I like to use a milk frother for this job as it speeds up the process. Always add the lye to the water to avoid unsafe chemical reaction. While lard is definitely an old-fashioned soap ingredient, this recipe has a bit of a modern take with coconut and castor oils for extra bubbles! The Original Soap Making Recipe Using Weight. Any thoughts on the method, ratio, etc? I actually made it with leftover bacon grease. I superfatted my soap at 5%, just to be on the safe side. Hi there! Homestead Lard Soap - 2 lbs. Started this process on Sunday! savvyhomemade.com is reader-supported, if you buy via the links here we may earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you,please read our full affiliate disclosure here. Also known as glycerin soap, melt and pour allows the soap maker to select the desired soap base and customize it to whatever extent they wish. Thats great to hear! Yo. Ill usually always try out a new fragrance or essential oil in a lard soap first, just to be doubly sure before using it in more expensive formulations. Weigh oils into a separate container one at a time before pouring each into the crockpot. Your article said that theres a PDF version of the lard soap recipe. I am a costumed interpreter at a historic home and am trying to learn to make soap the really old fashioned way with potash made from ashes, rainwater, and lard. And the invitation of blank white walls. Our grandmothers and great-grandmothers made soap with lard for the sake of convenience and availability. I was cleaning out my cupboards and found some expired store-bought lard. Mixing To start the soap mixing, first pour the melted fat into your large bowl, bucket, or crock. However, you can't wait too long, as the mixture will begin to set up, so watch it carefully. Im starting with a simple no thrills soap recipe then Im going to show you how to spruce it up and give it a completely different look and feel. are good resources) and to use the equivalent of several bottles for a batch of soap. Mix in a well-ventilated area and don't breathe the fumes in. Melt the lard in a pot on the stove until it reaches between 37C and 51C. And if you learn how to make your lard soaps interesting, they can actually look and feel much more luxurious than you might think. Thank you!!! I think this is a great post on the gel phase. Using an accurate set of scales, place your pot on the scales and reset them to zero. If you do happen to accidentally get some on your skin, keep some vinegar close at hand to help neutralise the burn. Measure out the required quantities of water, lye, and lard using the digital scale (Figure A). You can also line them with baking paper if desired. This soap recipe is for cold process soap. Desperately googling replacing olive oil and coconut oil in soap only to see people saying it is what it is! Isnt good enough. This acidic vinegar will help to neutralize the alkaline lye. Step 2: Prepare the Oils. Pour the soap into your prepared mould. Welcome to SavvyHomemade, it's my true passion. Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial! We always soap at 5 percent excess fat. Write down your soap recipe according to the calculator. Arrowroot powder or clay would work the same. The first method I often recommend to beginners, because its such a cheap and easy ingredient to work with. Give it a stir for a minute or two to combine and then use your stick mixer to mix until the soap comes to trace, which means it looks kind of like a thin custard. Thank you so much!! To do this, you would either wrap your mold in bath towels to insulate and keep the temperature up, or you could put it in the oven at a low setting like 120 degrees. Coconut oil is expensive enough to eat, let alone making soap from it. Allow the hot soap to cool to around 135F (57C), stirring occasionally. Yes, I grate it first for laundry powder. Carefully pour the lye water into the tallow. Just found your recipe a couple of weeks ago and gave it a try. Always add the lye to the water not the water to the lye, or you might get a volcanic eruption happening. Ive made Tallow a few times and some have turned out great, some hard, some soft and I have know idea why lol but I have never worked out how to store/clean fat from a roast? .Essential Oil Fragrance: Lemon Light or Lemongrass.Lemongrass Light - Lighter Fragrance:.88 /approx. The lye and water make a chemical reaction and will get hot once you combine them. Melt the lard, coconut oil, and castor oil in a medium saucepan. 