Thread: Why tallow?

I've read that a lot of people prefer tallow based soaps. I'm just curious what makes a tallow based soap different and/or better. Could someone enlighten me?

I've only used two tallow based soaps and the impression I got was that they may be a bit slicker having more glide. Too early in the game to say I prefer them as others work for me too.

Bob

For me the tallow soaps slip better and they seem to protect better. I don't get irritation or razor burn and don't feel the edge of the razor. VDH on its own will give a good shave but for me not as comfortable. Tallow combined with lanolin or shea butter leaves my face moisturized so i don't generally need to put back anything I just scraped off. The soaps without some skin conditioner usually have me reaching for Nivea or some other mosturizer(grease of some kind).

I'm not quite sure what makes it better, however I do know that when soap companies like trumpers or penhaligons decided to reformulate some of there soaps and took tallow "out" the new formulas were less than impressive. For me personally I love tallow in soaps but , la toja and Mdc both vegetable soaps can run circles over some tallow soaps I have. All in all it's all about what your face prefers and what u like use.

Because at one time all soaps were Tallow based,the old ways are most of the time the best ways.
Are made out of animal fats as most high end womens makeups are,It's good for your skin.
Your other option is use synthetic crap JMO

Originally Posted by thewatermark

I'm not quite sure what makes it better, however I do know that when soap companies like trumpers or penhaligons decided to reformulate some of there soaps and took tallow "out" the new formulas were less than impressive. For me personally I love tallow in soaps but , la toja and Mdc both vegetable soaps can run circles over some tallow soaps I have. All in all it's all about what your face prefers and what u like use.

+1 on the Martin De Candre. It is a great soap but I need something put back on my face after. MWF or IK leave things better than they find them.

Different oils and fats give various properties to soaps. Tallow contributes to soap hardness, stable lather, and conditioning properties. Most soaps are a combination of several oils and fats in carefully considered proportions.

How use of other oils can affect soap qualities.

Some goods points have been brought up. In general tallow based soaps seem to lather a bit easier (more quickly), provide slightly thicker and longer lasting lather. At least in my experience.

Originally Posted by thewatermark

For me personally I love tallow in soaps but , la toja and Mdc both vegetable soaps can run circles over some tallow soaps I have. All in all it's all about what your face prefers and what u like use.

I'm not so sure MdC (among others) are actually 100% vegetable. MdC has large quantities of stearic acid, which if you do a Google or Wikipedia search suggests this is animal-derived. It may not be tallow as such, but it's definitely not vegetable!

Some links:

Stearic Acid (note this link is from Imperial College, a very prestigious University here in London)

Stearic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quote from the latter:
"Its name comes from the Greek word στέαρ "stéar", which means tallow"

I love Mike's Natural Tallow soaps; though I've only used one, and I'm new to it. I was going to use the word 'sticky' rather than 'slick' to describe it, for me...