tallow soap

[Primrose]

Yeah my comment was more sort of surprised that people dont think a tallow/lard soap lathers well

I havent tried dual lye soaps yet but this thread has me curious, perhaps I'll have to try a batch

 

[DeeAnna]

Tallow has a decent bit of myristic and lauric acid, so it should lather better than lard. Lard doesn't have much of these fatty acids.

 

[soapmaker]

I use tallow and/or lard up to 50% and I didnt think there was anything wrong with the way it lathers?

As I stated in my original post it is my first tallow soap. I have made lard soaps and they are slow to lather IMO and take work to lather up. So I added tallow, reading that it lathered somewhat better and also added sorbitol. Don't soapmaker's like to play? I may be satisfied with this or when I get the itch I may try a dual lye recipe. Glad you like yours!

 

[Yooper]

I would not go with 20% KOH for a dual lye soap. It is going to be to soft of a soap. I use 5% KOH and it helps the lather just fine without compromising the soap and longevity of the soap.

That's a typo! It's supposed to be 2 %! Not 20%- I have used 2% with great success.

 

[madison]

Tallow has a decent bit of myristic and lauric acid, so it should lather better than lard. Lard doesn't have much of these fatty acids.

I used lard very few times, I figured out that I am allergic to it so I don't use it anymore, I had hard time getting it to lather, unlike my tallow soap lathers much better.

 

[DeeAnna]

That's a typo! It's supposed to be 2 %! Not 20%- I have used 2% with great success.

Oh, I have to say ... that sounds a lot better. I was thinking like Carolyn that a 20% KOH soap would be soft.

I use tallow and/or lard up to 50% and I didnt think there was anything wrong with the way it lathers?

I re-read this tonight and wanted to add that just knowing that a recipe is 50% tallow or lard isn't really telling the whole story. The type and percentages of the other fats will have a lot to do with the lathering ability.

For example I've made an 80% lard, 20% coconut bar before and it lathered really nicely. I used all NaOH as the lye (no KOH). On the other hand, an 80% lard, 20% olive oil soap probably won't lather nearly as well.

 

[soapmaker]

Try a scrap if you have one after cutting, you will be amazed at the lather. I have certainly used up to 10% castor and like it, but castor is getting expensive and I sell....

My tallow soap is now one week old. At the same time I also made a 20% CO, 80% OO goat milk soap to which I also added sorbitol. This morning I tried the scraps. Love them both but much to my surprise the goat milk soap is harder with more (or at least equal to) the lather of the tallow. I was pleased with them both both and know they will only get better. Both were 34% lye concentration. Soapmaking sends your mind in a whirl. How could an 80% OO soap be harder than a soap with 35% tallow?

 

[HoneyLady]

I love tallow and / or lard soaps! But yes, they tend to be low lathering. But soooo creamy! I once accidentally made a 20% castor oil soap. (Never soap with a bad headache!) I kept it around figuring eventually I'd chop it up for laundry, or floor cleaner, or some such. To my surprise after curing for about 11 months, I re-discovered it, and grabbed a bar. It's lovely! Very gentle, bubbly, and soothing. But it did require a longer cure time. I need to try and re-create the whoops.

As an aside: Oh, no! I've been away for a while and am catching up. And immediately, DeeAnna is leading me into temptation, right off the bat! Using dual lye solutions for a higher lathering lard bar?? Girl, you gonna get me in troubbbbbble! . . . Missed you!

~Honey Lady~

 

[SoapAddict415]

I've always wanted to try making a tallow soap. Is this a good price for tallow? I can easily find lard locally but finding beef tallow is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

 

[soapmaker]

No, that's a terrible price. Check this link.
https://www.soaperschoice.com/beef-fat-renderedbeef-fat-rendered

 

[SoapAddict415]

No, that's a terrible price. Check this link.
https://www.soaperschoice.com/beef-fat-renderedbeef-fat-rendered

Thanks [emoji4]

 

[nframe]

...And then there's my 65% tallow formula where I use it at a whopping 23%. How much I use all depends on my formula. Some can take a higher amount and some can't. My 65% tallow formula with 23% castor feels like velvet to my skin, not sticky at all, but if I happened to use that much in my olive oil formula, it wouldn't feel as nice I'm sure.

IrishLass

Irish Lass,
I wanted to thank you for that recipe. I tried it and the resulting soap is wonderful. I would never have thought of this and I am very grateful.