# Slow tracing recipe with lard as majority oil



## Sonya-m (Dec 1, 2014)

Can anyone recommend a slow tracing recipe that has a high lard content please? Desperate to attempt some swirls but my soap is tracing very fast. 

I'm going to soap cooler as people have suggested as have been doing it at around 110F. 

Have also purchased some FO that states it doesn't accelerate trace and the user reviews say it behaves 

But wanted to give myself the best chance I can so hoping you will share your slow trace recipes with me


----------



## lsg (Dec 1, 2014)

Be careful soaping cooler with lard, it tends to get thicker as it cools.  My suggestion is to use SoapCalc.  You can plug in the percentages for the soap.  Lard, coconut oil and Castor oil would make a good soap.


----------



## The Efficacious Gentleman (Dec 1, 2014)

lsg said:


> Be careful soaping cooler with lard, it tends to get thicker as it cools. My suggestion is to use SoapCalc. You can plug in the percentages for the soap. Lard, coconut oil and Castor oil would make a good soap.


 
Agreed!

Put a large % of lard in to soapcalc, add some CO to taste and then other oils that you are after. Let us know what you come up with (and what the basis for the choice was) and it'll be a much better learning experience than just getting a recipe.

Soaping is more than just being about the look of the soap. If anything, swirling and using FOs should come secondary to knowing how to make a basic lard-based recipe.


----------



## Susie (Dec 1, 2014)

As much as I love lard, try upping the amount of olive oil 5%(and decreasing the lard by that much) at the time until you get what you need.  Soaping at room temperature might also help.


----------



## Sonya-m (Dec 1, 2014)

My last 2 recipes were:

55% lard
25% olive oil
20% coconut oil

And 

55% lard
20% olive oil
20% coconut
5% castor oil

Both soaped at around 110F, 1st one had frankincense and other had sugar plum FO


----------



## cmzaha (Dec 1, 2014)

lsg said:


> Be careful soaping cooler with lard, it tends to get thicker as it cools. My suggestion is to use SoapCalc. You can plug in the percentages for the soap. Lard, coconut oil and Castor oil would make a good soap.


As LS mentioned lard can be tricky if soaped to cool. I normally soap room temp, but when the weather has been cool I have ended up with having to rebatch using lard to cool. Twice I have had a cavity of unsaponified lard running through the entire batch of soap. Now I always soap around 100 degrees fareinheit when using 50% or above lard. 
This recipe from Amanda at Lovin Soap work great. I tweak it a little but the original is a very nice slowing moving recipe. It is the recipe she used for one of her first posted peacock swirls
Lard 12 oz
Olive Oil 12 oz   
Coconut OIl 8 oz
Rice Bran Oil 4 oz
Water 11 oz
Lye 4.93 oz 
soap calc numbers will look like this
OO 33.33 %
Lard 33.33%
Coconu OIl 22.22%
RBO  11.11%
Water as percent of oil 31%
Lye superfat @ 7%


----------



## lenarenee (Dec 1, 2014)

Question for lsg, cmzaha:  are you talking about a false trace? 

I've  made 8 two pound batches of 70% lard soap, soaped very cold, and water discounted, and they all turned out beautifully.  Have I just been lucky? I don't sb to trace, only to emulsion.


----------



## Obsidian (Dec 1, 2014)

I also use lard at room temp (around 80*) and have never had false trace. My slowest moving recipe is 75% lard, 20% coconut and 5% castor. I stick blend just to emulsion then separate for different colors.


----------



## Sonya-m (Dec 1, 2014)

I wonder if I'm stick blending for just too long? I do it in small blasts


----------



## IrishLass (Dec 1, 2014)

It sounds like you might be (it's very easy to do!). Just stick-blend to emulsification, and then hand-stir from there on out.



 IrishLass


----------



## Obsidian (Dec 1, 2014)

Why not make some small (1lb or so) test batches until you get the speed of tracing down? If you make them unscented/uncolored you can always rebatch later and add in color/scent.


----------



## Sonya-m (Dec 1, 2014)

Think I'm gonna have to if I'm going to master the light trace.


----------



## DeeAnna (Dec 1, 2014)

I am learning to stick blend less and less. A little scary, but so far I'm seeing good results. 

Another thing I've been trying lately is to add hot lye solution to just the hard fats and stir by hand until the fats are almost melted. Stick blend a wee bit at that point to get a smooth lightly-emulsified batter. I then add the room temperature liquid oils to the batter all at once. Stick blend very lightly and hand stir until the batter reaches emulsification or light trace again. This seems to be working to give me more time to work before my batter stiffens up too much.

There's a long thread on The Dish forum about this technique -- I finally got frustrated enough to try it. Most of my recipes are high in lard, but the way I've been making the soap must encourage trace to gallop in all a-lather. I'm hoping I can convince it to do a quiet, slow "mosey" instead.


----------



## Sonya-m (Dec 1, 2014)

Thanks for all the advice guys, desperate to make pretty swirls. 

How does this recipe look, anything you would change?


----------



## DeeAnna (Dec 1, 2014)

Some would say (including me) that most fats under 5% are not contributing much to the party. So maybe you want to increase your castor to 5%? 

