Overview of animal fats and oils

Use of animal fats and oils in body soap

Nowadays, soap and cleansing bars are often made from synthetic substances and have little to do with “real” or natural soap. The use of oils and fats from nature has become unfamiliar to most of us. The idea that simple olive, rapeseed, or sunflower oil — the same kinds used in cooking — could be turned into soap suitable not only for cleaning but also for skin and hair often provokes disbelief.

The reaction is even stronger when it comes to using animal fats and oils. Many associate this with slaughterhouse waste, spoiled meat, or animal suffering. And yet, many soaps found in supermarkets and drugstores still contain animal fats. These soaps are known for their strong cleaning power and high grease-dissolving properties. In the ingredient list (INCI), beef tallow, for example, is listed as Sodium Tallowate, and it’s commonly found in cleaning soaps such as curd soap or gall soap.

Despite modern aversion, the use of tallow in soapmaking has a long and rich tradition. Around 2,300 years ago, animal fats and oils were already essential components in soap production — especially in Central Europe.

The first known peoples to produce soap from animal fats were the Germanic tribes and the Celts. At the time, wasting any raw material was unthinkable, and so the entire animal was utilized. They primarily used tallow from deer, sheep, goats, and cattle, most of which was derived from bone fat and slaughter by-products, as the base for their soap mixtures.

When these fats were saponified with potash (potassium carbonate), the result was a very soft soap paste. Due to its high alkalinity, it was far too harsh for use on the body. Instead, it found other uses: Germanic men, for example, used the paste as a kind of pomade to bleach or redden their hair.

More commonly, however, this early soap paste was used to remove lanolin (wool fat) from raw wool and for general cleaning purposes.

Pliny the Elder described such practices in his encyclopedic work Naturalis Historia. Among the Gauls, a similar soap recipe was in use. References to this ancient soap can also be found in the writings of Galen of Pergamon, a prominent physician and scholar of antiquity.

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Animal fats and oils from A - Z

B                                                                                

Badger Fat / Roof Fat

INCI: Badger Fat / Roof Fat

German: Dachsfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 71

Bear Tallow:

INCI: Bear Tallow

German: Bärenfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0,139 / KOH 0,195

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 92

Beef tallow:

INCI: Adeps Bovis

German: Rindertalg

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.143 / KOH 0.200

* Unsaponifiables: 0.3

* Iodine number: 45

Breast milk:

INCI: Breast Milk Fat

German: Muttermilch

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.148 / KOH 0.205

* Unsaponifiables: 0.3

* Iodine number: 42

Butter, Cow:

INCI: Butter, Cow

German: Butter, Kuh

*Saponification numbers NaOH 0,164 / KOH 0,230

*Unsaponifiables:  0,4

*Iodine number: 30

C                                                                                

Chicken Lard:

INCI: Chicken Fat

German: Hühnerschmalz

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiables: 0.1

* Iodine number: 69

Chamois fat:

INCI: Chamois Fat

German: Gämsenfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.147 / KOH 0.204

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 25

Clarified butter, Cow / Gee :

INCI: Gee, Cow / Clarified Butter

German: Butterschmalz, Kuh / Gee / geklärte Butter

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.162 / KOH 0.227

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 30

Clarified butter, goat:

INCI: Clarified Butter, goat / Gee, goat

German: Butterschmalz, Ziege

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.167 / KOH 0.234

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 30

Claw Oil:

INCI: Neatsfood Oil

German: Klauenöl

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.128 / KOH 0.180

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 90

Cod liver oil:

INCI: Gadi Lecur Oil

German: Lebertran (Dorsch)

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.133 / KOH 0.187

* Unsaponifiable: 1.2

* Iodine number:

D                                                                                

Deer tallow:

INCI: Deer Tallow

German: Hirschtalg

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.138 / KOH 0.193

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 31

Duck Fat, flesh and skin:

INCI: Duck Fat, Flesh and Skin

German: Entenschmalz

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.138 / KOH 0.194

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 72

E                                                                                

Emu Oil:

INCI: Dromiceius Oil

German: Emuöl

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.135 / KOH 0.190

* Unsaponifiables: 0.2

* Iodine number: 60

Eel Oil:

INCI: Eel Oil

German: Aalöl

*Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiables: 0.8

* Iodine number: 118

F                                                                                

Fallow Deer Tallow:

