Why use Lard for Soap-making?

 This is a question I never considered until I had trouble with my Coconut Oil supply.

Originally, I made my soaps using coconut oil and olive oil because I was looking to make soap with a good lather and plenty of moisture, without sacrificing a firm and lasting bar. I only briefly considered animal fats but didn't pursue them as the reviews I read weren't great and I didn't have a source for good local fat and it was so many years ago that I wasn't thinking about ethics, or economies.

Now, when I had the coconut oil supply trouble, I tried making Olive Oil soap on it's own, which would have been fine if I made my soaps using the cold process. Instead, I use a hot process method to make my soaps because by that method, the soap is cured and doesn't need to sit on shelves to cure for a long time. Olive oil soap is much more difficult to make using the hot process, I discovered. 

At the same time, I had a Market vendor neighbour who has a butcher shop where they use only locally grown, pasture raised pigs. 

I did my research, and low and behold, lard is soooo beneficial to human skin (that's because our chemical make-up is quite similar to that of pigs', thus the pig parts used for human part replacements!). So I made my test batch, and the beautiful creamy lather that the lard produced was amazing to me! It feels richer and more luxurious than even my usual coconut oil and olive oil based soaps.

Now there's another reason that I think using local lard is a good idea...ethically speaking, it just makes sense! After the whole era of covid and supply chain issues, it got me thinking more about where my soap making products are originating. I live in North America. There are no coconuts or olives growing here. Our ancestors must have used animal fats for making soap. Unfortunately, using animal products, slowly over time, has gotten bad press. Why is that? If we, in the north part of North America, had to survive without the benefit of our global economy and transport connections, I think it would be very difficult to be a vegan or vegetarian. Then again, from a purely economic point of view, is it not more beneficial to support our small (not agribusinesses) local producers than it is to support transport companies and business of which we know very little because they are so distant? I think it is definitely better to shop local, to eat local (meaning locally, ethically grown) and to live using the gifts with which our local area can provide us. 

So that's me off my soap-box. I will only be making limited lard soaps for now, and will still rely on our global and transport connections to make my soaps, but at the very least, I've made a start and have a future-proof contingency plan.