How Does Tallow Soap Compare to Traditional Soap?

In the ever-evolving world of skincare, the conversation around the types of soaps we use is endless. Among the numerous options available, tallow soap has been gaining attention for its unique properties and benefits. But you may be wondering, how does it really compare to traditional soap? Let’s dive in.

The Basics of Tallow Soap

Tallow soap is made from animal fat, primarily beef fat, that has been saponified—a process where fat is turned into soap by reacting it with an alkali. This traditional method of tallow-based soap-making has been around for centuries, providing a rich, creamy lather that’s deeply moisturizing.

Differences in Ingredients and Production

Tallow Soap: The key ingredient, tallow, is a byproduct of the meat industry, making it an efficient use of resources. It’s combined with lye (sodium hydroxide) to produce soap. Our tallow soaps and many others include natural ingredients such as essential oils for fragrance and additional properties. As such, tallow soaps are known to be a more natural choice than traditional mass-produced soaps.

Traditional Soap: Traditional soaps can be made from various oils and fats, including vegetable oils (like olive, coconut, or palm) or synthetic detergents. The production processes can vary, with some focusing on natural ingredients and others on synthetic formulations designed for specific skin types or uses.

Environmental Impact

Tallow Soap: One of the main benefits of tallow soap is its lower environmental impact. Tallow is a byproduct, and its use in soap-making helps reduce waste. Our tallow soaps are also made with minimal, recyclable packaging and without synthetic additives, making them a more eco-friendly choice.

Traditional Soap: The environmental impact of traditional soaps varies widely depending on the ingredients and production methods. Soaps made with palm oil, for example, have been criticized for their role in deforestation, habitat destruction, and unfair labor conditions. Synthetic components and packaging in some traditional soaps can also contribute to pollution and waste.

Skin Benefits and Experience

Tallow Soap closely mimics the lipids in human skin, making it highly moisturizing and nourishing. Because of its gentle, hydrating properties, it’s recommended for use on dry or sensitive skin. People also typically appreciate the creamy lather and natural scents that provide an aromatherapy and spa-like experience.

Traditional Soap: The benefits of traditional soap depends largely on the formulation. Soaps with synthetic detergents can be more drying or irritating for some skin types, while those made with natural oils can offer similar benefits to tallow soap. The variety of scents, colors, and added ingredients in traditional soaps can enhance the user experience for different preferences.

Cost and Accessibility

Tallow Soap: While less widely available in mainstream stores, tallow soap can be found in specialty shops, farmers’ markets, and online. Its price varies, but it can be more expensive than mass-produced soaps due to its artisanal nature and the quality of ingredients. While we would consider our soaps mid-range from a price perspective, they are all-natural and handmade which is provides additional benefits to your skin than traditional soaps.

Traditional Soap: Regular soaps are highly accessible and available in a range of prices. From luxury, natural soap bars to economical, mass-produced options, there’s something for every budget.

Choosing between tallow soap and traditional soap depends on personal preferences, values, and skincare needs. Tallow soap offers a sustainable, moisturizing option for those looking for natural skincare, while traditional soap provides a wide range of choices to suit various preferences and requirements. We believe that understanding the differences helps consumers make informed decisions that align with their lifestyle and environmental values.

In the end, there is no wrong soap, only the soap that is right for you. Whether you lean towards the traditional, minimalistic appeal of tallow soap or the diverse options available among traditional soaps, there’s no shortage of ways to keep clean and feel great about your choice.

---

Are tallow soaps and balms a sustainable option?

Sustainability is a crucial topic these days. With the effects of climate change ever-present, we want to make sure the products we use and create are made with sustainability in mind. When considering how to opt-out of the chemical lifestyle, we knew we wanted to make soaps that were good for our bodies and better for the environment. That is why we chose tallow for our soaps and stopped using palm oil products. Palm oil is the most common tallow soap alternative because it is cheap; however, it is typically not harvested sustainably or ethically. Unfair labor practices, animal cruelty, and rapid deforestation are common in the palm oil industry, making it far less sustainable long term.

On the other hand, tallow soap utilizes an animal by-product that would typically go to waste. Pasture-based tallow is made by rendering suet. Beef suet is the fat found around the loins and kidneys of cows. To render the tallow, the suet is chopped up, melted over low heat, the liquid fat is strained to separate solid pieces, and the liquid fat is allowed to cool, resulting in rendered tallow. The suet used to make tallow is typically considered waste in the farming industry. After the meat that most people eat is harvested, the suet is leftover with other non-traditional parts.

