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Cold-processed soap with tallow.
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5 from 9 votes

Rosemary Lime Tallow Soap Recipe

This recipe yields about one pound of soap and is 5% superfat. You could substitute any type of essential oil here if you want a different scent. Another favorite combination of mine is Lavender and Black Pepper essential oil.
Prep Time1 hour
Active Time20 minutes
Curing42 days
Total Time42 days 1 hour 20 minutes
Course: DIY Personal Care
Yield: 1 pound of soap
Cost: $12

Materials

Instructions

  • Gradually add the lye into the cold water, stirring until it dissolves well. Cover with a cloth and let it cool until about 110-120 °F, can take 1+ hours.
    2.14 ounces lye
  • Heat the fat and other oils until liquid, then let cool to 100-110 °F (38-43C).
    8 ounces beef tallow, 3 ounces coconut oil, 3 ounces extra virgin olive oil, 1.5 ounces castor oil, 0.25 ounces rosemary essential oil, 0.25 ounces lime essential oil, 4.79 ounces cold water
  • Slowly pour the lye mixture into the fats. Alternate between using an immersion blender in short 3-5 second bursts and stirring with a whisk. Check regularly for trace (see more in “TIPS” above). Do not over blend. If using clay, add during the last moments of mixing.
    1 teaspoon clay
  • Once trace is achieved, pour mixture into your mold (use a silicone mold or line with parchment paper).
  • Tamp out any air bubbles by gently tapping or shaking the mold against the table
  • (Optional) Spray the top with alcohol if you want to prevent soda ash (purely for appearance to prevent any white film on the top).
  • Insulate the mold(s) with 1-2 bath towels, 1 covering the top and 1 wrapped around. Leave small individual molds for 24 hours, larger loaf pans sit for 48 hours.
  • Pop soaps out of silicon molds or turn upside down and tap firmly to release from mental molds.
  • Cut 1-inch thick bars with a sharp knife or soap loaf cutter.
  • Cure the bars for 6-8 weeks on a rack in a well ventilated cool, dark area. Each bar should be standing alone, not touching the others.
  • Test the soap after six weeks. If it leaves your hands feeling slippery or if your skin stings at all, it’s not ready yet.

Notes

CLAY is optional but it is one of my favorite additives to soap recipes. The clay leaves your skin feeling so soft and it is also a nice and simply way to achieve subtle, natural-looking colors in your soaps. For a soft green, try french green clay or bentonite clay.
 
100% TALLOW To make a 100% tallow bar, simply input the amount of tallow you would like to use for your recipe into the lye calculator (1 pound of fat per pound loaf mold). The calculator will then tell you how much liquid and lye to use. You will need to select the "superfat" level you want for your finished product. This is referring to the percent of total fats that exceed how much will react with the lye, meaning that there will be a small percent of unreacted fats in your soap which will moisturize the skin. I like a 5-6% superfat, but if you were experimenting with laundry soap, you would want 0% superfat so as to leave no fats on your clothes.
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