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Sticky and rancid soap, could it be the Lard???!!


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Hi everyone,

i made 2 batches of soaps 2 weeks ago with olive oil, coconut oil, lard and shea butter...the soap is a little bit sticky(it's hard though and a little less sticky), why? and one of them smells rancid, what could have happened?

could it be the lard that made the soap sticky and rancid, or the shea?

and if i use palm oil instead of lard, will it feel sticky too?

Thanks a looooottt!!

Laura.

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Hmmm.. How how did the oils get as you were melting them? Overheating your oils can make the soap smell bad.

Can you post your actual recipe including lye used and we should be able to help with the "sticky" part.

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the recipe of the rancid soap :

118g olive oil 56.73%

14.75 shea butter 7.09%

45.75 coconut oil 22%

29.50 lard 14.8%

the other recipe:

265.50g olive oil

29.50 shea

91.50 coconut

29.50 lard. for this recipe i doubled the coconut and shea, and put the same amount of lard as in the previous one, cause i was afraid it was the source of the stickiness....

Thanks for the help....!!

Laura.

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Laura, I've used lard a lot and have never had any problems with it. I have read a lot about overheating it though. Maybe this is what happened since you only have one batch that smells off. The soap can still be used. If the smell doesn't fade, shred the soap and add it to another batch with a stronger FO to cover the smell. (I've done this with FO that ended up not smelling good in the end result and it has worked very well to cover the FO up, I'm sure it would work here).

When I use lard, I melt my other hard oils, remove from heat and then add the lard and stir until melted. Then add my oils. If my temp has dropped too low, I give it short bursts of gentle heat.

The stickiness will go away with age as Gene said.

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I use 52% olive oil in my recipe and have no issue with the soap being "sticky" - never had in all the years I have been using it. On the other hand

When I used a recipe with lard ( I have rendered it myself plus also have bought it) I did notice a different smell to the soap plus there were other issues which I didn't care for at all so I quit using the lard.

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Something that has not been addressed is % of superfat. Since no lye amounts were given this could be the problem. Also how much water was used? A high % of OO can produce a soap that is softer fresh out of the mold but will become rock hard after a good cure. I have made 100% lard soap that doesn't have any odor that isn't present with any other oil or combo. Smells like soap. Seems as though a lot of folks immediately blame the lard. Personal preference aside, it's hard to beat lard:thumbsup:

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O.k., now I'm really new to CP Soaping....but if anyone was going to screw it up, It would have been me!! :laugh2: I use a 2lb batch w/Lard 25%, Coconut Oil 25%, and Olive Oil 50%. I did 5% superfat. I melted my Coconut Oil and Lard together, when melted, I added my Olive Oil (did I mention I was new??) I was nervous to put lye in oils, but did low temps and I had plenty time to add fo and attempt a swirl! Put in oven @170 degree and turned off oven, wrapped towel around mold, but left it in the oven. I unmolded next day....later in the day, and was harder than softer! I cut then too, I let it cure for 2 1/2 weeks before I even tried it myself...And I have a GREAT BAR of SOAP!! Really hard bar w/lots of lather. :D

I like the recipe with lard! I will keep some of it in my recipe as I continue to experiment. I don't think it's the Lard...JMO

Steph in tx

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