80% Lard Soaps..OK, I Get it Now.

[MorpheusPA]

Bloody hell, now I'm staring at the lard entry in Soaper's Choice/Columbus Foods trying to resist the impulse to try seven pounds of the stuff.

Hey, I eat the bacon, I don't mind using the lard. I actually feel better if I use and appreciate the entire animal.

Oh heck. I keep hearing about the Wonders of Lard. Submit order. Off to reformulate recipes.

 

[Susie]

We are evil little enablers!

 

[MorpheusPA]

We are evil little enablers!

Wicked little enablers indeed.

My lard is ordered, which by Soaper's Choice speed, means it'll be out the door today and here on Monday. Wow, that stuff is cheap!

And from the profile in SoapCalc, it's nice stuff. While I love my olive oil, I have a feeling I just found a new best friend...

 

[cmzaha]

I use castor in all soap at 6 percent. I would take it out of the lard

 

[Seawolfe]

I was doing a test on indigo and patchouli, and just threw together a recipe using up my almond oil that was going to go bad. It ended up being 65% lard, 15% coconut and 20% almond oil - 5% superfat, sugar in the lye water. Its a freakishly good soap, people are asking for more, and lathers way beyond what I expected. So I guess my point is, lard goes with everything

 

[Obsidian]

I have a bit different amount, also posted by Deeanna. I dissolve my CA in a little water then add that to my cooled lye solution.

For every 1000 grams of oils, you would add 10 g of citric acid and 6 g of extra lye to your water solution to create sodium citrate without extra superfat.

 

[not_ally]

Off to search sodium citrate now ...

 

[Be Love]

Another soap to add to my very long to do list......ENABLERS!

 

[Luv2Soap]

I was doing a test on indigo and patchouli, and just threw together a recipe using up my almond oil that was going to go bad. It ended up being 65% lard, 15% coconut and 20% almond oil - 5% superfat, sugar in the lye water. Its a freakishly good soap, people are asking for more, and lathers way beyond what I expected. So I guess my point is, lard goes with everything

Sounds amazing!!! Do you find this is a slow mover?

 

[Seawolfe]

Sounds amazing!!! Do you find this is a slow mover?

I was just pouring into cavities, but yeah - it wasn't gloppy, and I'm the queen of glop.

 

[Obsidian]

Lard is quite slow to trace, using a high amount is great for swirling recipe.

 

[Luv2Soap]

I was just pouring into cavities, but yeah - it wasn't gloppy, and I'm the queen of glop.

Thanks, Your Majesty! :grin:

 

[not_ally]

Sorry, you guys, couple last questions on this hard water thing. After a quick search it seems that you can either add sodium citrate w/o adding lye or citric acid and add lye. Is there any tangible benefit to doing one or the other (ie; if they are equivalent it seems easier to just add CS)? Also, at what percentage of oils would you add CS? Thanks as always for everyone's generous advice.

Edited (after your post Sonya) to say: just saw on another link that CS is more expensive than CA, maybe that is part of it.

 

[Sonya-m]

Sorry, you guys, couple last questions on this hard water thing. After a quick search it seems that you can either add sodium citrate w/o adding lye or citric acid and add lye. Is there any tangible benefit to doing one or the other (ie; if they are equivalent it seems easier to just add CS)? Also, at what percentage of oils would you add CS? Thanks as always for everyone's generous advice.

I don't know if there is a benefit one way or the other - other than it meaning no extra calcs - I'm sure someone else can answer though

Regarding use, I initially tried it at 0.5% total oil weight but didn't see a benefit so I've just done a batch using 2% total oil weight but haven't used the soap yet

I think I recall reading anything over 3% can result in making your soap soft

 

[not_ally]

Thanks, Sonya. Going to try CA for now (have it here) and order some SC. You have joined the enablers club

 

[Luv2Soap]

Just ordered some Sweet Almond Oil so I can try this recipe over the weekend - ENABLERS!

 

[lenarenee]

Lard is quite slow to trace, using a high amount is great for swirling recipe.

And if you soap cold, bring the batter to a bare trace...you have enough time to
divide and make 10 colors (micas) for an unfinicky swirl like a drop or itp swirl.
Something more exacting like a dandelion zebra...I don't know.

 

[TRBeck]

I use plenty of lard in nearly all of my soaps, and unless the FO I'm using is just a real bear, I can swirl to my heart's content. A bit of extra stick blending is all that is required if I want it thicker for certain types of swirls or other techniques. Otherwise, though, yeah, you can stop at emulsion/thin trace and divide into a bunch of colors. In fact, I made a rainbow soap recently for my kids and had to stick blend for a few additional seconds on each color to get it thickened up enough for the swirl I was doing.

 

[Luv2Soap]

And if you soap cold, bring the batter to a bare trace...you have enough time to
divide and make 10 colors (micas) for an unfinicky swirl like a drop or itp swirl.
Something more exacting like a dandelion zebra...I don't know.

I'm so excited about this now! Thank you!!!

 

[lenarenee]

I'm so excited about this now! Thank you!!!

Well that's great! I've been soaping over a year now, so I'm still slow at swirling and mixing colors so I think this recipe will be great for you.

Btw, in case it's helpful. I mix micas with a couple tsps oils taken from the measured oils of the recipe in plastic cups, pour in emulsified or barely traced batter and mix....and out of the tools I've seen people use on videos like tiny whisks, frothers...etc., I've had the best results with just a regular spoon! Much much faster for me than any other tool I've tried. (Duh. Sadly it was the last method I thought to try!)