Need some help. First time working with lard.

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Kpg009

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Hi guys,

I started making soap with lard for the first time this week. Have already made 2 small batches to practice. I have noticed that in those 2 batches when unmolding some parts of the sides of the soap sticked to the silicone mold and the soap feels sticky and soft. Before using lard my soap came pretty smooth. Not so much anymore 😅

Does lard tend to make soap sticky? Or it could be something else?
This is the last recipe I made:
Unmold after 24hrs +
86F6B992-371B-4C88-9C9E-575B51200E4D.png
 
May I ask what oil you used before replacing with lard?
Lard is relatively soft among brittle oils. Other hard oils like palm or tallow will turns hard quicker. Lard will take longer to trace and harden. I usually need to let my lard soap sit longer than my palm soap before I can unmold or they will be too soft and deform. That's probably where the stickiness from.
If you have soap sticking to the mold then you simply need to let them sit longer to harden. If you need to unmold them sooner, considering adding sodium lactate or salt to help hardening your soap. Or you can chill your soap in the fridge, unmold, and let them air dry.
 
I often use lard at 60% and higher. It's a slow saponifier and unless I use an accelerating fragrance oil, it's common for me to have to wait 3 days before I unmold.
You're using 18% lard and your recipe is nicely balanced. This makes me think you're unmolding too soon. Some fragrances can also slow saponification (like Nurture's black raspberry vanilla....8 eight days before I could unmold and it was still too soon!)
 
May I ask what oil you used before replacing with lard?
Lard is relatively soft among brittle oils. Other hard oils like palm or tallow will turns hard quicker.
I reduced like 5% palm, coconut 2% and olive 11%.

I often use lard at 60% and higher. It's a slow saponifier and unless I use an accelerating fragrance oil, it's common for me to have to wait 3 days before I unmold.
You're using 18% lard and your recipe is nicely balanced. This makes me think you're unmolding too soon. Some fragrances can also slow saponification (like Nurture's black raspberry vanilla....8 eight days before I could unmold and it was still too soon!)
That make sense. I will wait longer next time.
Thank you so much to both!
 
My soap recipe typically have 35-45% lard. I gel all of my soaps and can unmold the day after they are made. I also use 1 tsp PPO sodium lactate and silicone molds. If a soap doesn't gel, it does take longer to unmold.
Well thats awesome then. I am currently waiting for an order of sodium lactate to arrive. I Will update on my experience using it, once it arrive. Thanks
 
I use between 45%-60% lard in all my recipes. If they get to 120°F in the gelling phase, I can unmold within 24 hours without anything sticking or softness. I maintain that temperature for at least 2 hours and then I let it cool down gradually. Depending on the amount of lard, I can unmold after 18 hours. I use a higher percentage of SL than most people 3.5% ppo and it works great for me. Your recipe is very similar to mine except I use HOSAFO (high oleic safflower oil) and PKF (palm kernel flakes) instead of OO and PO. But I do use OO on one of my recipes and it turns out great too.
 
I use between 45-65% lard depending on the recipe. Always gel. Never use SL. I can normally cut at 16-24 hours. I pour, set on a heating pad, cover with 2 beach towels, and watch it like a hawk for 4 hours. Turn the heating pad off, leave the towels on, and walk away until almost bedtime. If it is mostly firm, I uncover them and go to bed. If it is firm, I cut it.

Never had any worries about soft or sticky soap unless it was overflow into individual molds that don't gel. Those little darlings had to sit 3-7 days.
 
My experience is the same as Susie's -- high lard recipes, no sodium lactate, cut the day after making. I have sodium lactate on hand and have played around with it from time to time, but I have yet to be convinced it's a critical ingredient for good soap.

I encourage the soap to gel, because I really do think that makes a big difference in how the soap turns out -- harder, more translucent, brighter colors. I don't have any particular method I use to get it hot enough to gel -- I usually just watch it a little and add a towel or cardboard box on top if I think it would be helpful. That's usually in winter when the house is cool. If the house is warmer, I normally cover the top with a light cover of waxed paper (or similar) to keep the dust off and that's all it needs.

If the soap doesn't gel, which happens occasionally when I don't watch it close enough, the soap does stay softer and more difficult to work with. I don't think the lard is the cause of that, however -- it's just the nature of not-gelled soap. A "rescue oven processing" step solves this problem.
 
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