Lardy Boy!

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I was in the local supermarket and saw lard at 2.40€ per kilo, so thought I'd give it a go in a soap. I'm thinking -

Lard - 45%
OO - 35%
CO - 15%
Castor - 5%
10% SF

Numbers look good in the calc - cleansing and bubbles are a tad low, but it's not really anything to cry over. Conditioning is fairly high in the scale, with creamy and hardness near the mid-range.

I'd appreciate feedback - should I make this or just cook up some Schnitzel in the lard?

 

[CaraCara]

Using lard will make a nice bar of soap. You can always add honey or icing sugar to the mix to increase bubbles. I played with your recipe a bit (below). It ups the cleansing but the conditioning is so high, not to mention the SF, that it shouldn't be an issue unless your skin is sensitive to CO. This also increases fluffy lather.
Lard - 30%
OO - 45%
CO - 20%
Castor - 5%
10% SF

 

[Obsidian]

I say go for it, the numbers look good to me. You can add up to 1 Tbs of sugar PPO to help boost lather.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

........ It ups the cleansing but the conditioning is so high, not to mention the SF, that it shouldn't be an issue unless your skin is sensitive to CO.........

A very good point! Thank you. I was trying to keep the CO low but of course I'm also using lard which should offset that. Oooooh, I love learning new things in soaping!

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

This also seems to be pretty good -

Lard - 45%
OO - 35%
CO - 20%
10% SF

Dropping out the castor hasn't buggered it up on paper at least, as it means another 5% lard. Will be playing a lot around with this, but please feel free to keep the ideas coming!

 

[PinkCupcake]

Just last night I was playing with SoapCalc, thinking about making a lard soap, and your formula is almost exactly what I came up with. I have never used lard, but I'm thinking about it. If you try it, be sure to let us know how it turns out!

 

[pamielynn]

Lard rocks!

 

[Hazel]

I think all the recipes look good. It just depends on what you're trying to achieve. Both recipes you posted will produce a mild bar and as was mentioned, you can add some sugar to help boost the bubbles. CaraCara's recipe is close to the percentages I use. I like lard in recipes and I've found it increased the conditioning more than I thought it would based upon the values shown in SoapCalc. I have dry skin and I use 5% SF with recipes which have 30% lard and 25% CO. However, recently I've noticed the 5% SF isn't quite enough since it's become so cold and the furnace is kicking on a lot. The air is drier in the house and the cold air is brutal when I go outside. Thanks to Northern Canada & Siberia for sharing the arctic air with us! And so they don't feel unappreciated, I'll include thanks to Eastern Alaska and the Yukon. So generous of them to contribute to it.

My favorite recipe with lard which I think makes a good all-purpose shower bar:

30% Lard
30% Olive
25% Coconut
10% Sunflower (I use high oleic but regular sunflower is good, too)
5% Castor

However, I would definitely increase the SF next time I made this recipe. I might even consider lowering the CO and increasing another oil to compensate. Of course, I'd prefer to hibernate until spring but that's not a viable option.

 

[dixiedragon]

I use lard all the time! Love it!

 

[hlee]

Another lard lover here.
I just wish it had a prettier name.
I think we should rename it. lol!

 

[cmzaha]

Every time I mention to my hubby that a soap has turned out exceptional I check the recipe and it always is one with lard. If you mix canola or high oleic sunflower it really comes out fantastic.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Lard here in Austria is called Schweineschmalz, which really highlights the piggy origins.

Looking forward to making this one. I now have 3 soaps waiting to be made and I think the order will be - Castile, Lard and then Bay Rum. I think I'll have to start tomorrow afternoon!

 

[Tienne]

In Swedish lard is called ister. Not particularly exciting. In Danish it's called svinefedt. That's a little bit piggy too.

 

[Ancel]

In Spanish it's manteca, in Scots Gaelic blonag. Either way, still great in soap

 

[Hazel]

I'm not positive about these but...

French - saindoux
Filipino - mantika

 

[ca_soap]

At my house Lard is called Soap! It is the base of nearly every one of my soaps. Your original recipe you questioned is very close to the one I use for my base in 90% of my soaps and it makes a wonderful soap. When it is all said and done the lard is no longer lard just as the lye is no longer lye. I predict you will be very happy with the finished product.

 

[fuzz-juzz]

Go for it! I didn't think much of lard until I used some to make some facial bars since soaps that I made with CO were too harsh. I used it as 50% of oils and it made lovely creamy bars. My recipe was similar to yours but without CO. I used small percentage of castor oil so soap still lathers a bit, but without CO is less striping and drying on face.