Lard vs. Soy Wax

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Dawni

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Back in the soy wax users thread I promised here I'd make a comparison of it against lard as a hardener, and so I did.

I decided to make two fresh soaps, so I could compare trace, molding, unmolding, curing, etc. simultaneously. I think that's a better study than comparing fresh soap to one sitting on the shelf already 2mos.

Recipe:
30% lye concentration, 3% SF, no fragrance
Soy wax/lard 40%, pomace 27%, coconut oil 18%, grapeseed oil 10%, castor oil 5%
*please note that I could not access pure soy wax and used one labeled as 444 that's apparently 98% soy wax and with a (unknown to me) soy based additive at 2%.

Procedure:
I melted both lard and soy wax in the microwave and dumped them into room temperature oils. At this time, the lye water was already mixed, with the container sitting in cold water, and I just waited for the temps to even out somewhat. My handy dandy hand told me I should proceed when I checked after 15mins. I hand stirred both - stirred, checked on the napping baby, stirred again, washed a couple of containers, stirred again. Didn't take that long.

Observations before molding:
The soy wax batter got to light trace before the lard batter did. I was mixing both by hand simultaneously. Batter color and consistency at light trace was very similar and I worried I'd mix em up lol. Should have taken pics. I mixed a lil cocoa powder for the tops of the soy ones so I can differentiate them.

Observations after molding:
Here's where things get interesting. I purposely unmolded when I thought it was too early, at 20hrs, and both soaps stuck to the bottoms and sides. At around 30hrs the lard stuck on one side only, not at the bottom, but the soy stuck on all sides again. Unmolding at 37hrs still had the soy sticking while the lard one slid out cleanly. I, unfortunately don't have a pic of the untouched soy ones all together but here's one of the lard soap.
_20190414_095830.JPG

You can however, see the first unmolded soy soap with all its glorious ash and the stuck sides here.

Speaking of ash.. They all got it. I left them uncovered and not insulated to see what will happen. I think I got gel but you guys will have to confirm. Here's a pic of freshly molded soap side by side with a pic after about 14hrs.
pixlr_20190414100615128.jpg

At this point, at close to 44hrs since both soaps were made, I can definitely say the lard soap is firmer than the soy wax soap, which also is still tacky. I also think it's the thick ash that's tacky, since the others I cleaned aren't as much.

Color wise they've both evened out and are similar, but the soy is still slightly whiter. Yesterday the soy one was very noticeably whiter, even after I shaved off the ash. Here's pics of the tops, bottoms, and one side.
_20190414_090137.JPG

_20190414_085747.JPG

_20190414_090221.JPG

First pic, I shaved off the sides of the soy wax soap to get to the no ash part. You can see it clearer here. Second pic, I patiently "washed" the ash away with cloth and 70% alcohol and you'll notice I even dropped this soap lol. Last pic, the soy wax soap is untouched.

Ehmm.. I don't know what else to say but if you guys ask questions I should be able to answer them.

Sorry for the long post. I hope this helps someone lol and thanks for getting to the end haha love you guys!
 
Nice process and objective presentation of results :) My last couple of batches of soap have been a little tacky at unmoulding but they hardened up fully in a little more time (a day or two? I didn't check often enough to say when it happened).

Will be interesting to hear how they compare over time. Thanks for the time and effort put into this and for sharing!
 
Thanks Dawni!!

I hot process using the double boiler method...….I hope it will unmold more "cured" at 24 hours.
 
Thanks Dawni!!

I hot process using the double boiler method...….I hope it will unmold more "cured" at 24 hours.
If anything it should be less "problematic" lol.

I'm more of a HP girl myself. I just wanted to CP this one because I foresee almost no obvious difference between the two if I were to HP these hehehe.. I'll probably experiment with the soy wax in HP next.
 
You're welcome @atiz :)
That's form the CO.

Can I ask why you would use 40% wax?
I know it is a test, but 40% seems very high amount.
Well that's the recipe for the lard soap, and since this was to compare soy wax to lard as a hardener, the soy wax amount had to be 40% as well.

As for the lather, I'm just happy it's there considering I used candle wax and not 100% pure soy wax lol. And yes, I do realize it's from the coconut, I meant "soy wax soap" lol
 
Dawni how about trying the same comparison using 33% lye concentration, soap at 110*F (42*C) and cover your soap with plastic wrap or a chopping board (to make it airtight) and leave for 24 hours or longer.
 
Last edited:
I know this test was for hardness but I've used both soaps in the shower and the lard soap trumps the soy wax soap, for me at least, in terms of lather and "conditioning."

To be fair, they both lathered well, it was just the kind of lather that's different and of course, is personal preference. The soy wax soap had a more creamy lather while the lard soap had an in-between creamy n bubbly one.

The soy wax soap shower definitely needed a follow up with my lotion bar, and my face felt tight when I smiled lol. The lard soap did not cause any tightness, nor did I need to lotion up, but I wanted to, coz I love my lotion bars hehehe

I did not pay attention to the weather but I used these one day apart and both days felt more or less the same, in terms of heat and humidity, which means it was awfully hot n sticky both days haha

In terms of hardness, which was the reason for this experiment.. The soy wax soap has caught up now after three months. It is sticky though, because of the humidity here lately, whereas the lard soap isn't. I forgot to check on them in between, sorry.
 