5.75 ounces water. So why put yourself through that? Enjoy some me time with these relaxing DIY bath salts with lavender. Our go-to is the Sage Lye Calculator, which has never let us down. If you want to add fragrance, nows the time to do it. This is great for those who do not want their soap bars to smell like pork or bacon. That being said, I made lye water using the bucket method and concentrated it down over a fire. It is my favorite thing to make and give. However, lard soap is a very mild cleanser and our customers feedback confirms it is great for kids. olive oil 6 oz. Lard is actually rendered pig fat meaning it has been heated and purified to remove any impurities, it is softer than tallow and is considered a grease. Strain the infused soap base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Hi loved your info on soap making. . How cool! Wearing protective gear, pour the sodium hydroxide over the water. Spoon soap mixture into molds. This mixture will get very hot and release steam at first. Pour the soap mixture into the mold, making sure to press it into all the corners and smooth out the top as much as possible. stir gently, being careful not to cause any splashes, until the lye is dissolved. making soap out of wood ash and fat (tallow/lard) is kind of a fun project, but don't expect soap you can. There are two methods you can use to make lye from hardwood ashes. Fantastic! I recommend that you add other soap making oils that offer better cleaning abilities and more bubbly lather to make up for what lard lacks. Some people get lard and tallow confused. You can actually follow the same process for rendering lard that you would for rendering tallow. I have never made soap before, but have been gathering ingredients including lard from a heritage breed pig we split with some friends! So, if I have a bunch of Rosemary and want to make Rosemary Mint, can I cook up my own scent instead of using essential oils? But sometimes its difficult to know when youre ready to take the next step. Soap can be made by using either the cold or hot process. Silicon molds are very flexible and floppy for lack of a better word. Step 4: Add the pink color to one and give it a blend or whisk to make sure it is well disbursed. It makes a nice soap, too. Essential oil or soap-making scent, if desired. Pig cells and human cells are very compatible. , which has never let us down. That is the one downfall for those used to soaping with other oils. Your best bet is to start with melted and increase the temperature of home-rendered lard until satisfied with the bars. Moose soap! Then Ill show you my rose petal lard soap with pink clay, and my funky bubble gum lard soap thats perfect for the bath. (Very hard tap water can make your soap slimy, so distilled works best.) This content is relevant as of August 25, 2022, Home Blog Homemade Crafts Soap Recipes A Basic Lard Soap Recipe That Looks Great. It takes some adjustment of expectation. 2.5 ounces lye beads*. Thank you for this post, tallow is an underrated and unappreciated natural wonder! In a medium saucepan, melt the fats and oils together. In the past, Ive used plastic Tupperware, wood, and glass molds with great success, but they do need to be lined with waxed baking paper or the soap is nearly impossible to remove. This will take a few minutes. Before you make this soap, take a few minutes to watch the video below for the basic method. You may find it helpful to measure all of the oils and put them in a bowl then put the containers away, just to keep your workspace clear. https://www.frugalandthriving.com.au/homemade-laundry-detergent/, https://www.aussiesoapsupplies.com.au/how-to-infuse-herbs.html, https://lovelygreens.com/guide-herbs-flowers-soap-recipes/, water (distilled, filtered or rainwater is best), A wooden spoon (I do have a separate wooden spoon for soap making), A stick blender (optional, but will save you a lot of stirring), A mould (I used a plastic tub clean recycled plastic containers is another option or silicone cake moulds), Rubber gloves and glasses (I wore sunglasses and made the soap outside. We dont have control over the content of our ads. Hi Anna, Im not sure, to be honest. If you pour water into a container of lye, a caustic lye volcano could erupt in your kitchen. Mixing. If you want your bars to smell like flowers or lemons or patchouli, plan to buy oils in bulk (. I love all the information in addition to your recipe, I have been so curious about lard soap and why it isnt as common and the benefits of utilizing the natural elements around us, you explained it all so well! However, they were fine to use after about a week, just a bit soft. Heres a couple of posts I found that talks about using infused herbs. You might find it called animal shortening or dipping. So, I just wanted to make the correction - you can make soap without specifically using lye. However, I made liquid dish soap with lemon essential oil and noticed that my glasses are extra sparkly, so Im wondering if the lemon has a similar effect! NO, chemically-speaking, soap itself cannot be made without lye. It is harder to