Lard/Tallow Combo Soap

[Kcryss]

Working on a formula for a good lard/tallow combo. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have very dry skin so like to keep the cleansing down as much as possible. Any way to bring up the bubbly a bit or will this be nice lathery bar the way it is?

TIA

Here's what I have so far:

 

[AliOop]

Do you add any form of sugar? If not, maybe consider that to up the bubbly factor. I'd probably also up the castor by 5% and subtract that from the RBO or canola.

 

[Kcryss]

Planning 3% superfat.
I'm still a little fuzzy on what's best for lye concentration on HP. Thinking about doing 3 to 1. I've generally gone less, but it tends to dry out to quickly while cooking. Thinking a little extra water might help with fluidity at the end. Although I do use greek yogurt after cook. CA and Sugar to lye water before mixing in Lye. And recently I've been adding about 1 tbs Aloe ppo with the greek yogurt. Seems to help a bit with fluidity ... just extra liquid I suppose.

 

[Kcryss]

I read in several places that the aloe helps with lather as well. Most specifically from another soaping site that someone here posted. I think it might have been Zany. That site linked to an informal study on lather and various additives. Aloe was one of the few "winners" lol

 

[AliOop]

The amount of water is somewhat personal preference and does relate to how much fluidity you want/need. I also like to use yogurt after the cook. It adds fluidity and a bit of milk sugar (not much) which does help with bubbles. For dry skin, you might think about a bit more superfat and see what you think. I also have dry skin and prefer 6-10% SF. You could also add some powdered goat's milk to your oils. I just tried that and am loving it. Soooo much easier than liquid GM, and it has a wonderful, non-drying lather.

Aloe is wonderful as a water replacement. I also love vinegar instead of water, although you will want to use soapmakingfriend.com and have it calculate the additional lye that is needed.

 

[Kcryss]

Ah! Found the link: https://www.modernsoapmaking.com/updated-lather-lovers-additive-testing/

 

[Kcryss]

The amount of water is somewhat personal preference and does relate to how much fluidity you want/need. I also like to use yogurt after the cook. It adds fluidity and a bit of milk sugar (not much) which does help with bubbles. For dry skin, you might think about a bit more superfat and see what you think. I also have dry skin and prefer 6-10% SF. You could also add some powdered goat's milk to your oils. I just tried that and am loving it. Soooo much easier than liquid GM, and it has a wonderful, non-drying lather.

I've always wondered what the big deal was with goats milk. Looks like it's something I should try! I like the idea of powdered vs liquid. Seems much easier to incorporate.

Do you use a chealator? I've been using CA, but wondering if I should try either GLDA or Sodium Glutonate ... or both.

 

[Kcryss]

Does castor cause stickiness at 10% or does it depend on the oils/fats being used?

 

[Kcryss]

Upped the castor, dropped the canola a bit. SF at 6.

 

[AliOop]

I personally don't have trouble with castor causing stickiness at 10%, but I also don't use a lot of soft oils, so perhaps that's why.

My water isn't particularly hard, so CA is enough of a chelator for me to keep the scum off my shower door. But I also use vinegar for water a lot of the time, and per the discussion in another thread, that does add a mild chelating effect, as well.

Since I don't sell my soaps, I personally like to find the least number of additives to make the soap function the way I like, and also to find the least expensive versions thereof, which preferably don't have to be ordered from somewhere that will charge shipping. In other words: I'm cheap!! But I also find that limiting the different additives to those that have a specific, needed function keeps soaping fun for me.

 

[Kcryss]

Haha! I totally understand cheap! I'm right there with you ... and the reason I haven't ordered anything else yet. lol

I guess I thought CA and Vinegar did the same thing, but it sounds like maybe not. I'll check out the other thread.

Thanks for all the feedback! Very much appreciate the help.

 

[Kcryss]

My water isn't particularly hard, so CA is enough of a chelator for me to keep the scum off my shower door. But I also use vinegar for water a lot of the time, and per the discussion in another thread, that does add a mild chelating effect, as well.

