Lard soap won't trace

[lenarenee]

Im still pretty new to soaping but absolutely love it. I was out of a few oils but had lots of lard. Was hoping to leave coconut oil out this time to see and feel the physical difference. I was using almond FO so I wanted to incorporate at least some almond oil. Would have used castor but that was out too. How long do you typically have to stick blend a recipe like this one? I blended for 30 minutes or so I believe. Wondering now if it was at false trace when I poured. It looked like medium trace but wasn't lingering on the surface necessarily like typical. I appreciate your insight.

If you got false trace, you'll soon see oil separating out.

I've never gotten false trace, and I have soaped as low as 70 degrees F! You're probably fine, but just look for that telltale separation. I've never made a recipe with more than 75% lard - and it included 20 coconut and 5 of castor, soaped room temp and I probably blended for a good 20 minutes off and on.

It's just a very, very slow recipe you have there! How much water did you use?

 

[MommaSoaper]

If you got false trace, you'll soon see oil separating out.

I've never gotten false trace, and I have soaped as low as 70 degrees F! You're probably fine, but just look for that telltale separation. I've never made a recipe with more than 75% lard - and it included 20 coconut and 5 of castor, soaped room temp and I probably blended for a good 20 minutes off and on.

It's just a very, very slow recipe you have there! How much water did you use?

So slow! But happy to hear it might make it out alive attached recipe for your viewing

 

[lenarenee]

So slow! But happy to hear it might make it out alive attached recipe for your viewing

I misunderstood; I thought this was the lard and almond oil recipe. But this recipe is fine too. You soap at 90 degrees I think you said? You have full water, along with 50% olive oil and that will make for a slow moving recipe, despite the coconut and butter.

How new to soaping are you? It might be time to switch you over to using "lye concentration", rather than "water as a percentage of oil". You're still experimenting with a wide range of recipe types, so full water isn't a bad thing, but if you think we're getting confident in your technique, and you can mix fragrance and colors in with plenty of fluidity left in your batter, then we can start reducing the water, which often shortens the tracing and hardening times.

I'm so glad you enjoy soaping!

 

[Ugeauxgirl]

I had the same thing happen last time I made 100% lard soap. Would NOT come to trace. Dumped it in my crock pot and warmed it up and then blended it again and it worked! Glad it turned out for you!

 

[MommaSoaper]

I misunderstood; I thought this was the lard and almond oil recipe. But this recipe is fine too. You soap at 90 degrees I think you said? You have full water, along with 50% olive oil and that will make for a slow moving recipe, despite the coconut and butter.

How new to soaping are you? It might be time to switch you over to using "lye concentration", rather than "water as a percentage of oil". You're still experimenting with a wide range of recipe types, so full water isn't a bad thing, but if you think we're getting confident in your technique, and you can mix fragrance and colors in with plenty of fluidity left in your batter, then we can start reducing the water, which often shortens the tracing and hardening times.

I'm so glad you enjoy soaping!

This was my 11th batch today. So still pretty new but feeling a lot better in a lot of different a

I had the same thing happen last time I made 100% lard soap. Would NOT come to trace. Dumped it in my crock pot and warmed it up and then blended it again and it worked! Glad it turned out for you!

Its still a bit soft so I took it out of silicone mold which I don't usually use but was in a pinch. It's been sitting for a few hours now and is hardening slowly. It's white but will turn a light brown. Almond FO, oatmeal and honey.

 

[Catscankim]

My lard bars need a bit of "fresh air" before I can even touch the loaf. Especially if I don't use SL, which I was just recently out of and made my last batch without the SL. As you said, the edges are like butter. A few hours of sitting around before I can even handle it, let alone cut it.

Lard recipes produce a well-behaving batter that, in my experience because 99% of my bars are my lard bars, stay fluid for a really long time. I make designs, so that is a good thing for me.

One of my last soaps was all white with some peppermints on top. I was trying to spoon a decorative top and had to keep coming back to it because it wasn't set up enough. As a person who normally splits off batter and adds various colors and FO at different times, waiting for the ONE color soap to trace was torture, so maybe you are being impatient like me LOL.

 

[MommaSoaper]

My lard bars need a bit of "fresh air" before I can even touch the loaf. Especially if I don't use SL, which I was just recently out of and made my last batch without the SL. As you said, the edges are like butter. A few hours of sitting around before I can even handle it, let alone cut it.

Lard recipes produce a well-behaving batter that, in my experience because 99% of my bars are my lard bars, stay fluid for a really long time. I make designs, so that is a good thing for me.

One of my last soaps was all white with some peppermints on top. I was trying to spoon a decorative top and had to keep coming back to it because it wasn't set up enough. As a person who normally splits off batter and adds various colors and FO at different times, waiting for the ONE color soap to trace was torture, so maybe you are being impatient like me LOL.

First off, thank you for that. I believe you are right, I was being impatient and very skeptical of myself... My ability to soap. The loaf has settled nicely and everything is shaping up. I love that you use similar recipes to accomplish more intricate designs. It can be daunting at times but I agree that it's part of the art, the passion. Getting feedback has helped me to grow and expand the craft.

 

[Douging]

My bacon fat soaps get hard so quickly that I have to pour them into a mould.
This is me assuming lard is the same as bacon fat.
My last recipe was 90 % bacon fat and 10% caster oil
What is your recipe that leads to slow curing?

 

[MommaSoaper]

My bacon fat soaps get hard so quickly that I have to pour them into a mould.
This is me assuming lard is the same as bacon fat.
My last recipe was 90 % bacon fat and 10% caster oil
What is your recipe that leads to slow curing?

The recipe I was using was 90% lard and 10% almond. In retrospect, not the best recipe. But I learned a lot so it did pay off. The bars are much harder now.

 

[lenarenee]

My bacon fat soaps get hard so quickly that I have to pour them into a mould.
This is me assuming lard is the same as bacon fat.
My last recipe was 90 % bacon fat and 10% caster oil
What is your recipe that leads to slow curing?

There may be a couple of factors here; if you rendered your own bacon fat, how many times did you wash it before soaping? What was the temperature of oils when you soaped, and to what point of trace did you stick blend? How did your bars turn out, aka were you happy with them?