Rendering tallow from suet when making soaps and balms helps reduce waste by using something otherwise discarded. As for the type of suet we use, we use grass-fed, pasture-raised suet to make our tallow. We want to ensure our soaps are made using humanely sourced ingredients that are high quality. While tallow may seem like an odd choice for soap, the added vitamins and nutrients and the sustainable benefits actually make tallow a better choice for soap than palm oil.

Ultimately, Tallow soaps help alleviate waste from the farming industry by utilizing suet (beef fat) and turning it into a vitamin-rich skincare product. Using suet from grass-finished and pasture-raised cattle can ensure humane treatment of the cattle. In addition to these great ethical and sustainable qualities of tallow soap, we also make sure to use recyclable packaging to limit delivery waste.

We believe that tallow soap is the perfect choice for sustainable soap. It is compatible with our skin and filled with the vitamins and nutrients our skin craves. Try out one of our soaps and balms and see for yourself how beneficial tallow soap is for you and the environment.

What does it mean to opt-out of the chemical lifestyle?

Over eight years ago, we decided it was time to opt-out of the chemical lifestyle. To us, opting out of the chemical lifestyle is a decision to use natural products with straightforward ingredients whenever possible. We use chemicals in our homes, our bodies, and at work. While we know some chemicals are necessary, and it would be difficult to cut them out 100%, limiting our exposure to unnecessary chemicals can benefit our health and the world around us. Specifically, we want to limit our exposure to synthetics—artificial chemical compounds that are usually cheap and easy to make. These synthetic chemicals are typically not environmentally conscious and can be bad for our health/skin. 

When it comes to soap and skin specifically, we began making soap because we realized how damaging these synthetic chemicals could be to our skin. They have little to no health benefits, and they can actually work against us. Opting out of the chemical lifestyle was a way for us to take control of our skin health by making and using products that give us added health benefits. That is why we only use pasture-based beef suet in our soaps and all-natural essential oils in our products. By using pasture-based beef suet, we can ensure our tallow is nutrient-rich without unnecessary chemicals and hormones.

Similarly, using all-natural essential oils help keep our products safe for most skin types with less risk of irritation than synthetic fragrance oils. Making our products healthy for our customers and us is our top priority, but sustainable production is equally important. We make sure we support sustainable farming practices that value and nourish the soil, and we use reusable packing whenever possible to help keep our oceans clean. When it comes to our soaps, opting out of the chemical lifestyle is more than a motto, it's a lifestyle. We want to make sure we embrace it while also making it easy for our customers to opt-out of this lifestyle along with us. 

Opting out of the chemical lifestyle may look different for everyone, but ultimately, it is choosing to use natural ingredients and products. It may not always be possible, but making that choice and working towards it is enough. When you start to consider opting out of the chemical lifestyle, there are several ways to do it and how you begin is also up to you. Here are some great suggestions to get you started: 

• Shopping at local businesses with locally sourced ingredients.

• Utilize reusable packaging through package-free wholesale stores or alternative uses.

• Research ingredients and learn what natural, sustainable products work best for you.

• Using companion gardening to deal with pests and diseases instead of pesticides. This hugely aides the bee community.

We want to emphasize that we are not perfect; no one is. But, we should always strive to be better a little bit at a time. Keep educating ourselves, and apply one thing at a time. We hope this blog makes opting out of the chemical lifestyle a little easier for you. 

Pasture-Raised, Grass-fed, Feedlot, Grain-Finished Cattle - What's the difference?

Most of us have heard of grass-fed cattle and understand it to be a healthier option, but does it actually mean, and how do we know it is the best choice? Having so many options can be confusing especially when we don’t know the differences and technicalities in each. For example, grass-fed, and pasture-raised may seem like the same thing, but there are small differences that can make a huge impact when it comes to the products you use or the food you eat.

What are feedlot cattle or conventionally raised cattle?  

All cattle in the United States begin on the pasture. Calves are pasture-raised for six months to a year, and once they are weaned (separated from their mothers) and vaccinated, they are auctioned and moved to a feedlot.

When cattle are grown on a feedlot the primary focuses are efficiency and growth of the animal, but nutrition and health are also important. The main purpose of feedlots is to help the animal reach a certain weight as efficiently as possible. This happens through providing a steady, high-energy diet and managing the cattle to minimize health problems and stress. One major part of this equation is to lower the amount of energy the animal spends trying to find food and direct that to growth. 

