Tallow Soap Recipes
Tallow, rendered beef or sheep fat, is one of the oldest soapmaking fats. It makes a hard, long-lasting bar with a creamy, stable lather. The recipes below range from nearly all tallow to blends with olive, coconut and castor oil.
- Author:
Robinavrett - Created:21/02/2026
- Views:234
- Bubbly Lather8%
- Cleansing8%
- Condition40%
- Hardness58%
- Longevity50%
- Creamy Lather50%
- Iodine45%
- Ins147%
Ingredients:
- Author:finley37
- Created:26/03/2021
- Views:3465
- Bubbly Lather13%
- Cleansing8%
- Condition43%
- Hardness55%
- Longevity48%
- Creamy Lather53%
- Iodine47%
- Ins145%
Ingredients:
- Author:MrsHooker
- Created:09/08/2021
- Views:1255
- Bubbly Lather6%
- Cleansing6%
- Condition51%
- Hardness48%
- Longevity42%
- Creamy Lather42%
- Iodine55%
- Ins136%
Ingredients:
- Author:Mgloyuka1
- Created:07/07/2020
- Views:1057
- Bubbly Lather20%
- Cleansing20%
- Condition28%
- Hardness54%
- Longevity34%
- Creamy Lather34%
- Iodine48%
- Ins168%
Ingredients:
- Author:sarahbar8
- Created:05/01/2022
- Views:1339
- Bubbly Lather20%
- Cleansing15%
- Condition52%
- Hardness43%
- Longevity27%
- Creamy Lather32%
- Iodine59%
- Ins143%
- Author:
CsIxy - Created:02/12/2021
- Views:1447
- Bubbly Lather16%
- Cleansing16%
- Condition55%
- Hardness42%
- Longevity26%
- Creamy Lather26%
- Iodine58%
- Ins149%
Ingredients:
- Author:Lidiacgarcia
- Created:29/10/2021
- Views:2904
- Bubbly Lather24%
- Cleansing19%
- Condition49%
- Hardness48%
- Longevity29%
- Creamy Lather34%
- Iodine51%
- Ins159%
- Author:Emilee427
- Created:02/12/2020
- Views:1043
- Bubbly Lather22%
- Cleansing17%
- Condition56%
- Hardness41%
- Longevity23%
- Creamy Lather28%
- Iodine56%
- Ins154%
Balancing tallow with other oils
- Coconut oil adds big bubbles and cleansing. Many tallow recipes use around 15% to 25%.
- Olive, avocado or other liquid oils add conditioning and soften a very hard bar.
- A small amount of castor oil, often 5% to 10%, helps the lather.
- A bar that is nearly all tallow is hard and low-cleansing with a creamy lather, so some soapmakers add a little coconut oil for more bubbles.
Preparing tallow
Render suet or fat trimmings slowly over low heat, strain out the solids, and let the fat set. Melting it again with water and a little salt, then lifting off the cleaned fat once it hardens, removes much of the beefy smell. Scrape off any sediment and let the fat dry fully before storing it, since trapped water spatters when it is melted again.
Pick the right tallow in the calculator
Beef, sheep, deer and bear tallow have different SAP values, so choose the one you are using in the soap calculator before you make the batch.
Work safely with lye
Wear goggles and gloves, work with good ventilation, keep children and pets away, and always add lye to the liquid, never liquid to the lye. Mix it in stainless steel or a sturdy, heat-resistant #2 (HDPE) or #5 (PP) plastic container, never aluminum or glass.
If lye gets on your skin or in your eyes, rinse with plenty of running water for at least 15 minutes, taking off any splashed clothing (and contact lenses, if easy) as you rinse. Get medical or poison-control help for eye contact or burns. Do not use vinegar on skin or eyes.
Open any recipe above to see the full formula, then adapt it in the free soap calculator or browse all soap recipes.
