Any suggestions on this recipe?

[nsmar4211]

Thinking of trying this. Any downfalls visible?

30% coconut oil
40% Lard
20% Palm
10% Shea butter

Trying to find a mix using what I have and what's affordable .

 

[jenneelk]

Personally I don't go that high on coconut oil and do 25 usually at most with a good % OO. I'd drop it down if it were me and I always add castor but you wouldn't need extra bubble action here. Do you have any other oils to work with?
I can't enlarge the pic for some reason so can't read the numbers.

 

[nsmar4211]

Thanks for answering

I have canola, corn, sunflower and "vegetable oil" on hand but I was aiming at a nice hard bar I can unmold in a decent set of time (also why I'm skipping olive oil)...and I don't yet have any sodium lactate. The superfat is set at 5% in the calculator and the lye at 32% concentration.

The reason for the high coco was cost....I could up the lard....or the shea (got a nice big block of that)...hrmrmrm

 

[Susie]

I would cut that Coconut Oil to 20%, then up the lard to 50%. I don't use Shea Butter in soap, so I can't help you there. Palm serves much the same purpose as lard in soap, so perhaps use Olive oil or something else in that slot for more conditioning?

 

[Obsidian]

I would cut that Coconut Oil to 20%, then up the lard to 50%. I don't use Shea Butter in soap, so I can't help you there. Palm serves much the same purpose as lard in soap, so perhaps use Olive oil or something else in that slot for more conditioning?

I agree. With 50% lard and the shea, this soap will be quite hard, adding in a little OO won't make it soft.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Third vote for that, here. When I see lard/Palm/tallow mixed, I do wonder if there is really enough of a difference in the unsaponifiables to warrant it.

 

[nsmar4211]

Drat, didn't realize in all my reading that palm is similar to lard .

Maybe I should just save the palm for a "special" batch in the future.... current batches are me trying to find a formula that I like for Christmas presents that's not an arm and leg.

I have two test batches of 50/50 lard and coconut (at 10% SF) curing that was suggested on another thread. Perhaps I could do

45% coconut oil
45% lard
10% shea

and forget the palm/canola/corn for now.

Priced olive oil at publix, ick. 50% more than coconut for the cheapest.

 

[kchaystack]

that much coconut is really going to strip your skin of oils. Most high CO soaps have a SF of 20....

 

[Susie]

I would more likely do this:

Lard 75%
Coconut Oil 15%
Shea Butter 10%
Superfat 5%

Lard is cheap, makes marvelous hard soap with rich creamy lather. You just can't go wrong.

 

[nsmar4211]

I personally smell piggy in the lard soap at 50% ...... but I took a batch of fresh 50/50 coconut and lard soaps to a gathering of friends tonight and ordered everyone to sniff and not one of them could smell piggy! (fresh as in I kept them in baggies and told everyone not to touch cause they're only a week old). Soooo its just me I guess! Had to wrestle a few away because they wanted to take them home haha.

kchaystack, my group of friends is a bunch of oil wells LOL... I have several requests for oil cutting soaps from them, but yea I get where you're coming from!

Susie, I think I'll go with something close to your idea and see how that goes now that I know the piggysmell is just my nose and the people I'm gifting can't smell it. It's not OMG I can't stand it piggysmell, it's "wheres the nice fresh pastry cooking" piggysmell...but its there. Maybe after a few months cure it'll dissapate though.

 

[not_ally]

Lard must be one of those things that people have special receptors for, or something, at least in soap! I don't smell it at all once the soap is unmolded. Also have never had anyone else tell me that they do. But I have read about a couple of people on here who seem to be able to detect it no matter what, even after a good cure. Poor souls

If you are looking for cheap and good/great, it is definitely the way to go. I pay $27.00 for 50 lbs and usually use it at b/w 65 and 70%, it makes the cost of the soaping oils minimal, if I didn't scent and color it would be super cheap to soap. Now, FO's and colorants are another story. I wish there was a lard-y equivalent of those.

 

[jenneelk]

Yeah I'm one of those who can smell it even with just 20% in there. But my sniffer is super sensitive and picky. lol I can smell 'off' things in fragrance oils many times when family or friends cannot.

Has anyone use deodorized lard?

 

[nsmar4211]

Deodorized lard? Oooooooo where can I get this? LOL I've looked in Publix, Walmart, and two spanish grocery stores here and haven't seen that .

Yea, I wish the FO's were more reasonable. During my "pass the soap" session I was telling my friends exactly WHY the vendors charge what they do for soaps at the farmers markets-the costs of the additives that make the soap pretty and sniffy. They had no idea of the costs involved (neither did I till I tried it).

 

[Susie]

I can smell the lard also. But any EO I have tried covers it up with even a modest amount. I don't like overly scented soap, either, so I tend to think less smell is better.

 

[Nevada]

30% Coconut is not too much at 8% SF and let it cure > 6 months.
Leave out the Shea Butter.
A little Palm would helping with unmolding and use 28% water to oils

30% Coconut
20% Lard
10% Palm
40% Olive
SF 8%
imo, Roy

Thinking of trying this. Any downfalls visible?

30% coconut oil
40% Lard
20% Palm
10% Shea butter

Trying to find a mix using what I have and what's affordable .

 

[Dahila]

Lard like everything else have the smell. I was born and raised in North Europe, and we use a lot of lard, just keep in mind it has the highest smoke point. Pie made with lard is wonderful. I buy lard in grocery stores and the smell is minimal. I think people who smell piggy never had it in pie. It does not stink. My sense of smell is back and it is sensitive too. I can smell people sweat from two to three meters, Alcohol probably the same. Smokers when they came to the office eh heck.
Lard is nothing and it does not smell after soap is made)
I love addition of lard and tallow to my soaps

 

[springonions]

After reading all the posts on how lard makes wonderful soap, I have decided to try it. But lard is so expensive in this part of the world, $2.5 a pound. I am getting half a pound and use it as 30% of the total oils. Will the percentage be so low that the benefits of lard cannot be felt in the final soap?

 

[Seawolfe]

30% would benefit your soap, try it. Are there any butchers nearby who would sell you unrendered pig fat cheaper? There's lots of posts here about rendering your own. My friend lives in rural China and he collected up all the lard he could at pig butchering time and made lots of soap - he uses it now to trade for other stuff. Its hard for him to get other oils like coconut and olive oil.

 

[springonions]

30% would benefit your soap, try it. Are there any butchers nearby who would sell you unrendered pig fat cheaper? There's lots of posts here about rendering your own. My friend lives in rural China and he collected up all the lard he could at pig butchering time and made lots of soap - he uses it now to trade for other stuff. Its hard for him to get other oils like coconut and olive oil.

My mom used to render our own lard for cooking. But the smell.........during the rendering:sick:, though the food tasted nice. My husband would kill me if I do it now. So, if 30% would benefit the soap, I would keep it this way for the time being. Thanks for your advice.