Teach Soap

Hello all, after doing research on palm oil I have decided not to use it in my products due to the impact on wildlife and rainforests. Can I still make a good hard soap without the palm and maybe use castor oil instead to harden the soap? I plan to use Shea Butter, coconut oil, olive oil, and castor oil for lather and hardness.

Are you against using lard? I find it a very good sub for palm oil.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

As the saying goes "great minds think alike"! I'm with you LJM. There are sites that offer sustainable palm, I will use that for my friend who is a vegetarian.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Actually I'd rather not use lard either. Yes great minds do think a like! I have a 15 year old daughter that is vegetarien and she has inspired me in so many ways. I want to produce an eco-friendly soap and bath product that I can be proud of. I want to sleep at night with a clear conscious!

I recently bought a gallon of palm oil and used it in place of lard in my recipes, but I think lard soap will be my mainstay. It is less expensive to make and lard is available all over east TN!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

What site offers "certified sustainable palm oil?" Anyone?

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Bramble Berry does of course. I have some on the way to me as we speak.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I use veg shortening in place of lard and palm and it works well for me and makes a nice hard bar of soap.

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Four Seasons Fine Handcrafted Soaps
& Specialties, Inc.
Laugh, Love, Live!

Since lard costs me 7 cents an ounce here, widely available in nice four lb. tubs (or eight lb., if I wanted), one of my first batches used lard. It is only three weeks old so I haven't tried it yet. I also made a batch of 100% lard bars with 0% superfat that I converted after a week into laundry "detergent"--awesome stuff, my husband's sweaty basketball jersey and socks came out smelling beautifully fresh and clean, and it costs me $1.15 for 64 loads (I had been making detergent with all-natural melt and pour soap base, but this stuff is way better. Commercial detergents make my son break out; also, I don't like to pay for them). My philosophy on animal fats is this: If you eat pork and beef, why not use the fat from these animals to make great soap? I also use lard--leaf lard, the good stuff, not hydrogenated--to make baked goods because we are allergic to butter. There's nothing like lard in homemade flour tortillas. Lard such a blessing, and is definitely the cheapest ingredient I use -- the lye costs more per oz.

Use whatever you are confortable with. Yes, lard makes good soap, but it's not for everyone.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!