# Superfatting Lard Soap



## red_delicious (Nov 24, 2008)

I love to make soaps for personal use and as gifts. I use all of the expensive oils for that . . . but as noted in an earlier thread . . . I would like to make some lard soap for laundry.

My question is . . . for those of you who use lard soap for laundry . . . do you still discount the lye when you know you are using it for clothing? I usually do anywhere from a 5% to 8% lye discount for body soaps . . . but I was thinking that that wouldn't be a really great idea for laundry soap. 

What do you guys do?

Thanks in advance!
Shanna


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i wouldn't recommend superfatting laundry soap. i used superfatted soap a few times on laundry and i still have a few pieces of funky/rancid smelling clothing that smelled fine when i put them in the wardrobe, but smelled bad when i pulled them out a few months later. some oils tend to become rancid easier than others, and i think lard is one of them. when you have superfatted soap, you have extra oils that have not turned to soap. even though the amount is small, i feel it can turn rancid and ruin clothing. 

there is nothing wrong with having a bit of extra lye in laundry detergent. the amount of lye vs. the amount of water in a load of laundry means you have a very, very mild lye solution...along with the soap. lye and other caustics are commonly used in industrial soaps...like in the food industry. it helps to get rid of oils. if it were me, i would target a fat discount (lye heavy) of 0% to 3%, or a -3 to -5% superfat if that is how the calculator wants to read it.

it's just not worth funking up nice clothing.


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## red_delicious (Nov 24, 2008)

That is exactly what I was thinking . . . and it is how I had worked out my formula . . . I just wanted validation! 

I appreciate your response!

Thanks!
Shanna


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

0% superfat for laundry soap. I also add borax at 1T per pound oil (I prefer Palm Kernel over lard).

I use this for a pre soak - not for laundry itself. There is a place in this world for detergents and I believe laundry is one of them.


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## kidsngarden (Mar 24, 2006)

I use a 100% lard no superfat soap as a stain pretreatment, but I believe as Cyndi that detergent is really great for clothes, but not for skin and vice versa!


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## red_delicious (Nov 24, 2008)

I appreciate all of your replies . . .

Regarding using soap instead of detergents in laundry . . . I am allergic to corn, wheat, soy, most artifical colors, fragrances, and flavors. Laundry detergent tears up my skin . . . even the "no fragrance, gentle for skin" versions. I use soap because it doesn't seem to do that . . .

My clothes get clean and that's good enough for me!

Thanks so much!
Shanna


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