How to delay trace?

[McSpin]

Some of my formulations trace so quickly that I can't get the additives or EO in before it gets too thick to put in my molds. I know I could use more oils and less butters, but I like how the soap turns out, and would like to delay the trace long enough to get everything in without changing the basic formula.

I have read that lower temps help (I usually blend the lye and fats at around 85-90F). I've been using a lot of 76 degree CO, PO and shea butter. Approximately how low can I go with temp before they solidify? Will using more water delay trace? Are there any all-natural additives that are known to delay trace? I appreciate any input you can give.

 

[hmlove1218]

You could try soaping at room temp which is generally accepted to be about 75 ish F I believe. I dunno if you could go that low with you're recipe, however. I know I'm able to melt my oils the day before I soap and they still be clear and fluid. I have 30% hard oils/butters in my recipe.

Less of a water discount, if you use one, should also help keep it more fluid. And if you're not already, try blending to only emulsion and adding you're fragrances and colors to your oils before the lye.

 

[shunt2011]

With high Shea, Palm and CO it's going to be more difficult to have it move slowly from my experience. To have a slower trace a higher OO or even Lard will give you more time. I soap a room temp and have all the time I need to play with my recipes. I do have 35-40% OO.

 

[newbie]

Do you use only EOs? If you use FO's, some are known to slow trace,which may be helpful as well as the other advice. Have you tried only stirring by hand and no SB'ing? It would take longer but you would likely have a longer window in which to work.

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I second trying whisking the lye into the oils by hand with lots of fast-moving oils. In my most recent batch, I also had a bunch of palm, CO, shea butter, and milk fat (adding up to just over 50% of the total oils). I used my stick blender to get the fats (and cream, from which the milk fat came from) well blended, but then switched to a hand whisk to get the lye water blended in. I ended up having plenty of time for a very delicate bit of colorwork, even!

 

[McSpin]

Yes, I have tried hand whisking, but it doesn't matter much. It's going to trace within a minute or two without a stick blender. With a stick blender it's almost instant. I don't use FO's. I realize that I can slow this by changing the fats, but I was hoping that more water or a natural additive might help. My formulas that are causing the problems are 70-80 hard oils and butters.

 

[jules92207]

I put my fragrance in my oils before I add my lye water. That way once I see it's fully blended and starting to trace I go ahead and pour.

 

[JayBird]

Try chilling the lye water a bit, and bring the oils down to true room temp. The CO takes a long time to solidify even below the 76 degree melting point.

Stick blend in short bursts until it's very slightly tracing, then blend in the EOs and additives.

Some EOs and additives are going to freeze up quickly anyway. I love using honey or molasses in my high CO soap because the lather is GREAT , but both make me move fast to pour.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

If it goes so quickly, why not add everything to the oils before the lye water goes in?

 

[houseofwool]

I use about a 50:50 blend of solid and liquid oils. I can get the temp down below 80° without it starting to get cloudy.

When I am trying to slow trace, I make my lye solution up ahead of time and put it on my porch to cool (yay winter). I melt my solid oils, then add my liquid oils. Once this feels cool to the touch, or roughly 80° or lower, I add the chilled lye solution, which can be down into the 50's or lower. It can make the solid oils firm up a bit, but I get LOADS of time to work.

Tonight, I poured made 8 loaves. There were 4 colors, poured as a modified tiger stripe, it took at least 15-20 minutes to do, and everything was just starting to thicken up by the end.

 

[McSpin]

Okay, I made a batch working with temperature and adding everything before the lye. I had the lye water at 64F (room temperature) and the fats at 76F. I also had water at 40% of fat weight. I put the additives and EO in before the lye. Trace slowed down considerably. I had to use a stick blender and it took about 30 seconds to medium trace, which was enough to time to get a fairly homogenous mix.

I like to put my test batches in a small PVC tube. I was able to pour this one into the tube, which makes for a much better look when removed from the mold vs. spooning a very heavy traced mix into the tube. I changed a bit too much to know which was most effective - the added water or the lower temps. It certainly did help to add everything before the lye. I'm guessing with the extra water, the soap will have to dry out longer before use.

I do believe the lower temps help with the EO not dissipating. I could barely smell it compared to using the higher temp mix, so that's an improvement too.

 

[DeeAnna]

Lower lye solution concentrations will help slow trace as well. "Full water" (about 27% to 28% lye solution concentration) is as low as I'd go. Some soapers have (usually by mistake) used as low as a 25% lye concentration, and my recollection is that is too much water to give reliable success.

One big issue with too much water is the soap batter may separate in the mold into separate lye and fat layers. The emulsion isn't stable with too much water especially when the soap batter heats up in the mold during saponification. Soap made with more water will gel at a lower temperature, so it may be harder to prevent the soap from gelling if that is a goal. Also mottling or streaking may be more common in a high-water soap.

 

[McSpin]

DeeAnna, those are all good tips. After removing from the mold today, I see that nothing has separated, but the soap is softer than normal. I also found that the first few hours after going into the mold, the mixture did not get as hot as usual - not sure if that's because it started from a lower temperature or if the saponification was just slowed. Either way, it appears that temperature and lye solution concentration are good areas to pay attention to when time to trace is a concern.

 

[DeeAnna]

Sounds like you're getting a better handle on what will work for you -- bravo!!

 

[shunt2011]

Congratulations on working out the kinks that were holding you back. Hopefully it will help you consistently.......at least until you find one of those EO/FO that like to mess things up.