tallow soap
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Tallow has a decent bit of myristic and lauric acid, so it should lather better than lard. Lard doesn't have much of these fatty acids.
As I stated in my original post it is my first tallow soap. I have made lard soaps and they are slow to lather IMO and take work to lather up. So I added tallow, reading that it lathered somewhat better and also added sorbitol. Don't soapmaker's like to play? I may be satisfied with this or when I get the itch I may try a dual lye recipe. Glad you like yours!
Yooper
Well-Known Member
That's a typo! It's supposed to be 2 %! Not 20%- I have used 2% with great success.
I used lard very few times, I figured out that I am allergic to it so I don't use it anymore, I had hard time getting it to lather, unlike my tallow soap lathers much better.
Oh, I have to say ... that sounds a lot better. I was thinking like Carolyn that a 20% KOH soap would be soft.
I re-read this tonight and wanted to add that just knowing that a recipe is 50% tallow or lard isn't really telling the whole story. The type and percentages of the other fats will have a lot to do with the lathering ability.
For example I've made an 80% lard, 20% coconut bar before and it lathered really nicely. I used all NaOH as the lye (no KOH). On the other hand, an 80% lard, 20% olive oil soap probably won't lather nearly as well.
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My tallow soap is now one week old. At the same time I also made a 20% CO, 80% OO goat milk soap to which I also added sorbitol. This morning I tried the scraps. Love them both but much to my surprise the goat milk soap is harder with more (or at least equal to) the lather of the tallow. I was pleased with them both both and know they will only get better. Both were 34% lye concentration. Soapmaking sends your mind in a whirl. How could an 80% OO soap be harder than a soap with 35% tallow?
HoneyLady
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I love tallow and / or lard soaps! But yes, they tend to be low lathering. But soooo creamy! I once accidentally made a 20% castor oil soap. (Never soap with a bad headache!) I kept it around figuring eventually I'd chop it up for laundry, or floor cleaner, or some such. To my surprise after curing for about 11 months, I re-discovered it, and grabbed a bar. It's lovely! Very gentle, bubbly, and soothing. But it did require a longer cure time. I need to try and re-create the whoops.
As an aside: Oh, no! I've been away for a while and am catching up. And immediately, DeeAnna is leading me into temptation, right off the bat! Using dual lye solutions for a higher lathering lard bar?? Girl, you gonna get me in troubbbbbble! . . .
Missed you!
~Honey Lady~
As an aside: Oh, no! I've been away for a while and am catching up. And immediately, DeeAnna is leading me into temptation, right off the bat! Using dual lye solutions for a higher lathering lard bar?? Girl, you gonna get me in troubbbbbble! . . .
Missed you!~Honey Lady~
SoapAddict415
Well-Known Member
I've always wanted to try making a tallow soap. Is this a good price for tallow? I can easily find lard locally but finding beef tallow is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
No, that's a terrible price. Check this link.
https://www.soaperschoice.com/beef-fat-renderedbeef-fat-rendered
https://www.soaperschoice.com/beef-fat-renderedbeef-fat-rendered
SoapAddict415
Well-Known Member
Thanks [emoji4]
nframe
Well-Known Member
...And then there's my 65% tallow formula where I use it at a whopping 23%. How much I use all depends on my formula. Some can take a higher amount and some can't. My 65% tallow formula with 23% castor feels like velvet to my skin, not sticky at all, but if I happened to use that much in my olive oil formula, it wouldn't feel as nice I'm sure.
IrishLass
Irish Lass,
I wanted to thank you for that recipe. I tried it and the resulting soap is wonderful. I would never have thought of this and I am very grateful.