INCI: Fallow Deer Tallow

German: Damhirschtalg

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.140 / KOH 0.196

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 24

G                                                                                

Goat tallow:

INCI: Adeps Caprae

German: Ziegentalg

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.137 / KOH 0.192

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 40

Goat milk fat:

INCI: Adeps Caprae

German: Ziegenmilchfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.165 / KOH 0.230

* Unsaponifiable: 0.5

* Iodine number: 30

Goose Lard:

INCI: Goose Fat

German: Gänseschmalz

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.137 / KOH 0.192

* Unsaponifiables: 0.4

* Iodine number: 65

H                                                                               

Hare fat / Field hare fat:

INCI: Rabbit Fat

German: Hasenfett / Feldhasenfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.144 / KOH 0.201

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 85

Horse fat:

INCI: Horse Oil

German: Pferdefett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.140 / KOH 0.196

* Unsaponifiable: 0.5

* Iodine number: 79

L                                                                                

Lanolin, Liquide Wax

INCI: Lanolin, liquide Wax

German: Lanolin/ Wollfett

*Saponification numbers: NaOH 0,760 / KOH 0,106

*Unverseifbares: 42

* Iodine number: 27

Lard, Pig Tallow:

INCI: Adeps Suillus

German: Schweineschmalz

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.141 / KOH 0.198

* Unsaponifiables: 0.2

* Iodine number: 57

M                                                                               

Mare's milk fat:

INCI: Mare's Milk Fat

German: Stutenmilchfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.163 / KOH 0.228

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number:

Marmot Oil:

INCI: Marmot Oil

German: Murmeltieröl

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 110

Milk fat, cow / buffalo:

INCI: Milk Fat, any bovine

German: Milchfett, Kuh / Büffel

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.162 / KOH 0.227

* Unsaponifiables: 0.4

* Iodine number: 30

Mink oil:

INCI: Mink Oil

German: Nerzöl

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.140 / KOH 0.196

* Unsaponifiables: 0.4

* Iodine number: 5

Moose fat:

INCI: Moose Fat, Elk Fat

German: Elchfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.138 / KOH 0.194

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 35

Mutton fat:

INCI: Mutton Fat

German: Hammelfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiables: 0.2

* Iodine number: 40

N                                                                               

Nutria Oil:

INCI: Nutria Oil

German: Nutria Öl

*Saponification numbers:  NaOH 0,141 / KOH 0,197

*Unsaponifiables:

*Iodine number: 90

O                                                                               

Ostrich fat:

INCI: Ostrich Oil

German: Strausenfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 97

R                                                                                

Rabbit fat / wild rabbit fat:

INCI: Rabbit Fat, Cony Fat

German: Kaninchenfett / Wildkaninchenfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.145 / KOH 0.202

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 68

Robe fat / seal fat / sea lion fat:

INCI: Seal Fat, Sea Dog Fat, Sea Lion Fat

German: Robenfett/Seehundfett/Seelöwenfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.135 / KOH 0.190

* Unsaponifiables: 0.8

* Iodine number: 156

Roe Deer tallow:

INCI: Roe Deer Tallow

German: Rehtalg

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.142 / KOH 0.199

* Unsaponifiables: 0.3

* Iodine number: 32

S                                                                                

Salmon oil:

INCI: Salmon Oil

German: Lachsöl

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.132 / KOH 0.185

* Unsaponifiables: 4.4

* Iodine number: 106

Sheep milk fat:

INCI: Sheep Milk Fat

German: Schaffmilch, Fett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.170 / KOH 0.235

* Unsaponifiable: 0.5

* Iodine number: 34

Sheep Tallow:

INCI: Sheep Tallow

German: Schafftalg

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiables: 0.2

* Iodine number: 54

W

Wild boar fat:

INCI: Wild Boar Fat

German: Wildschweinfett

* Saponification numbers: NaOH 0.139 / KOH 0.195

* Unsaponifiable:

* Iodine number: 97

* Saponification numbers / unsaponifiables (proportion of unsaponifiable substances) / iodine numbers indicate mean values with a calculated safety factor, since oils / fats are natural products subject to fluctuations!

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The information contained here was compiled by me to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since nobody is free of errors, it is advisable to do your own research on this topic.

Natural remedies do not replace a doctor!

All content without guarantee, subject to change !!!