do than making lye soap, but it can be done. Do the same with the blue coloring. olive oil 9 oz. Unlike commercial soaps, where the glycerin is removed and sold as a separate by-product, homemade soap retains the glycerine, which is very moisturising. We use half-gallon Mason jars to mix lye and water. We have used lavender oil and flowers to great effect, and we've just guessed at the amounts. Step Four - Mix. Carefully pour the melted soap base into the molds and spray it with alcohol. Soap made with lard is affordable and nourishing to your skin. Vanillin: 0% (Fr Add in a few drops of your essential oil of choice and stir. Gather your ingredients and supplies. The lye heated to milk up to almost 130 degrees!! Continue blending until the batter is thick enough to leave a trace line on the surface of the mixture when you trickle some of the soap off the blender or a spoon. Although, I wanted to mention people *can* make soap without lye. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for recipe will give it a try. Never mind. Let me know how you get on with our other recipes! At the same time, measure the filtered water and the sodium hydroxide. Turn the soap on its side and cut it into bars. If you are a homesteader who raises your own meat, you know the sense of honor that you feel for the animal. 30% Olive Oil. The answers are: Yes. Lets get the scary but important stuff out of the way first. Thats not fun. You can pretty your bars up by shaving the edges with a clean vegetable peeler, or you can mill them into speciality soaps, which Ill cover in another post. - approx. Once melted, set aside to cool. Ive wanted to make soap the old fashioned way since I was a kid reading Little House books:p So excited! I always find it best to then prepare and weigh all of the ingredients before starting. Enjoy experimenting! It took a lot longer than 30 minutes for the render but then I had quite a lot of fat to get through. The average quantity of essential oil you would use here would be about 2tsp. Once your soap has gone hard, you can turn it out of the mould with care and cut it into bars. Some folks need bubbles to feel like things have truly been cleaned. Hi, I'm Angela, and I make most of the homemade things here at Savvy Homemade. Additive and scent at light trace 30 to 50 grams of your favorite essential oils or fragrance oils (you will need a bottle of 30 to 60 milliIitres the equivalent of 1 to 2 fluid ounces). Let the ashes settle to the bottom of the pan. Lard can be considered a sustainable by-product. In this case, the fat we're using is lard, a homesteader favorite. The batch size is roughly 1.429kg (1,429g), so youre going to need a mold that can contain up to 1.5kg of soap batter. I wouldnt use it for cooking as it is probably rancid. I love your recipe and have been able to make several batches with great results. While a supplier might tell me a certain fragrance oil is great in cold process soap, I dont always trust them. I absolutely love your instructions. I got mine from Woolies and used very little to make around 1 kilo of soap, so its going to last for years! This is why Ive combined a few more advanced soap making techniques with my lard soap recipe. Prepare the mold. Normally, animal fat is a by-product of meat production, and instead of being thrown away, it can be used to make soaps, thus making it a sustainable process. When you use the soap for laundry, do you grate it first? And 10 days are more than enough to cure or harden a bar of lard soap. Hope that it is the one like my beloved grandma who used it for clothes stains as best than commercial products. The lye and water mixture will be very hot, so use a sturdy container and stay upwind if you can. Wrap a towel around the soap mold to keep it warm. Personally, I rarely add color to my soap so I do not force or even allow my soap to go through the gel phase. It is a mild cleanser that is highly compatible with the structure of our skin cells with a similar pH as well. If you are using water-soluble colors mix them with 2 teaspoons of water. Sounds really interesting. I believe frugal living is the means to a happy, healthy thriving life. I want to be able to demonstrate this to visitors on our farm days. I wont be selling the soap. A jug would be easier). Then do the same with the final one. 30% Lard or Tallow. Soap Made Easy, Three Steps To Perfect Skin, & The Natural Oils Series. Similarities in lipid and collagen makeup in fat and skin make moisture more easily absorbed when we use lard soap. No products mentioned are intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Once the oil is transparent, remove it from the heat and allow to cool while mixing the lye and milk. Use your rubber spatula to clean the bowl and smooth out the top of the loaf pan. Great to find