the size batch you want.

#7 - (2.) Hit "View & Print Recipe". Go to the next page, use the "Print Recipe" to get your Printout. Study it.

Now this is where #5 "Soap Qualities and Fatty Acids" comes in. They also appear on the 2nd page. Find that info on your printout. Compare the results of your recipe to the "recommended range" to make sure your recipe is within that range.

CAUTION: You can spend several hours every day over a 2-week period (as I did LOL) using #5 to achieve an INS Value of 160 - so-called "Perfect Soap" by watching the values change as you add more or less coconut oil/tallow for hardness & lather; castor oil for boosting lather & conditioning, olive oil for more or less conditioning, etc.

That's crazy making for sure! But soapers tend to fall down that particular rabbit hole (as I did) fairly often. You learn a lot! Especially how to manipulate a calculator to achieve the soap that works best for you.

ADVICE: Make a small batch of the recipe as is. Tweaking and making as many small batches as you can, as often as you can, will have you up and running with the best of us in about 4 months if you put the time and effort into it.

It's best to avoid adding fragrance, color, and other additives like "grit" until you have a solid recipe ( or 2 or 3) that delivers every time you make it.

HAPPY SOAPING!

Thanks. Printed out for easy use. Appreciate the detailed help.
The recipe I've been using has been flawless.Very happy with it. But will work on learning the calc so I can change it a bit as desired.

 

[Ladka]

Here's another tallow soap lover!
I did not like the rock hard pure tallow soap so tried a dual lye recipe cause KOH makes softer soap. I also wanted a bit more lather and bubbles so I added sugar and castor oil.
I am now very happy with my soap. The bars are fairly hard but not rock hard, they lather and bubble happily, not extremely rich 'tis true, but enough.
Moreover, the batter traces slow enough to let me play with fragrances, colours and patterning.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

will work on learning the calc so I can change it a bit as desired.

Good for you! You won't regret the time spent learning to use it. Have fun double checking every recipe you find to see if it is correct. It's amazing how often they're not!

BTW, If you ever decide to sell, you may want to check out @AliOop's recommendation. There is annual fee to use it, but it is popular with many SMF members due to its more advanced features that members helped to design.

Soapmaking Friend isn't just a soap calculator, it's more of a soapmaking software suite. It includes recipe databases, batch creation, cost analysis, advanced calculation, inventory tracking, supplier tracking, purchase history.

 

[cmzaha]

Zany is right if you ever want to sell down the road... like at least a year down. Soapmakers Friend has a lot of features that will help you auto-configure additives such as using citric acid in your soaps and soaping with dual lye and vinegar. I no longer use the program for personal reasons but I also have my recipes and know how to figure all additives manually. It is a very good Calc program. As Zany mentioned many of us members helped with the design of the program/calc so it includes very helpful features that most soap calcs do not include.