That said, your recipe as written is pretty similar to the recipe I often use. It has a moderate level of cleansing (not too harsh a cleanser, in other words) and good numbers for conditioning, bubbly, creamy, etc. I'd happily make this recipe. 

Tweaks: I would also add a bit of table sugar to the recipe (about 3% based on weight of oils) to boost lather.


----------



## Sonya-m (Dec 1, 2014)

I've heard adding sugar boosts bubbles/lather - at what point to you add it?


----------



## DeeAnna (Dec 1, 2014)

I add the sugar to my plain water BEFORE I add the lye. I tried it the other way around once -- added sugar to the lye solution -- and it made an icky mess. The sugar makes big crusty bits and never dissolves. Never again!


----------



## DeeAnna (Dec 1, 2014)

If you haven't seen the "Lather Lovers Soap Swap" results, it might give you some other ideas about additives to boost lather. See: https://www.flickr.com/photos/amathiasoapworks/6878518116/in/set-72157629324839760/


----------



## cmzaha (Dec 1, 2014)

lenarenee said:


> Question for lsg, cmzaha: are you talking about a false trace?
> 
> I've made 8 two pound batches of 70% lard soap, soaped very cold, and water discounted, and they all turned out beautifully. Have I just been lucky? I don't sb to trace, only to emulsion.


First off I do not believe in a false trace, but that is my opinion. Many will totally disagree. It is something else that happens, both times this has happened it has been when it was a gm soap. Both times I soap it cool, put it in the freezer, where it still decided to overheat and form a cavern which you would expect to see alligator teeth in. This cavern was filled with a thick layer of fat not oil. I have really been a bit stumped as to the cause and went back to soaping high lard soap at 100 degrees. I soap with lard regularly in varying percentages up to 100% and have only had it happen twice. If it is what people think is a false trace it would have been a problem through the entire soap not in just an overheated cavern


----------



## Meganmischke (Dec 1, 2014)

I will say one thing about false trace. I have had false trace but it didn't last long at all. I was soaping too cool and poured cold lye solution in and blended it immediately into thick trace. Then it heated up and loosened up. I think that is maybe false trace? Ok more than one thing sorry.


----------



## Dahila (Dec 1, 2014)

My lard is slow trace also, and I soap at 38 C


----------



## DeeAnna (Dec 1, 2014)

I've seen what Megan describes -- I was making a recipe high in solid fat and it got cooled down early on before saponification really got going because I was using frozen beer to make my lye solution. When the cold lye solution met the solid fat, the fat quickly solidified and gave every appearance of being in trace, but it didn't really go through that first emulsion stage that I normally see. This appearance of "trace" was kind of an instant switch from not-thick to thick. I kept mixing because it just didn't seem right. As saponification started to warm things up again, the batter suddenly got looser to the point of not looking like it was in trace at all, and then the batter emulsified properly. 

If I had poured the soap at the first appearance of "trace", I suspect it would have separated in the mold into messy fat and watery layers with bits of soap mixed throughout. It would not saponify completely, much less overheated. That's what I'd call an example of false trace.


----------



## IrishLass (Dec 1, 2014)

Ditto what DeeAnna said above. That is what I refer to as a false trace/pseudo trace, too.


 IrishLass


----------



## lenarenee (Dec 2, 2014)

cmzaha said:


> First off I do not believe in a false trace, but that is my opinion. Many will totally disagree. It is something else that happens, both times this has happened it has been when it was a gm soap. Both times I soap it cool, put it in the freezer, where it still decided to overheat and form a cavern which you would expect to see alligator teeth in. This cavern was filled with a thick layer of fat not oil. I have really been a bit stumped as to the cause and went back to soaping high lard soap at 100 degrees. I soap with lard regularly in varying percentages up to 100% and have only had it happen twice. If it is what people think is a false trace it would have been a problem through the entire soap not in just an overheated cavern



Thanks cmzaha. 

That certainly is a bizarre thing to happen...hope it doesn't happen again .


----------



## lsg (Dec 2, 2014)

lenarenee said:


> Question for lsg, cmzaha:  are you talking about a false trace?
> 
> I've  made 8 two pound batches of 70% lard soap, soaped very cold, and water discounted, and they all turned out beautifully.  Have I just been lucky? I don't sb to trace, only to emulsion.



Yes, that was what I was referring to.  Some new soapers have trouble differentiating between false trace and the real thing.  I am glad your soap turned out well.


----------



## cmzaha (Dec 2, 2014)

Meganmischke said:


> I will say one thing about false trace. I have had false trace but it didn't last long at all. I was soaping too cool and poured cold lye solution in and blended it immediately into thick trace. Then it heated up and loosened up. I think that is maybe false trace? Ok more than one thing sorry.


I do believe that is what people call a false trace. I guess I recognize what it is, to cool and thickening to quick not a false trace. I usually wait it out until it starts to gel then move on.


----------



## lenarenee (Dec 3, 2014)

lsg said:


> Yes, that was what I was referring to.  Some new soapers have trouble differentiating between false trace and the real thing.  I am glad your soap turned out well.



Thank you! In the future though I think I'll soap that really recipe a little warmer due to the experiences you and cmzaha had.


----------