a fellow Aussie to follow, makes finding products so much easier! Here, I share all the random things that make up our life: DIY home projects, food, farm, family tips, raising children, homeschooling and deeper things like tending to your soul. You have successfully joined our subscriber list, check your email for the library password! Remember, the lye and water mixture will heat up by itself. It is often recommended to have separate equipment for soap making, but I just use the kitchen equipment I have on hand, and wash it well, using plain vinegar first to neutralise the lye, then hot soapy water. That would be cool to learn. A customary warning when mixing the water and the lye: Always add your lye to the liquid. Thank you. Be generous as some will inevitably fall off later. Vegans and vegetarians excepted, I cant understand why we despise soap made from animal fat, when its less expensive, eliminates waste and makes excellent (some people argue superior) soap. And the case of not being able to see the forest for theapples. Lye is a naturally occurring substance, and while its the scary part of soap making, theres no way of making soap without it. Hello! Once you have reached trace, stir in the clay followed by the essential oil. Our process keeps it simple. so i have a question. Will make this soon. 32 oz lard 4.3 oz lye 12.2 oz water The oils and the milk should also be within 10 degrees of each other before combining! Stir with a stainless steel spoon until the lye is completely dissolved. It seems crazy to be ordering oil from halfway around the world. This will allow the saponification process to finish and will make your bars last longer. Lard soap is fully cured at 3-4 weeks. Hi Michelle, nice to meet you. That wonderful to hear MamaCass, Im so glad youve found a way of using up your ingredients. And how much do you use? Cover with a lid or tin foil and let it stand 12-18 hours. Wearing gloves and protective glasses is advisable. Start by watching the short video & full cold process tutorial here. Just four ingredients and you are ready to make soap! Stir the 1 teaspoon of salt into the cold water. To be on the safe side, I would run it through a soap calculator first to make sure everything works out okay. Also, have you tried adding citric acid to the soap for extra cleaning power? Figure A. The lard only bars are great and I find they lather very well. This doesnt have to be completely accurate, just use your best judgement. Once the salt is stirred in, pour in the lye and mix until dissolved. Then I figured it was too expensive. The Foxfire Museum offers regular classes on making lard based soap, outside over a fire. calculator. Lard makes a very mild, conditioning soap that is great for your skin. The mixture must then be stirred vigorously until it thickens, like a custard. When I make soap with milk, I put the mold directly in the freezer to keep it from overheating and burning. You can totally make soap from any type of fat. So, in sum, lard is very economical and creates hard, long-lasting bars. Using the immersion blender, mix the ingredients together. Simply type in the amount of lard in grams and it will walk you through the rest of the soap-making process. What size is your soap mold to accommodate the entire batch? It is best to go for mild options that help improve skin therapy. There is a personal preference in soap making regarding whether you should allow or force a soap to go through what is called the gel phase. Once both the lye mixture and the lard are at the same temperature, pour the lye mixture into the melted lard. I have 3 great lard soap recipes to prove that theory wrong. The soap batter will begin to lighten in color and thicken. Lard on its own makes a great laundry soap for homemade laundry detergent, although we use ours for personal washing and it cleans just fine. If youre in the north GA area it would be a terrific way to learn. If you dont account for the lost lye, your soap will be extra superfatted and will then be somewhat slimy. mixing them with the liquid oils, 3.) This is bad, however, when you are trying to add natural scents to a bar of soap. Cool. But before moving from my home in Salt Lake City, Utah USA, I made three batches using lard as my primary fat.I had always mixed fats using up to three different fats. Optimal temperature is 85C-115C. Required fields are marked *. If you want your bars to smell like flowers or lemons or patchouli, plan to buy oils in bulk (Piping Rock and Bulk Apothecary are good resources) and to use the equivalent of several bottles for a batch of soap. If you are adding color to your soap then forcing your soap to go through the gel phase may be desirable. [A note on superfatting (you will see this in the soap calculators): Superfatting is a term that means adding