# Can we talk about lard?



## jimandpj (Mar 11, 2008)

Currently my main soap formula uses a significant amount of lard. The people I am selling to love my soap and are not concerned with the fact that it uses lard.

However, I know that there are people out there to whom lard is a huge turnoff.

So - if I were to change my recipe, what is the best way to begin? Can you simply substitute palm oil for all the lard? What changes does that produce in the soap?

I know I'm going to have to experiment some (not trying to skip that step). I just won't have time for experimenting until after the holidays and would love to hear from you more experienced soapers before I begin.

Thanks!
PJ


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2008)

Go to soapcalc.com and plug in your current recipe, then try subbing different hard oils/butters for the lard and see what you come up with. Try to get three variations to test that way you have a better understanding of how different formulas affect the outcome of the final product.

Christy


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

always use your soapcalc.com but I did find that using crisco in place of lard works almost as well and then you have an all veggie bar.


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2008)

I played with the soapcalc and found a great mix of shortening (soybean) and lard. Makes a really nice bar. Tammy


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## jimandpj (Mar 11, 2008)

Thanks for the link. I've always just used thesage.com

Here's what you get:

Lard Palm
Hardness 42 50
Cleansing 1 1
Condition 52 49
Bubbly lath. 1 1
Creamy lath. 41 49
Iodine 57 53
INS 139 145

A few questions:
What is INS?
What does Iodine affect?

It seems based on this, that all you really lose in switching to palm oil is a tiny bit of conditioning. Am I reading this right?

PJ


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

Gosh, I just hate palm. I've totally stopped buying it and now use shea butter in place of lard in my veggie bars. 

Even though the numbers say not too much conditioning value is lost subbing palm for lard, in my particular recipe I found the actual difference to be significant. But I love my lard soap!


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2008)

Your cleansing and bubbly lather values are only 1? You might want to try some coconut oil in your recipe.

Christy


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

PJ put in a tried and ture recipe like the Wallmart recipe either with the original sunflower or salflower oils. Now tweak your recipe to fit those numbers. Are you able to improve it? Do you love the bar...there is your recipe. Vicki


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## jimandpj (Mar 11, 2008)

Christy - no, that's not my recipe.  That's just the values for lard and palm as individual oils.

Kids - I love my lard soap too! I don't really want to change it, but I've got a couple of opportunities that I know don't really want the lard...

Vicki - ok. That makes sense.

But I still don't know what INS is or what iodine affects?!?

PJ


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## Guest (Sep 9, 2008)

*Iodine* - As a general rule, the lower the number, the harder the bar and the less the conditioning qualities and vice versa. Definition: number of grams of iodine that will react with the double bonds in 100 grams of fats or oils.

*INS* - A measure of the physical qualities of the soap based on the SAP and iodine value. Experience has proven a range of 145 - 165 will gennerally be acceptable. Closely related to Hardness and Iodine values.

Instead of just running each oil through the calc you should run your whole recipe with each oil.

Christy


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## jimandpj (Mar 11, 2008)

OK - thanks! 

Next time I'll put it through as the whole recipe. 

PJ


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