If you are like me, and want a low budget but also safe and clean soap recipe, you’ll want to make it with lard. Which if you didn’t know, is just pork fat rendered down. Rendering includes slowly heating the pork fat, and filtering out the leftover pieces, to reveal pure lard.

Now, before you get grossed out, hear me out. Lard is what our grandmothers grandmother used before us. There will people who will argue this, but it is actually closer to our skins natural oils than plant oils are! Also way more affordable and easier to source. Not to mention, you are keeping what would normally be a byproduct and waste, out of the landfill  

For this recipe we’re going to use about a quart and a pint of lard. I keep mine in mason jars in the freezer. If freezing anything in mason jars, you will only want the straight sided jars as these are meant for freezer preservation. The other jars have more of a chance of breaking when frozen. This recipe will also call for filtered water and 100% lye which I’ll get to in a second. When sourcing your lard, avoid buying it from a grocery store. This lard generally has additives, and is sourced from commercially raised pigs. I source mine from a local homesteader who actually care for their hogs. Toxins are stored in fat, so you want the animal to be as healthy as possible.

Equipment

• Plastic gloves, not latex
• Safety glasses, goggles or a respirator
• Thermometer
• Wooden spoon or immersion blender
• Large crock or non reactive bowl
• Kitchen scale

Ingredients

• 2.2 lbs rendered lard
• 4.69 oz 100% lye
• 9.38 oz filtered water
• Optional 1.06 oz essential oil

Lye is in its pure state, know as sodium hydroxide. You might be able to find this at your local grocery store, but it’s going to be marketed as drain cleaner. As long as it’s 100% lye, you can use it. I purchased a bottle of lye from Walmart in powder form for about $5.68. I then used this to make two batches of soap, making this a very affordable product.

Making Cold Pressed Lard Soap

First things first, safety gear. Lye is serious stuff in its original state, and you need to make sure you’re protected. Long sleeves, plastic gloves, and safety glasses or a respirator of some sort are always necessary.

You don’t ever want to touch the lye with bare hands, and if you do, you can use white vinegar to neutralize and rinse.

1. Start by weighing out your lye and your water in separate containers.
2. Use a crock, or nonreactive bowl and add your water to it. Slowly pour your lye into the water, and mix. The fumes will be strong so make sure it’s well ventilated. Make sure you never pour water into your lye. This can cause a small explosion.
3. Your lye will start to heat up. Continue to stir until it’s completely dissolved and then set aside while you prepare your lard.
4. Slowly heat up your lard on the stovetop. Low and slow. You just want to get it completely liquified. Then turn off your heat.
5. When both your lard and your lye are at about 120° F, go ahead and combine them in a large crock or mixing bowl. An immersion blender is best for combining, but you can hand stir until your soap reaches trace. This can sometimes take up to an hour. Take breaks and come back to it and stir.

Okay, let’s talk trace. Trace is when your lard and your lye are officially saponified, and are no longer two separate liquids. After this chemical process has taken place, your homemade soap is safe to use. Trace will look like the consistency of pudding. When you scoop a spoonful and drop it back on top, it should sit there for a second.

6. Once your soap has reached trace, you can add your essential oils for fragrance at this point. I used a lemon essential oil in mine but you can skip this if you want zero fragrance. Your soap won’t smell like pork, I promise.

7. Pour your soap mixture into a mold. This could be a plastic container you greased (with lard), an old Pringle’s container, or an actual soap mold. Really anything you want or have lying around. I just use simple plastic containers. We’re going to cut the soap anyways.

8. Set your soap somewhere to dry for 48 hours. Don’t touch it and don’t mess with it until the 48 hours is up. Then you can pop it out of your mold and enjoy the experience of slicing it up. The most satisfying thing ever!

9. You’ll want to place your soap somewhere cool and dry for several weeks. And make sure to rotate from time to time. Then it’s good to use!

Lye Calculator

If you’re going to alter this homemade lard soap recipe at all, you need to make sure to run it through a lye calculator. This is a chemical reaction after all, and everything needs to be measured accurately. You can double or triple my measurements though to make a larger batch. Without the accurate amounts of lye and oils, saponification cannot occur, and your soap may irritate your skin instead of moisturize it! 

I even placed rose petals on the second batch I made of the lard soap. Once I poured it, I crushed up the dried rose petals a bit and sprinkled them over the top. I then lightly pushed them down so that when the soap cured, they were secure. Then let it cure for 48 hours before removing the plastic by cutting it off, and slicing them into individual soap bars. I just think homemade soap is so luxurious and yet it still beats the cost of store bought soap when making yourself!

When I calculated approximately what I spent making this lard soap, it was less than $.50 a bar. Not only that, but it incudes nontoxic ingredients that won’t irritate your skin!