Lard soap possible problem...

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RagingMammoth

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Okay. i just made some pure lard soap, no other oils or anything. (dont flame me soap veterans)

i made it using the cold process method, and is currently cooling down in the spare room wrapped in a towel.

the dilemma is that.. it smells of lard.


will the smell stay after its finished? its not great knowing you could of just made 1.5 kilos of bacon soap...
 
It should dissipate as it cures. Did you add any fragrance or anything? I see no reason for you to be flamed, I've made 100% tallow soap once too. Mostly to see what the properties would be and what the soap would be like. I love animal oil soaps but I must admit I prefer them to be blended with veg oils.

Did you render the lard yourself or buy it pre-rendered?
 
just bought it from a supermarket, im not exactly a farmer.

and no, no oils. but currently the smell is actually pretty appalling.

you sure it will go away?
 
Strange you should ask...I am doing a Single Oil Soap Experiment and found that Lard had the strongest smell out of 15 different soaping oils. It has been a week since unmolding, and the scent has definitely dissipated, but is still there faintly. Lots of folks use Lard and don't notice the smell. I'm assuming that's either because it disappears during cure, or they get used to it. I'll find out soon enough, and so will you! :)
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f11/single-oil-soap-experiment-31215/
 
I haven't made a 100% lard soap, but I too use animal fats, and I dislike the smell of any fresh unscented CP soap. For me I really don't like the smell of Olive oil soap, but ALL the soaps I have made (that I left unscented) cure out to almost nothing at all. I suspect yours will be fine.
 
For me any scent in soap fades and then goes away completely except for fragrance or essential oils that generally won't do that.
 
I make lard soap for my sister and I to use as laundry soap. But I do 2 parts lard to 1 part coconut with a dash of essential oil because the lard scent is awful for me. (And I grew up in a family of butchers - the smell of rendering meat and sausage making is nostalgic.)
 
I used to use lard soap in the laundry, and didn't notice any "off" smell after it cured.
Maybe I just didn't notice anymore, but I dunno...?
(well & septic - needed to cut down on suds)

Several of my current recipes use a good bit of lard. I can detect a slight smell in the ones that
have the highest % of lard, but I wouldn't call it offensive or anything. Maybe someone with a
more discerning nose would, tho, as I haven't used EO's or FO's *YET*
Give it a couple weeks before you give it a yea/nay.
 
It will have a light bacon smell for a bit. That is caused from store bought due to the fast processing they do to get it out. If you scent your next batch it will cover it up. After my first bar that I made of 50% of store bought lard I did not notice it again. If you do a non gel it might help as it is the heat that maskes it smell of bacon. Good thing is you are using a product that is very good for the skin and it is a waste product from processing pigs. Pigs are very close to us in skin type. This is why most acne soap has lard in it for it will not clog our pores like other oils.
 
Could be ammonia you are smelling
just sayin' :wink:

Okay. i just made some pure lard soap, no other oils or anything. (dont flame me soap veterans)

i made it using the cold process method, and is currently cooling down in the spare room wrapped in a towel.

the dilemma is that.. it smells of lard.


will the smell stay after its finished? its not great knowing you could of just made 1.5 kilos of bacon soap...
 
so are you trying too say once its finished curing it will stop smelling?

Heat makes bacon smell from store bought lard and soap made from it. I noticed it when we used our first bar in the shower or bath. But it was very very light smell. After that I did not notice it again. So I yes after a full cure it will go away. The bar we used was not full cured that first time. After that bar the others were cured full and we did not have problem again.
 
I tried one batch early on with about 20% lard. It too smelled like bacon for a bit. The most offensive part was the contrast between scents: rosemary,peppermint ...and bacon. Several weeks later, the only remaining scenario are the rosemary and mint. I recommend patience. I also tried using castor oil that had been used for light frying (portobello fries) that I strained through a coffee filter. I don't recommend that. The bars retained a slight fatty scent after cold processing.
 
I am a totally new soaper.. only about 4 weeks.. but the only fat we use in our soap is lard. We raise heritage hogs and we have literally hundreds of pounds of fat after selling chops and bacon. So we rendered it and into soap it is going. I don't think it has any lard-ish smell to it and it certainly doesn't smell like bacon. I almost wish the unscented stuff did smell a bit like bacon.

Your smell must be because it is store bought lard, which not only is rendered at higher heat but they add stablizers to it so they can leave it out on the shelf. We rendered at low temps, all day long and toss any dark, smelly lard out to the birds (once it is hardened up again).

Anyway. glad yours is losing its off smell.

Wendy Parker
www.heritagefarmsnw.com
 
I tried one batch early on with about 20% lard. It too smelled like bacon for a bit. The most offensive part was the contrast between scents: rosemary,peppermint ...and bacon. Several weeks later, the only remaining scenario are the rosemary and mint. I recommend patience. I also tried using castor oil that had been used for light frying (portobello fries) that I strained through a coffee filter. I don't recommend that. The bars retained a slight fatty scent after cold processing.

I'm really surprised that you could smell the lard at only 20%. Maybe it was spoiled? I even use store-bought at 40% and have never smelled it early on or months down the road.
 
my first batch of soap is HP with 30% store bought lard. It smelled faintly of bacon too but after a few days the bacony smell has dissipitated.. whew i was concerned too lol
 

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