Ok, wait. One last question before I head up to make soap.
Do you use both CA and Vinegar? If so, does the soapmakersfriend calc take care of the lye for you?

 

[AliOop]

Yes, it can be so tempting to order ALL.THE.SOAP.THINGS. So many recipes/techniques, not enough time/money. LOL.

CA and vinegar do some similar things, but not exactly the same. I use both although sometimes forget to add CA. Soapmakingfriend will calculate the extra lye for you if you list vinegar as an additive and check the box regarding the water replacement.

And there is just something I love about the "feel" of soap that was made with vinegar instead of water. I also like the feel of tussah silk and the powdered goat's milk, neither of which is super expensive or troublesome to add.

 

[Kcryss]

Ah, I see the calc takes care of the math.

 

[Kcryss]

Yes, it can be so tempting to order ALL.THE.SOAP.THINGS. So many recipes/techniques, not enough time/money. LOL.

LOL, I do computer support and we have a similar saying ... customers like to "CLICK.AND.INSTALL.ALL.THE.THINGS"

CA and vinegar do some similar things, but not exactly the same. I use both although sometimes forget to add CA. Soapmakingfriend will calculate the extra lye for you if you list vinegar as an additive and check the box regarding the water replacement.

Perfect!

And there is just something I love about the "feel" of soap that was made with vinegar instead of water. I also like the feel of tussah silk and the powdered goat's milk, neither of which is super expensive or troublesome to add.

Guess I will be buying some more soapy things.

 

[amd]

Any way to bring up the bubbly a bit or will this be nice lathery bar the way it is?

It looks like you may have already made this... but my advice: the lard and tallow combo contributes a lot to the conditioning of the bar, which would offset some of the cleansing feel of CO, so I would decrease either the lard or tallow 5% and plug that into your CO and raise it to 20%. I don't see any reason to mess with the castor, it's been shown in single oil tests to not make very nice soap at all, so I always try to keep that as low as possible.

 

[Kcryss]

It looks like you may have already made this... but my advice: the lard and tallow combo contributes a lot to the conditioning of the bar, which would offset some of the cleansing feel of CO, so I would decrease either the lard or tallow 5% and plug that into your CO and raise it to 20%. I don't see any reason to mess with the castor, it's been shown in single oil tests to not make very nice soap at all, so I always try to keep that as low as possible.

Actually, I was derailed by DH. So no soaping fun yet.

Just started playing with the numbers again. It's funny how just a 1 or 2 percent change here and there can really make a big difference with the fatty acids.

I've heard mixed reviews on the castor oil. Some people seem to like it up a bit and others don't. I have never gone above the 5%, but thinking just for experimental purposes I may give it a try. Might split the difference and go up to 7.5. But will likely leave that for another time.

I'm trying two new things in this batch already. Lard/tallow and vinegar in place of some of the water.

Thanks for jumping in and helping out! Much appreciated!

 

[Arimara]

I made a soap that was 80% lard and tallow. From my notes, if you want a creamier soap, up the tallow to 50% of your animal fat mix. If you want more bubbles, use more lard in proportion to tallow. In the end, I could not decide which I liked better. I might need to reevaluate that recipe again.

 

[dibbles]

I made a soap that was 80% lard and tallow. From my notes, if you want a creamier soap, up the tallow to 50% of your animal fat mix. If you want more bubbles, use more lard in proportion to tallow. In the end, I could not decide which I liked better. I might need to reevaluate that recipe again.

I thought it was lard for creamier and tallow for bubbles? I don't want to render tallow, so I finally ordered some a month or so ago to play with. I haven't had time yet, so I can't speak from experience.

 

[Kcryss]

From my notes, if you want a creamier soap, up the tallow to 50% of your animal fat mix. If you want more bubbles, use more lard in proportion to tallow.

Good to know! Thank you!