A question about tracing

[John Harris]

With all the soaps I've ever made, I have always SB'd them to thick trace. What would happen if I stopped at thin trace and poured then?

 

[Carly B]

They would take longer to firm up. I think that's it.

 

[DeeAnna]

Or the soap might firm up as normal. Whether the soap stays soft or firms up quickly depends on the recipe, temperature during saponification, water content, etc. as well as the thickness of the batter when poured into the mold. I usually pour batter at thin to medium trace, but sometimes the batter ends up thicker for various reasons (out of practice, new fragrance, the phase of the moon). All tend to behave about the same, as long as I'm using the same blend of fats.

For example, I made 2 batches of the same recipe yesterday. I poured them both when they were thicker than my preference. I can't say they're any firmer this morning than previous batches of the same recipe that I poured when the batter is thinner.

People, especially newer soapers, sometimes do get into trouble when batter is poured into the mold at emulsion to thin trace -- There is there is a little more chance the emulsion may fail so the soap separates in the mold, especially if the soap maker is a "more water" soaper and also if they keep the soap fairly warm while saponifying. There is also a slight tendency for the soap, if poured when thin, to be a bit more zappy on the bottom and not zappy on top because the soap is not quite at a fully stable emulsion when poured. This will cure out, so it's not a major issue, but something to be aware of.

 

[shunt2011]

I only stickblend to emulsion or very light trace. It doesn't take any longer to set up or gel in my experience. Finding the sweet spot takes some practice not to over blend with beginners.

 

[Marilyn Norgart]

There is also a slight tendency for the soap, if poured when thin, to be a bit more zappy on the bottom and not zappy on top because the soap is not quite at a fully stable emulsion when poured.

this is very interesting!!!!! and good to know. I usually SB to emulsion so maybe I need to make sure I am zap testing on the bottom of that bar--I do most of the time but sometimes feel its best to move around the bars

 

[cmzaha]

What DeeAnna says above. Here is an example of a bar poured at 8:30 last night. I used a 33% lye concentration with a 40/27% tallow/lard combination. This is not my normal but I tweaked a tad since I have been wanting to slow down my go-to non-vegan recipe.

The bottom layer was poured at thick trace, the green section at a medium to thick trace and the blue with white was an in the pot swirl at just emulsion. I will say if I had higher water I will guess the emulsion would have failed. I soaped this with room temp lye and 95º F oil temp was 125ºf when poured when was a little warmer than I like but it contained a little camel milk You will see they all set up just fine after gelling. These were made with 50% vinegar as most of my soaps are.

 

[DeeAnna]

this is very interesting!!!!! and good to know. I usually SB to emulsion so maybe I need to make sure I am zap testing on the bottom of that bar--I do most of the time but sometimes feel its best to move around the bars

I don't usually see a big difference in zap between the top and bottom, but I have seen slight differences from time to time. By the time the soap is fully cured, it's always been fine.

I zap-test newly made soap just because I want to (and I accept the risk of getting zapped from time to time), but if a person wants to wait a week or two to test, that's perfectly fine to do. That will ensure the soap is skin safe after cure and will greatly reduce the chance of having to deal with any hint of zap.