Thanks for the update! I recently started experimenting with soy wax and only have one batch cured enough to use (the SW was 25% in place of beef tallow). I LOVE the lather and it seems to stay more firm in the shower as compared to its beef tallow counterpart. It's interesting you mention your skin feeling tight, and just the other day I was wondering how this soap would do during winter when the air is super dry. Time will tell, but in the meantime, thanks again for the update because all the talk about SW on the forum the past few months (including this post) is what got me to try it in the first place and I'm glad I did!
 
It's interesting you mention your skin feeling tight, and just the other day I was wondering how this soap would do during winter when the air is super dry. Time will tell, but in the meantime, thanks again for the update because all the talk about SW on the forum the past few months (including this post) is what got me to try it in the first place and I'm glad I did!
Me too! I needed a vegan alternative to lard, which I love. In terms of hardness it's fine to just switch them out, however, in terms of cleansing and conditioning it might be best to reformulate, considering the properties of each fat. I'd probably decrease my soy wax a bit and add more conditioning oils and/or butters...
 
Back in the soy wax users thread I promised here I'd make a comparison of it against lard as a hardener, and so I did.

I decided to make two fresh soaps, so I could compare trace, molding, unmolding, curing, etc. simultaneously. I think that's a better study than comparing fresh soap to one sitting on the shelf already 2mos.

Recipe:
30% lye concentration, 3% SF, no fragrance
Soy wax/lard 40%, pomace 27%, coconut oil 18%, grapeseed oil 10%, castor oil 5%
*please note that I could not access pure soy wax and used one labeled as 444 that's apparently 98% soy wax and with a (unknown to me) soy based additive at 2%.

Procedure:
I melted both lard and soy wax in the microwave and dumped them into room temperature oils. At this time, the lye water was already mixed, with the container sitting in cold water, and I just waited for the temps to even out somewhat. My handy dandy hand told me I should proceed when I checked after 15mins. I hand stirred both - stirred, checked on the napping baby, stirred again, washed a couple of containers, stirred again. Didn't take that long.

Observations before molding:
The soy wax batter got to light trace before the lard batter did. I was mixing both by hand simultaneously. Batter color and consistency at light trace was very similar and I worried I'd mix em up lol. Should have taken pics. I mixed a lil cocoa powder for the tops of the soy ones so I can differentiate them.

Observations after molding:
Here's where things get interesting. I purposely unmolded when I thought it was too early, at 20hrs, and both soaps stuck to the bottoms and sides. At around 30hrs the lard stuck on one side only, not at the bottom, but the soy stuck on all sides again. Unmolding at 37hrs still had the soy sticking while the lard one slid out cleanly. I, unfortunately don't have a pic of the untouched soy ones all together but here's one of the lard soap.
View attachment 38317
You can however, see the first unmolded soy soap with all its glorious ash and the stuck sides here.

Speaking of ash.. They all got it. I left them uncovered and not insulated to see what will happen. I think I got gel but you guys will have to confirm. Here's a pic of freshly molded soap side by side with a pic after about 14hrs.
View attachment 38318
At this point, at close to 44hrs since both soaps were made, I can definitely say the lard soap is firmer than the soy wax soap, which also is still tacky. I also think it's the thick ash that's tacky, since the others I cleaned aren't as much.

Color wise they've both evened out and are similar, but the soy is still slightly whiter. Yesterday the soy one was very noticeably whiter, even after I shaved off the ash. Here's pics of the tops, bottoms, and one side.
View attachment 38321
View attachment 38319
View attachment 38320
First pic, I shaved off the sides of the soy wax soap to get to the no ash part. You can see it clearer here. Second pic, I patiently "washed" the ash away with cloth and 70% alcohol and you'll notice I even dropped this soap lol. Last pic, the soy wax soap is untouched.

Ehmm.. I don't know what else to say but if you guys ask questions I should be able to answer them.

Sorry for the long post. I hope this helps someone lol and thanks for getting to the end haha love you guys!

Dawni, What is your water amount? I found that when I reduced my water, I reduced my chance of getting ash and nowadays I get almost no ash.
 
I've been really lucky with my soy wax soaps in terms of no ash. So far I have not gone about 30% soy wax and have not got ash on any of them. My water amount tends to be lower with a 33% Lye concentration or higher most of the time. My soy wax soaps have all been CP, so have no experience with HP soy wax soap. But I don't recall ever getting ash on an HP soap so not sure if it was heat or the fact that water got cooked out or what contributed to the no ash.
 
I've been really lucky with my soy wax soaps in terms of no ash. So far I have not gone about 30% soy wax and have not got ash on any of them. My water amount tends to be lower with a 33% Lye concentration or higher most of the time. My soy wax soaps have all been CP, so have no experience with HP soy wax soap. But I don't recall ever getting ash on an HP soap so not sure if it was heat or the fact that water got cooked out or what contributed to the no ash.
It’s probably your low water amount.
 
I've been really lucky with my soy wax soaps in terms of no ash. So far I have not gone about 30% soy wax and have not got ash on any of them. My water amount tends to be lower with a 33% Lye concentration or higher most of the time. My soy wax soaps have all been CP, so have no experience with HP soy wax soap. But I don't recall ever getting ash on an HP soap so not sure if it was heat or the fact that water got cooked out or what contributed to the no ash.

That second sentence should read "So far I have not gone above (not about) ....

Just a correction.
 
Dawni, What is your water amount? I found that when I reduced my water, I reduced my chance of getting ash and nowadays I get almost no ash.
Yes, that's the general consensus I think.... Less water, less chances of ash. I used 30% lye concentrationion for this one, can't remember why lol

Thanks for the reminder @earlene. I've forgotten that I wanted to HP with soy wax.
 
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