Hi Emma! If a recipe calls for tallow or lard, you can definitely substitute it for plant fats. I usually use a mixture of butters and other oils, depending on the recipe.
Here’s a guideline I start with when subbing out animal fats:
“Lard/Tallow: Replace with cocoa or kokum butter up to 15 or 20% + 5% castor oil OR use a combination of 5% castor oil + 10 to 15% cocoa butter + 10 to 15% shea butter + 10 to 15% mango butter.”
If you have a specific recipe in mind that you need help converting, use the contact form to email us and we’ll take a look at it. :)
Almost all of the recipes in my books are vegetarian, and the few that have animals fats listed always gives a vegan substitute idea, so maybe that’s another book that has those reviews? :)

Hello there! I’m vegetarian and I was wondering if there is a recipe that uses animal fat, can I substitute it for the same amount of plant fat? For example, can I substitute 100g of animal fat for 100g of cocoa butter exactly? I really want to buy your book on soap but some of the reviews say the recipes use animal fat and I’m not sure how I’d substitute it! Thank you so much in advance!