Importance of temperature

[grow_power]

Hi:

I am just started reading about cp soaps, and I was wondering if someone could explain to me the reason a lot of the soap recipes want the lye solution and the oils to be close to temperature? And also for them to be at higher temperatures (such as the heated oil?)

The reason I am asking is that I was considering starting out with the room temperature method. Where you have a lye solution that was premade, and just heat your oils enough until melted. Can anyone talk about how the temperatures affect trace, gelling, and curing?

-thanks

 

[Lindy]

When you are working with lye & oils at 110* F it will come to trace a little quicker than at room temperature. When you are just starting out it is best to work your way through the methods starting with having your lye water and oils the same temp or at least close to it so you can learn what each step of the process looks like as described through the websites and books.

Pre-mixed lye is usually 50:50 and you want to be working with a 33% lye strength as the 50:50 is going to move really, really fast on you and even experienced soap makers add additional water to take the concentration lower.

HTH

 

[new12soap]

Another reason to use warmer temps is because solid butters and anything high in stearic will thicken up at room temperature and give you a "false trace" - it will look like trace but your soap won't be mixed enough and could result in separation or stearic spots. You want to follow temperature recommendations in the beginning so that your soap will come together correctly and in a reasonable time without overheating. If you add water to a premixed lye solution (which I would also recommend), first of all remember to ALWAYS add the lye to the water, not the other way around, and the mixture will warm up too.

 

[IrishLass]

Another reason to use warmer temps is because solid butters and anything high in stearic will thicken up at room temperature and give you a "false trace" - it will look like trace but your soap won't be mixed enough and could result in separation or stearic spots.

Ditto.

I soap with a lot of hydrogenated PKO and hard butters in my formula and they do much better for me when soaped on the warm side (lye around 98F-100F/fats at 120F to 125F).

IrishLass

 

[Lyric]

Having destroyed my thermometer (and lately being off grid) I've been doing RT soaping for a bit. Since my last two batches seperated I have been thinking of going back to the pain in the of taking temps. I'm glad the OP wrote this. Nothing wrong with going back to basics or revisiting soaping basics.

Thanks.