What Every Handmade Tallow Soap Maker Should Ask
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In the previous article, we looked at why soap makers still love tallow and why this traditional ingredient is finding its place again.
Now, before we get into actual tallow soap recipes, there is one important question we need to answer: can a handmade tallow soap be used for both the body and laundry?
Many people assume the answer is yes. After all, most of us have heard stories of boerseep being used for everything from bathing to washing clothes and cleaning the home.
Well, yes and no.
The same ingredients can be used to make both handmade body soap and laundry soap, but the way they are formulated is very different.
Understanding this difference and the purpose of your soap is one of the most important lessons a beginner soap maker can learn.
If you're new to working with beef tallow, you may also find our Beef Tallow FAQ helpful. It answers common questions about sourcing, rendering, storing, and using beef tallow in everyday life.
Why body soap and laundry soap require different formulations.
What superfatting is and why it makes body soap gentler on the skin.
Why superfatted soap isn't ideal for washing clothes.
How using the wrong soap can lead to oily residue, stains, and unpleasant odours.
The first question every soap maker should ask before creating a new recipe.
Why understanding a soap's purpose is one of the most important skills for beginner soap makers.
Whenever I'm formulating a soap recipe, the first thing I ask myself is:
What do I want this handmade soap to do?
Do I want a body soap or do I want a cleaning soap?
That decision comes before choosing fragrances, colourants, herbs, clays, or even deciding whether the recipe will contain only tallow or a combination of oils.
The purpose of the handmade soap determines how the recipe should be formulated.
Whether you're making cold process soap, hot process soap, a simple DIY project, or exploring natural ingredients for handmade soap making, understanding the purpose of your formulation is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.
"The same ingredients can be used to make both handmade body soap and laundry soap, but the way they are formulated is very different."
When we use soap on our skin, we don't just expect it to clean. We also expect it to feel pleasant to use. We don't want our skin feeling dry, tight, or stripped after washing. We want a soap that cleanses while still leaving the skin feeling comfortable.
One of the ways we achieve this in cold process soap making is through a process called superfatting.
Superfatting simply means that we deliberately formulate the recipe so that there are more oils or fats present than the lye can fully convert into soap. As a result, a small amount of those oils remain in the finished bar.
We do this on purpose because those remaining oils help create a milder, more conditioning soap that feels better on the skin. This is why most handmade body soaps contain some level of superfat.
Laundry soap has a completely different job. It doesn't need to feel luxurious or conditioning. Its job is to remove dirt, grease, and stains.
The problem is that the very thing that makes a body soap lovely to use—the extra oils left behind through superfatting—is exactly what we don't want in laundry soap. Those oils can end up on clothing, towels, and household surfaces.
That's why cleaning soaps are generally formulated with vey little to no superfat. Preferably none. Some experienced soap makers even formulate cleaning soaps with a slight lye excess to maximise cleaning power, although this is something I would not recommend for beginner handmade soap makers - whether you are making handmade tallow soap, or using other soap making fats, oils, or butters.
When I first started making handmade soap back in 2011, I was trying to make as many things as possible from scratch. It was the beginning of my self-sufficiency journey, and like many beginners, I thought I had found the perfect solution.
I made a lovely batch of superfatted handmade tallow soap and then grated it down to make homemade laundry powder. At first, everything seemed fine.
Then load after load of washing started coming out with strange stains that I couldn't explain. As time went on, those stains developed an unpleasant smell and I couldn't understand what was causing it.
Eventually I realised the problem wasn't my washing machine.
It was my soap. My precious handmade tallow soap.
The free oils left behind in the superfatted tallow soap were being deposited onto the fabric. Over time those oils started going rancid, creating stains and odours.
It was one of the most valuable soap-making lessons I've ever learned.
In my opinion, no.
Can you wash your hands or body with a zero-superfat laundry soap? Technically, yes. Will it be pleasant? Probably not.
Can you use a superfatted body soap in your laundry? You can, but don't be surprised if you end up with oily residue, stains, or reduced cleaning performance.
While the ingredients may be identical, the intended purpose of the soap is not. A good body soap and a good laundry soap are formulated differently because they are designed to do different jobs. If you understand that, you are well on your way to create good handmade tallow soap - for whichever intent you need.
Now that we understand the difference between body soap and laundry soap, it's time to start making some actual handmade tallow soap.
In the next article in this series, we'll make two simple 100% handmade tallow soap recipes: one designed for the skin and one designed for laundry and cleaning.
We'll also look at ways to customise them using:
These simple additions can help you create handmade soaps that are both beautiful and practical.
Looking for high-quality tallow? Our Grass-Fed Beef Tallow is carefully rendered and perfect for handmade soap, balms, candles, and other DIY projects.
While it's possible, it's not recommended. Body soap and laundry soap perform best when each is formulated specifically for its intended purpose.
Traditional boerseep recipes varied from household to household. Some were milder and suitable for personal use, while others were made primarily for laundry and general cleaning.
Yes. Beef tallow produces a hard, long-lasting bar with a rich, creamy lather, which is why it has been used in soap making for generations.
The best way to understand soap formulation is to start making it. In the next article, we'll create two simple 100% tallow soap recipes—one for the skin and one for laundry.
One of the biggest mistakes beginner soap makers make is assuming that one recipe can do everything. While body soap and laundry soap may contain many of the same ingredients, they are designed with different purposes in mind.
A good body soap is formulated to cleanse while remaining gentle on the skin. A good laundry soap is formulated to remove dirt, grease, and stains without leaving unwanted oils behind. Understanding that difference is the first step towards creating soaps that perform exactly as you intended.
As you continue your soap-making journey, always start by asking one simple question:
What do I want this soap to do?
The answer will guide every decision that follows.
Zikhona Tefu is the founder of Isivuno Naturals and O'live Handmade Soaps. A self-taught soap maker and skincare formulator since 2011, she founded Isivuno Naturals in 2017 after struggling to find well-sourced, quality ingredients she could trust in her own formulations. Passionate about teaching, she shares practical, experience-based knowledge to help makers, formulators, and growing skincare brands create with confidence using ingredients they understand and can trust.
