Lard Soap Recipe (Cold Process)

Using lard in a soap recipe is a great way to make beautiful, inexpensive soaps and to reduce waste. Learn how to easily render your own lard to make great soap, even for sensitive skin.

I have wanted to make lard soap for a long time. Not just because it's a great ingredient for handmade soap but mainly because I hate wasting stuff, especially food. So whenever we had bacon for our weekend breakfast, I would render and save the extra fat. Truth be told, I had to repeat this quite a few times, but eventually, I had enough to make soap. 

Turns out I even had enough to do a little experiment with some bars I made out of 100% lard. First, I wanted to find out if the smell would come through in an unscented bar - it didn't. And second, how well a soap bar made only of lard would lather - more on that later.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links; you can read the full disclosure here.

Equipment

• goggles and rubber gloves, long sleeves
• silicone soap mold
• immersion blender/stick blender 
• digital scale
• 2 medium-sized plastic containers (no glass, no aluminum)
• small plastic spoon
• silicone spatula

How to Make Lard Soap

Rendering Lard: I simply lined a small funnel with a paper towel and poured bacon grease through it. It worked fine! If you want to make your own lard the "proper way," you can find instructions here.

If this is your first time making cold-process soap, please read through the instructions carefully or check my How to Make Soap Beginner's Guide.

1. Important: Gear up for safety! Wear gloves and goggles, wear long sleeves, and ensure you're in a well-ventilated area. Your skin, eyes, and mouth should never come into contact with lye solution or fresh soap batter. Lye fumes should never be inhaled.
2. Weigh lye into a small plastic cup - always use a scale for this. It's super important that you measure all your ingredients by weight, not by volume.
3. Add water to a separate container
4. Create a lye water mixture by adding lye to the water and stirring until fully dissolved. Don't inhale fumes coming off the lye solution! Set aside to cool.
5. Melt coconut oil and lard over medium heat in a water bath or on short bursts in the microwave
6. Add olive and essential oils to melted fats
7. Let cool - fats and lye solution should be slightly above room temperature (not hot!)
8. Pour lye solution into the oils - be careful not to splash or spill
9. Stick blend until soap batter is at light to medium trace (light pudding consistency) 
10. Pour the soap mixture into the soap mold
11. Spritz the top lightly with rubbing alcohol to reduce soda ash (optional)
12. Let rest for 1-2 days
13. Unmold bars of soap after 48 hours by pulling on the sides first
14. Let soap cure for 4-6 weeks
15. Store in an empty shoebox away from heat and humidity for up to 12 months

Until next time. Happy Tinkering!