Extremely thick trace in a basic, lard soap after 2 seconds.

[Iveta Pelá]

Hi, thank you for your quick response. The recipe was about 5 cups lard and lye in water. I used the mountain sage lye calculator and followed that. This is the third time in a row this has happened with the same batch of melted fat. Could that be the problem?


Thank you.

I would also like to add that the photo shows that you used something to color the soap. Please state what you used, in what quantity and for how much fat. (when making soap, we use grams, or ounces, not cups. Measuring ingredients must be accurate). And if you used any fragrances, information about that as well. Some dyes or fragrances also have an effect on the speed of the track, so this information, including the exact amount, is also important.

 

[WanderWildLife]

That looks really dark for 100% lard only oil Soap unless your lard was tan/brown in color to start and if that’s the case I’d say it’s the lard.

If your lard was white/cream. To start what was the temp of your oils and your lye water when you combined. Maybe your lye water was still way too hot and you scorched the lard? Thats just a guess.

I work with lard and it’s always slow to trace for me, similar almost to 100% EVOO oil based soap.

 

[Ladka]

I use lard, alone or in combinations, and it is extremely slow to trace. The colour I get is white or slightly off-white.