more fat or oils to your soap than the lye can react to. Step 3: Bring the soap up to a nice thick constancy; thick enough so that you could spoon it into the mold. It wont clog pores or damage your skin. What scales do you reccomend for weighing out Lye and Lard? I have a post that talks about where to find soap ingredients, check it out. Water content of the ultimate product matters. This first lard soap is a simple lard soap that has excellent cleansing benefits and is great for anyone with sensitive skin. Pour 1 cup grease into stainless steel soapmaking pot Slowly add your 3/8 cup concentrated brown lye water and stir for three minutes Give it a stir for a minute or two to combine and then use your stick mixer to mix until the soap comes to 'trace', which means it looks kind of like a thin custard. If splashes on skin occur, you can neutralise them with white vinegar. This soap is a smooth hard bar that makes your skin feel supple and soft! Although this can be made in a loaf-shaped mold, I prefer the finished effect when Ive used a shallow square-shaped mold. Add the liquid oils (excluding honey and water mixture) and stir. Read more: Oh lardy! And if so, how? Weigh and melt the lard. Your bank account will certainly thank you in the long run! You can find caustic soda in the cleaning section of the supermarket along with the Draino. The same ingredients as the simple lard soap above, but we are adding some wonderful Australian pink clay that is great for drawing out all those toxins that are blocking up our pores. But thats not to say that a lard soap isnt any good. Thank you, thank you! Sorry for the delay. Outside would be better. But it is easy, and only takes around 20 minutes. Use of this website constitutes your acceptance of our, A Basic Lard Soap Recipe That Looks Great, Watch How To Make Basic Cold Process Soap. This change of texture can happen as fast as 30 minutes, or it can take up to one hour. Add the weighed caustic soda/lye to the water in a well-ventilated environment, stirring constantly, until the water is completely dissolved. You only want to bring this up to a very light trace. Wrap your mould in an old towel and put it somewhere safe for two or three days for the soap to set. Initially mix the lye solution and oils together with a silicone spoon until combined. I cure ours in our Harry-Potter-esque cupboard under the stairs. 0 - 0 Gram (s) Citric Acid Powder. sunflower oil 4.25 oz. This website is designed for educational & entertainment purposes only. Mix the lye and milk with a rubber spatula until all the milk is melted and the lye crystals are dissolved. Not only is it cheaper, but it is made with all natural ingredients, no nasty chemicals, and you can customise it to exactly the way you like it. Lard is quick to trace so make sure you have your mold and fragrance ready to grab when you need it. When you reach a thin trace, add the fragrance or color if you are using that. It also acts as insurance that theres enough oil to react with the lye so theres no lye leftover, which can burn if there is. Wow! (this does not include essential oils or fragrance oils). Its a great ingredient to experiment with different soap making techniques without breaking the bank! Jennifer Remove the pot from the scales and place your jug on them. Brown Thumb Mama Add 12 ounces of lye and. We prefer these silicone molds from Amazon. Lyndsey Teter. Start pouring one of the colors into the corners of the mold, you will probably use around half of the jug. A customary warning when mixing the water and the lye: If you pour water into a container of lye, a caustic lye volcano could erupt in your kitchen. Making soap with the melt and pour method. A great example is fragrance oils. If you end up trying it, I would love to hear how it went. Place in an oven for approximately 90 minutes at 200 degrees. Once the fats and oils are melted, set the saucepan aside to cool along with the lye. 907 grams lard. When we try to dilute the pure goodness of lard with shea, olive or castor oils, the lard soap gods are displeased and the bars become softer and take longer to cure. Thats why lard soap never dries out the skin. Add any optional coloring and essential/fragrance oils and stir well. Images of soap-makers suited in goggles and shoulder-length gloves, coupled with the skull and crossbone-level caustic warnings made the process seem daunting. Process: scary or easy? Calculate the weight of your caustic soda based on the formula from the soap calculator. Read More what is the simple life?Continue, Your email address will not be published. Once youve cut your bars, You will then need to leave your soap in a dry place to cure for around a month, turning once in a while before its ready for use. Thats awesome, thanks for sharing your experience! 