Hello! I have done a lot of research and experimenting with slowing down trace over the last year in an attempt to have more time with coloring while still pouring at a thinner trace. My recipes have always traced really quickly with only a few short pulses of the stick blender, so I went on the hunt to find ways to slow it down.
One big culprit was my Castor Oil. I use it in every recipe to boost the lather, and when I tried lowering it I found the trace was much more controllable. I now keep it at a maximum of 7% in my recipes.
Another interesting thing I found was some say with a 40% or higher lye concentration it can actually reverse the usual acceleration from water discounting. I tested this theory with a well behaving FO and was surprised to find I had the most time I've ever had to play with my design! This seems to work most of the time, but not always.
The next thing I'm going to play with is temperatures and using a whisk with minimal use of my stick blender. I use a lot of hard oils and based off of my notes I found that soaping around 100F seems to accelerate trace for me. I normally soap around 115F or so and have better luck with this temperature and a 40% lye concentration. But even 15 seconds total stick blending can bring on medium to thick trace quickly for me, even if only bringing to emulsion.
I'm wondering how many of you have also found luck with slower trace with the opposite of what is normally taught, like using a higher lye concentration and higher temperature rather than 100F and under? I'm not a fan of using full water and only do this when working with beer soaps and the like. I don't use beeswax which I know needs a higher temperature (although I do use Palm Kernel Flakes), just palm, coconut (76 degree), cocoa and shea butter for hard oils at around 55-60% total. I've been soaping for nearly a decade and controlling trace still seems to elude me sometimes, it's like there are times where it doesn't seem to follow any rules or behave as expected. Curious to see what has worked for others to slow down trace, aside from the usual tips. Thanks in advance!
One big culprit was my Castor Oil. I use it in every recipe to boost the lather, and when I tried lowering it I found the trace was much more controllable. I now keep it at a maximum of 7% in my recipes.
Another interesting thing I found was some say with a 40% or higher lye concentration it can actually reverse the usual acceleration from water discounting. I tested this theory with a well behaving FO and was surprised to find I had the most time I've ever had to play with my design! This seems to work most of the time, but not always.
The next thing I'm going to play with is temperatures and using a whisk with minimal use of my stick blender. I use a lot of hard oils and based off of my notes I found that soaping around 100F seems to accelerate trace for me. I normally soap around 115F or so and have better luck with this temperature and a 40% lye concentration. But even 15 seconds total stick blending can bring on medium to thick trace quickly for me, even if only bringing to emulsion.
I'm wondering how many of you have also found luck with slower trace with the opposite of what is normally taught, like using a higher lye concentration and higher temperature rather than 100F and under? I'm not a fan of using full water and only do this when working with beer soaps and the like. I don't use beeswax which I know needs a higher temperature (although I do use Palm Kernel Flakes), just palm, coconut (76 degree), cocoa and shea butter for hard oils at around 55-60% total. I've been soaping for nearly a decade and controlling trace still seems to elude me sometimes, it's like there are times where it doesn't seem to follow any rules or behave as expected. Curious to see what has worked for others to slow down trace, aside from the usual tips. Thanks in advance!
