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Firstly, I prefer using lard over tallow in my soaps. I like tallow soap, just for me, lard is lard!
Marie wrote a fantastic article about the benefits of tallow soaps:
Why I Use Lard or Tallow in My Soap (And Why You Should, Too)
So my question for you, is what percentages do you usually use?
I use both lard and tallow. I can tell a bit of a difference, but not enough that I could really explain it. Both feel very conditioning and creamy to me. Lard is easier for me to get because it’s carried in the grocery stores here. Tallow I have to order online. I use 15-20% in my recipes.
We rendered down venison tallow to try this fall and it made a beautiful bar, harder than the lye, so longer wearing and silky smooth. The working men in my life all rave about that particular one. Unfortunately not one I can duplicate easily.
Nice! I guess you’ll have to wait for deer season to roll around again. If your men are hunters, maybe there are other animal fats you can try out. Moose tallow? Elk tallow? Bear tallow? I wonder if you could buy those somewhere? Hmmmmm…that would be an interesting experiment!
Hmmm, you can also ask your local butcher for them to save you tallow. Normally they’ll give it to you or charge you very small amount for it. So, it can be worth it.
Now I want to try deer tallow soap. Seriously try it!
When I make my lard or tallow soap, I find that when I add the lye mixture to the oils, and for about a week or two, the soap smells acidic. I usually use either in percentages of 5-20%.
My lard and tallow both don’t have any scent before soaping.
Belinda, I know what you mean. I find the tallow makes the bar feel harder in my hand, and the lard soap feels more luxurious in my hand. But to us, not really a big difference.
I know this might sound silly, but if you combined tallow and lard in a soap, for the tallow percentage– would it give you both the luxurious feel and the hardness?
Yup! A very big yup! But, you want to make sure that your percentage of both don’t exceed 30-40%. Im trying to get my soap customers ok with one, but my plan is to do that combo for the new soaps that will be sold in the autumn. I plan 15% lard and 10% tallow for all bars.
Poor male. I’m revising the grocery list and he’s going to think he’s getting deep fried food, which I never make. Bwahaha!
But this will help with numbers….and figuring out the amounts. *blinks*
I envy you Cyn! Just starting out in CP soaping! Expimenting for the first time is such a high!
learning which oils can be substituted partially for other oils due to similar properties is fun! I am not a big olive oil soap fan, as I call it snotty soap. So when I make my soaps,usually my recipes looks something like this:
25% lard/tallow
25%ish coconut oil
25%ish olive oil/rice bran oil
10-15% shea butter
5% castor oil2-15%ish speciality oil: macadamia nut oil, sweet almond oil, sea buckthorn, moringa, pomegranate oil, argan, apricot oil etc….
But there are so many factors to look at. This recipe I find works amazing in northern China. But get it out of northern China and into the south? I need harder oils. Your water will also play a big role in how your soap is used and bubbles in the shower. It’s crazy fun to learn all this!
Water? Serious? How the ducky am I gonna figure that one out?
I can see most of them, how there used. But why rice bran instead of olive oil? I don’t see it used much. Does it help in a way similar or have a special touch?
Plus….. I know Marie’s article on percentage to oils, but when I do this, someone is going to walk me through this. I used to be good at this math thing. Now I’m panicking at the idea of volume, oils and percentages to weight.
And yet…I feel a need to soap. And I want to do cool soaps that are bubbly, silky fun.
It was a China/Asia thing mostly, but I’ve found it’s a fantastic oil. It’s very nice and makes my soaps feel more silky and it’s pretty high in vitamin e which is nice!
A lot of my soaps I seem to sell mostly to Chinese women, they like the fact it contains oils they are familiar with (rice, camellia) and some they are unfamiliar with (coconut oil). And as an added selling feature? I can say I designed it with Chinese skin in mind! Laugh with me now!
Oh, that’s brilliant! I love the idea of using camellia oil. Now that I know more how rice bran transforms soap, I’ll keep it mind. Could be good here in Florida. I love the idea of a luxury pamper soap. Like a spa day bar. Are there any like that?
All soaps can be whatever you make them.
In all honesty, I don’t notice a difference in using most of the “luxury” 2-15%. Sure there are a couple that are distinct, but generally speaking, my argan soap to me feels just the same as my “regular” bar. My Pom soap same. Camellia oil soap to me they are pretty much all the same. Wash off products so to me a waste. Customers love it so who am I to really care?
To me? Every day in my shower is a spa day. I’ve actually noticed I rarely go to the spa anymore as there is no point. My house has better stuff. Luxury is what you make it. Could be the coconut shea salt scrub bar, or the coffe chai latte cream, or the sea buckthorn berry soap… they are all luxurious soaps! Once you’ve used homemade soap for a few months and then try to use store bought, you’ll see what I mean!
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