What type of soaps are available?

[slather]

Based on the discussions I have seen, there seem to be at least 2 types of soaps available:

- tallow based
- glycerin based

Are there any other types that are neither tallow nor glycerin based?

Also, some soaps seem to contain both tallow and glycerin. Which type is such a soap?

 

[Leche]

Soaps can have tallow and glycerin and of course you could always add glycerin to anything. Tallow is unfortunately a dying breed. Many companies have done "reformulations" that claim to be animal friendly (by removing tallow) but promote habitat destruction. These reformulations heavily rely on plant oils such as palm. Soaps can also have clays in them. The best thing is get a variety, cold process, melt and pour, triple milled and figure out how to make them work. Tallow is the best though.

 

[slather]

Tallow is a dying breed? That sucks! So I guess I shouldn't like and get used to tallow based soaps, they may be hard to find in a couple of years.

 

[Leche]

Tallow is a dying breed? That sucks! So I guess I shouldn't like and get used to tallow based soaps, they may be hard to find in a couple of years.

Companies keep going through "reformulations". Hopefully not all will follow suit. You should embrace tallow soaps though and stock up. There are some great ones out there; Tabac, Speick, Arko, Prairie Creations, AOS, MWF, and to an extent DR Harris to name a few.

 

[82R100]

Tallow is unfortunately a dying breed. Many companies have done "reformulations" that claim to be animal friendly (by removing tallow) but promote habitat destruction.

How do these reformulations promote habitat destruction?

- Chris

 

[SiBurning]

Poor farming techniques in a lot of third world industries for popular crops, like palm, sugar, coffee, and drugs. Cutting down natural forests to grow crops. Chemicals and overfarming. Stuff like that.

 

[slather]

So Shea Butter is not a type of soap but something added to some soaps ...

 

[Leche]

Poor farming techniques in a lot of third world industries for popular crops, like palm, sugar, coffee, and drugs. Cutting down natural forests to grow crops. Chemicals and overfarming. Stuff like that.

Thank you for fielding that question.

So Shea Butter is not a type of soap but something added to some soaps ...

Yes. Good Info

 

[Sodapopjones]

I don't see Williams going away anytime soon, hell its one of the most widely available soaps out there.

 

[slather]

Is Williams any good as a tallow soap?

I saw it the other day at a local market for $0.88 certainly can't beat the price and it won't break the bank to try it but I had to resist, I've got the soap/creams purchase disease (still have a few I haven't even opened, hard to try them all when I shave only every other day and sometimes every 3 days if I mess up one shave...)

The other thing is, I don't want to like the $0.88 soap when I spent big $$ on MWF and Tabac

 

[Uncle Shakey]

tallow is made from the rendering of the fat that is leftover from the processing of the meat for that hamburger, steak or roast that you had. I feel it is a good thing because they aren't throwing it away (which I have seen). At least that is one thing on this earth that is going to good use. Even if you don't eat meat at least you are helping to stop waste!

 

[gone down south]

Palm oil is one of the major ingredients in non-tallow soaps, but it's turning out to have some unexpected negative ecological consequences of it's own -

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3493420
(this is reprint of an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer a few weeks ago)

 

[Leche]

Is Williams any good as a tallow soap?

Just get it and try it. You will either like it or round file it quick. Either way you're only out 88 cents. Its not on a higher level like Tabac though.

I feel it is a good thing because they aren't throwing it away (which I have seen). At least that is one thing on this earth that is going to good use. Even if you don't eat meat at least you are helping to stop waste!

Yes this minimizes waste and as hard as PETA tries a lot of us refuse to be controlled and enjoy our meat consumption. So why waste it.

Palm oil is one of the major ingredients in non-tallow soaps, but it's turning out to have some unexpected negative ecological consequences of it's own -

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3493420
(this is reprint of an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer a few weeks ago)

Thanks for the link. And palm oil isn't nearly as good as beef tallow.

 

[cymric]

In my opinon it's not very clear-cut in practice: it's more a matter of presence or absence of certain well-known ingredients that classifies soaps. There is tallow-based, glycerin-based, and vegetal-based (and that in palm or olive varieties); containing lanolin or a derivative, or shea butter; soft, hard, or stick; hypoallergenic; with or without synthetic detergents; and a few others which are less important as they involve minor and rare ingredients (kaolin, borax).

 

[Sodapopjones]

Is Williams any good as a tallow soap?

I saw it the other day at a local market for $0.88 certainly can't beat the price and it won't break the bank to try it but I had to resist, I've got the soap/creams purchase disease (still have a few I haven't even opened, hard to try them all when I shave only every other day and sometimes every 3 days if I mess up one shave...)

The other thing is, I don't want to like the $0.88 soap when I spent big $$ on MWF and Tabac

If you mill it "Grate with a cheese grater". I am now getting better lather out of Williams than my Grey Flannel melt VDH...

 

[Hughies_online]

Olive oil based soaps are also becoming more popular