Are you superfatting? If not then no need for preservatives.
Homemade Tallow soap recipe
- Thread starter merchantj
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Yes, 5% SF using shea butter.
Edit: Edited, as I thought I was responding to a different thread... that's what I get for having 20 tabs of B & B open at the same time!
The lard will be saponified so it can’t go rancid. I don’t know if shea butter can go rancid after soap is made. I don’t notice BHT listed as an ingredient in artisan soaps.
Equal parts, 0.1 or 0.2% each of citric acid and BHT. Sodium citrate is easier, as you don't have to add extra hydroxide to account for the citric acid (yes, it is neutralized).
The lard WILL go rancid without the preservatives, I found that out the hard way -- have plenty of rancid soap as most of my early batches went "off", usually not bad enough to toss, but I won't give them away.
Long sleeves, safety glasses, gloves -- accidents happen and lye burns are nasty.
I use 5% superfat with shaving soap, I suspect much lower than 3% is going to leave your face rather tight. You could use petroleum jelly I suppose, but I prefer shea and cocoa butter.
Saponified fats can go rancid too, sadly, it's not just lipids that oxidize. Dreaded orange spots, aka DOS.
The lard WILL go rancid without the preservatives, I found that out the hard way -- have plenty of rancid soap as most of my early batches went "off", usually not bad enough to toss, but I won't give them away.
Long sleeves, safety glasses, gloves -- accidents happen and lye burns are nasty.
I use 5% superfat with shaving soap, I suspect much lower than 3% is going to leave your face rather tight. You could use petroleum jelly I suppose, but I prefer shea and cocoa butter.
Saponified fats can go rancid too, sadly, it's not just lipids that oxidize. Dreaded orange spots, aka DOS.
Why don’t we see widespread use of citric acid and bht in commercial tallow soaps? Glad you are letting us pick your brain!
Exactly!
Great, thank you! And that is based on the weight of the oils, or is it based on the total soap weight?
As far as safety equipment is concerned... yeah, I have a lot of that. I used to rejuvenate the resin used for de-ionizing water. Half of the resin required sodium hydroxide to rejuvenate, the other required muriatic acid. I did this in 50 pound batches. I looked like I was going to a hazmat scene while working on the resin.
Yeah, we'll be using it as bath/shower soap for a family of four, so we'll get through it. Plus we can give a ton of it away to the neighbors. It'll all find good use.
Thanks again for your help. Very much appreciated.
I've had good luck with saving up meat fat (beef fat from browning ground beef and bacon fat) and using that for soap. The trick with the beef tallow is to collect it before the meat browns, else your soap will smell strongly of hamburger right off the grill. Not everyone's idea of nice soap, eh?
You will need to render it twice to get all the protein and stuff out, but it's easy, just melt with an inch or so of water underneath the melted fat and very gently simmer (if you boil it hard, it emulsifies and you can't get the water back out), then put in the fridge overnight. Pry the cold fat out, rinse off any sludge on the bottom, and repeat. Store it in the freezer, stays good essentially forever if sealed up.
I find a 3 oz bar of soap lasts me a month in the shower, you may use more (or less), and with a family, it will go fast. I use only sodium hydroxide for bath soap, shaving soap needs to be at least 60% potassium hydroxide, and more is probably better.
You will need to render it twice to get all the protein and stuff out, but it's easy, just melt with an inch or so of water underneath the melted fat and very gently simmer (if you boil it hard, it emulsifies and you can't get the water back out), then put in the fridge overnight. Pry the cold fat out, rinse off any sludge on the bottom, and repeat. Store it in the freezer, stays good essentially forever if sealed up.
I find a 3 oz bar of soap lasts me a month in the shower, you may use more (or less), and with a family, it will go fast. I use only sodium hydroxide for bath soap, shaving soap needs to be at least 60% potassium hydroxide, and more is probably better.
Forgot to add that I also use 0.5% tetrasodium EDTA in every soap as well, mainly because I have very hard water and the EDTA reduces the soap scum a little and gives me better lather. Helps with rancidity, but isn't enough on it's own.
Use distilled water for soapmaking, too -- my well water has iron in it, will greatly increase the propensity for rancidity chelated or not.
Use distilled water for soapmaking, too -- my well water has iron in it, will greatly increase the propensity for rancidity chelated or not.
Yup, I have tetrasodium EDTA on order, too. Thanks!
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