3- Lard soap will not smell like meat. Following is a quick video of how to create melt and pour soap in a microwave. I havent made soap in a while and your post prompted me to get back into it. Stir lye and water until thoroughly dissolved, Being sure to stir lye into the water, and not dumping water onto lye in the crock. Was great to read this Mel. Altogether this was a great recipe after the changes and the soap turned out to be very bubbly. This homemade liquid dish soap recipe makes a legitimate real liquid dish soap. Its a very luxurious soap. Turn your head and lean away while stirring, so as not to breathe any of the fumes in. 2.2 ounces of lye crystals = negligible volume increase.. So a long answer to say, no, I have not tried either personally! Melt the fats in a large stock pot on the stove at the same time, and let both cool to about 90-100 degrees before slowly pouring the lye water into the melted fat. Check them out here! All of the ingredients are then blended and made into soap using the standard soap making practice, which you can see here: How to Make Soap. This ensures there is no odor. This is bad, however, when you are trying to add natural scents to a bar of soap. Superfatting makes your soap more moisturising. Step 4: Using the back of a spoon, create a textured effect on the top of the soap. Warm up two cups of grease in a small pan on low heat. Let the mixture sit for at least 3 hours (though overnight is better). So unless you are using a purpose-built soap mold, It will need to be stood on something solid like a book or cutting board. Whats your favourite soap recipe? If you are interested in purchasing any of my soaps or body care products please join my Facebook Group! Then, sprinkle the rose petals onto the soap, pressing them down enough so that they will stick. Reset the scales to zero. Been curing for two weeks now and the bars are nice and hard already. I find, with soapmaking, you kind of have to use grams. Make sure you're wearing proper safety gear of goggles and gloves. I found it to lather much better than in my previous batches where I used different oils. Heres how I make it: https://www.frugalandthriving.com.au/homemade-laundry-detergent/. While the lard is melting, outside, or in a well-ventilated area, add the weighed lye slowly to the water in a Pyrex jug, stirring as you add (I dont have a jug, so Im using a pot. lardy! Amazon Associate Disclosure Jennifer Dynys is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, 2022 The Everyday Farmhouse Refined theme by Restored 316. Step 8: Cut the soap into chunky bars and leave to cure for 4 weeks, turning once in a while. Ive been burned by poor manufacturer guidelines in the past. Question- Have you ever added cornstarch to your essential oils to get the scent to stick more? Thats beyond my experience, sorry. Printable instructions are at the end of the article for your convenience. Add the melted fat and oil to a metal mixing bowl. I have been making soap for several years and have begun to use lard quite often. Thats not fun. Lyndsey Teter pastures a full-bodied herd of heritage breed hogs on her 90-acre farm in Eastern Ohio with her husband Seth and their three daughters. Weigh the water into a glass jug. Dissolving the lye into. Melt the fats in a large stock pot on the stove at the same time, and let both cool to about 90-100 degrees before slowly pouring the lye water into the melted fat. Wrap mould in a towel and place somewhere safe for two or three days for the soap to set. I like to put down some cardboard or thick newspaper to protect my counter. Here Im sharing three great lard soap recipes. Simply apply a stick blender until the mixture looks like pudding. I did have a go at rendering fat I bought from the butchers. I love that youre thinking local! Create the Soap Temperature For best results, your lye solution and fat should be about the same temperature, between 105 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir gently. Step 2: Follow the same steps as you would if you were making the no thrills lard soap recipe up to step 7. Cover the top with a lid or card, then wrap it in a towel and allow it to set for 24 hours in a nice warm area. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "af4e72e3d71dcd63aa86312d7b819a1e" );document.getElementById("a4b8729c05").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Member Downloads: Soap Made Easy, Three Steps To Perfect Skin, & The Natural Oils Series. Our meat processor renders our lard for us, and he cooks the liquid fat until enough water has evaporated that it is technically shelf stable. 3.88 oz 100% pure lye ( where to buy pure lye) 11 oz distilled water. And, the smellOMG it was bad. It really does produce such a glorious soap. Once you start, soap-making can become quite addictive.