Once the cattle are in the feedlot they are vaccinated, ear-tagged, and started on a high forage diet. The longer they are in the feedlot, the more their diets become concentrated with grains and high-energy products. This diet along with cortisol from stress, allows the cattle to gain weight exponentially in the feedlot. This makes the overall harvesting process fast and cost-effective.

This fast and cost-effective method still comes with a high moral price tag. The cattle in feedlots are often shoved by the thousands into small, dirty spaces, fed poor quality food, and offered little to no exercise. These cattle aren’t even provided the sight of the outdoors in most cases and mistreatment is common as well.  

It is no wonder that these harsh conditions and poor dietary options result in cattle with significantly less nutrients than the other methods. In fact, grain-fed cattle have four times less vitamin E and unhealthy ratios of omega-6 to omega-3. This unhealthy balance can lead to serious health conditions.

Feedlot cattle are raised efficiently for mass production, but the ethics, nutrition, and quality are lacking. With that being said, it is a cheaper meat option, but it isn’t the healthiest option for your body or the most ethical choice for consumption.

What are grass-fed cattle? 

Grass-fed cattle spend the majority of their lives eating grass and foraging in pastures, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the cow was fed a grass diet their entire lives. If the cattle have spent the majority of their life eating grass, no matter how it is finished, means it can be labeled grass-fed. 

In other words, as long as the cow was fed greenery at one point in its life, it can be labeled as grass-fed beef. However, grass-finished beef means the cow was fed grass — and nothing but grass and plants — for the duration of its life.

So when choosing a grass-fed beef product, it is important to note whether it was grass-finished or grain-finished because each yields a different outcome.

What are grain-finished cattle?

Grain-finished cattle, like grass-finished, spend the majority of their lives eating grass and foraging in pastures. However, these cattle are “finished” with grain and corn before they are harvested. When beef is grain-finished, cattle are free to eat a balanced diet of grain, local feed ingredients, and hay.

So in this case, the cattle were started and spent the majority of their lives on a grass-fed diet and may have been fed grains for the remainder of their lives. The term for this is actually grass-fed, grain-finished beef. 

These cattle still end up in the feedlot for the remainder of their life, producing cortisol and eating grain to produce more fat. While this is a slightly better option than conventionally raised cattle, it is still ethically questionable and leaves the cattle with less nutrients and a higher fat content. Ultimately, this leads to lower quality meat with more fat, more chemicals, and fewer nutrients.

What are pasture-raised cattle?  

Pasture-raised cattle refers to cattle that live and feed on a pasture their entire life. Not all pasture-raised cattle are grass-fed. Some pasture-raised cattle are still fed grains while on the pasture. This typically happens in colder climates when there isn’t enough grass or hay available on the pasture.

While there are pasture-raised cattle that are 100% grass-fed, it is not always the case. We need to be mindful of what the cattle eat and where. The benefit of pasture-raised cattle is that it gives the cows a chance to be cows. They have the freedom to wander, lots of space to graze, and are treated well by the farmers who raise them. 

If raised properly pasture-raised cattle will typically have less cortisol and can be nutrient-dense if they’re grass-finished. Pasture-raised cattle that are grass-finished are an ideal choice for beef products.

What cattle does The Healthy Porcupine use? What cattle should you choose? 

All of our suet comes from grass-finished cattle. We choose grass-finished cattle that are pasture-raised. We get our suet sourced locally in the Northeast, courtesy of Walden Local Meat. They are located in Billerica, Massachusetts, and provide beef and dairy products to businesses throughout the Northeast. By obtaining our suet locally, we can ensure that the cows are treated humanely, graze freely, and live happily. It is important to us that we make high-quality soaps in the most humane way possible. We choose to use Walden Local Meat’s suet in our soaps because it is sourced from several local farms that provide 100% grass-fed, pasture-raised beef suet rich in nutrients, perfect for our all-natural tallow soaps.

The tallow we make from this suet contains healthy amounts of vitamins A, D, E, K, and B12, which can all be beneficial to your skin health and appearance. Choosing a soap or a product with grass-finished cattle is a great way to ensure you get a nutrient-rich product that is good for your body. No matter what you choose, always try and make the right choice for you. We want to make sure you have the knowledge you need to opt-out of the chemical lifestyle and move on to better you.