100% Coconut Oil Soap Not Tracing!

[omdougherty]

Hello Fellow Soapmakers!

I have been having this trouble for the past week with three different batches of 100% Coconut Oil Soap. Please if you can give me any advise or input I would be highyl appreciative : )

My Recipe is very basic:

100% Coconut Oil ( weights varying per batch.. sometimes 9oz , sometimes 28oz ... etc)

I've been doing a 30% superfat on SoapCalc with varying Lye Concentration .. anywhere from 33% to 43%
- I'm varying the Lye concentration because I'm looking for it to trace rather quickly as i've gotten impatient using my hand blender for an hour.
- I use a hand blender.. the bulky one with the two mixer things in it.. not a stick blender ( I know stick blender would be better and faster, but I dont have one.)

I also tried soaping really HOT because i read that also may speed up getting soap to TRACE but still all that happens is it gets a bit thicker but never truly thick enough to leave a TRACE on top. . I tested both batches with Zap test after 24-48 hours after unmolding and both prove to be well-off with no Zap but i'm still wondering if i can get it to reach Trace sooner than having to guess when i think its finished.

Looking for some expert tips or pointers how to get this 100% coconut recipe to trace quickly.. (within 10-15 min ideally)

Let me know what you think!

Full Love

 

[DawninWA]

Sorry, my recommendation is to get a stick blender. It's seriously night and day. Coconut oil soap traces in seconds (maybe a minute of its being finicky). I have to be careful not to get it too thick to pour because I use cavity molds.

 

[Jillyb]

Is your lye fresh?
Mine traces in 30sec @ Approx 140F (any hotter and I get volcanos) with only 3 second bursts with stick blender. I HP and its cooked & in mold in less than 30min.

 

[Obsidian]

I agree a stick blender will make a world of difference.
If you want thick trace before you pour and its taking a long time, you might need to simply walk away for a bit.
When my soap is slow, I'll let it sit for 5 minutes, check, let it sit again, check, rinse and repeat until its where I want it.

 

[DeeAnna]

Coconut oil soap should come to trace fairly easily. And many people have made all kinds of soap for centuries with just hand mixing. So while I really, really like my stick blender, I can accept that a person should be able to make this soap without a stick blender, given sufficient determination and patience.

"...I tested both batches with Zap test after 24-48 hours after unmolding and both prove to be well-off with no Zap ..."

So if I understand you correctly, you're saying these two things -- (1) your soap did not separate in the mold and (2) your soap is not lye heavy.

Ergo, your soap reached a stable emulsion and saponified properly. It's fine.

So let's dig into your perceptions about trace --

When you say it doesn't reach trace, have you visually confirmed the lye layer is physically separating from the fat layer?

Or do you mean you aren't seeing the typical "trace" swirl pattern that you want to see?

If the answer to the first question is yes, then your soap didn't emulsify. If it didn't emulsify, the soap will separate in the mold and will still be lye heavy.

If the answer to the first is no but the answer to the second is yes (which is what I think you're going to tell me), then your soap is fine.

The visible sign we call "trace" is only a guideline that tells you the soap batter has reached a stable chemical emulsion. This visible sign is not a requirement, however.

All you need is for the soap to reach a stable chemical emulsion, meaning the lye and fats won't separate if you stop mixing. Many of us mix the soap batter only to a stable emulsion and then stop. There's no visual sign of trace at that point ... but the soap saponifies just fine.

Think about it ... if your soap is zap free and did not separate in the mold, it DID get thick enough to show "trace" at some point, just not when you were paying attention to it. If it didn't thicken at some point, it would not have turned into solid soap, right?

 

[omdougherty]

Thank you all for your responses. So so wonderful community <3

I'll try and answer all.

1. My lye is less than a year old and should still be 'fresh' . One can only hope!

2. I do sometimes do what you said Obsidian and let is sit for 5-10 minutes than come back and mix again.. Certainly makes my arms happy Its good that way instead of getting frustrated and overwhelmed with failed expectations.

3. Thank you DeeAnna for your detailed reply. I completely agree and understand what you said.
With no Zap and no separation in the mold I know it went through a proper emulsification and have nothing to worry about. There was no visible separation in the mixture before I poured it..
My perception of 'trace' was a bit off.. I was thinking it HAD to reach to the point where if I drag a line on the top of the mixture than it will leave a drag pattern and stay there for a second.. that is that part I did not see happen which was frustrating me..
After reading your post I understand its much more about a proper emulsification where there's no separation between the lye and oils than to get the mixture thick enough to leave that tracing pattern on top. FANTASTIC!

Just still curious why it doesnt reach that point of having the 'trace' swirl stay? Others mention it reaches that point fairly easily for them, but it takes me half hour to reach emulsification .. anyway, no worries

Thanks ALL! And i'll definitely be getting a stick blender in the future!

 

[earlene]

A stick blender is a nice thing to have, but it's not really essential to making soap. Until you get one, it's a good time to try a soap recipe with pomace olive oil. I can make Castile soap with pomace and no stick blender and reach trace in a very few minutes. I mean super fast compared to your experience with the CO soap you just made.

