Serious about Soap

When I started making soap (about 1998 or so) it was all pretty straightforward...mix oil and lye and you get soap. It was a marathon event, sort of like churning butter with a plastic spoon, often taking hours to get the batter to thicken and come to trace. You could add some fragrance, usually an essential oil of some sort. Color was usually limited to natural ingredients that were pretty, but limited in their variety. I mostly relied on molds to make my soap unique and pretty. Unfortunately, molds are expensive and don't last all that long.

By the time I packed my oil and molds away, we'd evolved to using stick blenders (a miracle that totally changed the game) mica and other more vivid colorants and fragrances specifically formulated for soap. Recently, I found a box of old soap, some almost a decade old, and though it was a bit faded, it still washed up beautifully. But as you can see in the photo above, it was okay, but not particularly stunning to look at.

When I started again last year, I was amazed at the advances in soap making. Artists have developed amazing new swirls and pours, colors have evolved to a stunning variety and many talented soapers are sharing their methods on You Tube. Soaping ranges the gamut from rustic to high art. But one of the biggest changes comes from the Earth itself.

When I first started, I committed myself to making vegetarian soap only. My staple oils were Olive, coconut and palm, and I sometimes added beeswax and almond oil. When I returned to soaping, something big had changed. Primarily, the wholesale rape of the rain forests.

Palm oil is the big culprit. Its one of the essentials to soap making. Back in the day, our grandparents made soap with tallow and lard, but I hesitated to use animal oils. Palm and coconut were part of the vegetarian triad. But I now find palm unacceptible to use. Though there are palm oils that are allegedly sustainable, there's no real monitoring of the source so its almost impossible to guarantee whether it truly is ethical. So the soap maker and the consumer must look for substitutions.

This brings us back to the original oils: lard and tallow.

Even some of the vegan soapers I know are turning to these oils. Why? Its a matter of choosing what has the lesser impact on the world. Animal fats are the byproduct of the meat industry, which is ongoing and allows us to make complete use of an animal. Some soapers are even "cleaning" and using oils that have been used in cooking.  Many vegetable oils, and even some essential oils, are contributing to the overall devastation of the earth.

I'm not a vegetarian and personally have no problems with the use of tallow or lard. But still, I was hesitant, mostly because I do remember Grandma's harsh, white laundry soap. A few weeks back, I tried my first lard-blend soaps. They are beautiful and the most luxurious soaps I've made, and far less expensive. The results just blow me away.

I do plan to continue vegetarian lines, primarily in my Castile soaps made with organic oils, but unless palm oil becomes universally farmed in a sustainable fashion, I'll be using it only rarely. If you happen to have a problem with animal fats being used in soaping, please check my Etsy site for the vegetarian options. If you aren't convinced about the quality of my soap, drop me a line and ask for a sample. You might be surprised...in a good way!

Lilac soap with embeds.


https://www.etsy.com/shop/Belindapendence