When you do get a stick blender, watch out! You may notice things move so quickly you will be shocked. Try to be gentle with its use; excessive use of the SB can lead to soap on a stick. So go slow.

 

[DeeAnna]

I have no idea why you're not seeing that swirly trace pattern. I suspect, but it's only a guess, that your very high superfat may have something to do with that.

 

[GemstonePony]

I notice you're doing a 30% superfat. In general, the higher the superfat, the more fluid the batter and softer the soap.
Stirring also loosens things up. Even with an accelerating fragrance and a recipe high in butters, I can keep things pourable for a while just by keeping the mixture moving.
Air bubbles also keep things more fluid, since they're moving the batter for you, particularly if there are a lot of them and you're constantly putting more in with a mixer.
If you want it to trace in 10-15 minutes, there really isn't a substitute for an immersion blender, also known as a stick blender.
I have a method for getting thick trace with a whisk, but it takes a while regardless of recipe.

 

[AlexanderMakesSoap]

I've done 20% superfat WITH a stick blender and it took quite a while to trace my 100% coconut oil soap. I can't imagine trying to mix this by hand, especially with a 30% superfat...

 

[Liesel Atwood]

Hello everyone! So, I just wanted to chime in here with an observation that may or may not be part of the tracing problem, omdougherty. The temperature of my house is often very hot...too hot for me! I'm talking anywhere from 75-82 F. Phew! And on those hot days (someone loves to fill up the wood stove! LOL) I find that it takes longer to reach trace. I can get an emulsion after about 10-15 minutes, but with some recipes, especially those with a higher SF, a thick trace can take awhile to achieve. Soap frosting can be a painfully long test of patience! I just unmolded a soap with 25 % coconut and 25% PKO (the rest was canola and crisco.) and 15% SF. It was still soft and sticky after 24 hours, but after moving it to a cool room upstairs, it has started to harden up, though it still has a way to go. Is it possible that the temperature of your soaping area is warmer than usual for you? Sometimes the little things that we don't have a lot of control over can affect the way our soap batter behaves. Just a suggestion. And, I agree with the others who have commented...I think it sounds like your soap will be just fine! I'd love to see a picture and hear how it turns out after some cure time. Best of luck!

 

[GemstonePony]

I've done 20% superfat WITH a stick blender and it took quite a while to trace my 100% coconut oil soap. I can't imagine trying to mix this by hand, especially with a 30% superfat...

If you're referring to my post, I noticed her batch amounts appear to be around 200g of oils, give or take. My method for getting tiny batches to trace faster is combine lye and oils at 160-180°f, whisk gently until under 120°f, and leave it alone and check on it every 5-10 minutes until you like the trace you see. It's arguably HP and still takes 30-45 minutes, but it's the fastest option I've found for amounts too small for a SB and for which an accelerating fragrance is not preferred.
Speaking of which, an otherwise-well-behaved accelerating fragrance is another way to reach thick trace in a hurry.
Or use an alcoholic beverage in place of water, just make sure any carbonation has gone flat but don't boil the alcohol off. Beer is best, but pretty much any drinkable alcoholic beverage should do just fine to shorten your working time.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I've done 20% superfat WITH a stick blender and it took quite a while to trace my 100% coconut oil soap. I can't imagine trying to mix this by hand, especially with a 30% superfat...

 

[linne1gi]

Hello Fellow Soapmakers!

I have been having this trouble for the past week with three different batches of 100% Coconut Oil Soap. Please if you can give me any advise or input I would be highyl appreciative : )

My Recipe is very basic:

100% Coconut Oil ( weights varying per batch.. sometimes 9oz , sometimes 28oz ... etc)

I've been doing a 30% superfat on SoapCalc with varying Lye Concentration .. anywhere from 33% to 43%
- I'm varying the Lye concentration because I'm looking for it to trace rather quickly as i've gotten impatient using my hand blender for an hour.
- I use a hand blender.. the bulky one with the two mixer things in it.. not a stick blender ( I know stick blender would be better and faster, but I dont have one.)

I also tried soaping really HOT because i read that also may speed up getting soap to TRACE but still all that happens is it gets a bit thicker but never truly thick enough to leave a TRACE on top. . I tested both batches with Zap test after 24-48 hours after unmolding and both prove to be well-off with no Zap but i'm still wondering if i can get it to reach Trace sooner than having to guess when i think its finished.

Looking for some expert tips or pointers how to get this 100% coconut recipe to trace quickly.. (within 10-15 min ideally)

Let me know what you think!

Full Love

Just to bring up something others have not - How much water/liquid are you using? If you are using an excess of water, then your sold may trace very slowly and take quite a while to set up even 100% Coconut Oil.

 

[AliOop]

Are you using 76º coconut oil, the kind that is solid at room temp? Or are you using the fractionated CO, which stays liquid at any temp?

I only ask because a friend of mine called me about the trouble she was having with making soap; it turned out she had used the fractionated CO because she didn't know there would be a difference in how it would behave during soap-making.