My love-hate relationship with soy wax

[GinangO]

This is my 5th time experimenting with recipes that has soy wax in it. Why do I keep working with it? - I simply love the results that I get - pretty texture, hard bar, great lather.. for me, best soap I've made so far next to lard. However, I see myself panicking every time I reach trace coz I know I have such little time before it solidifies. I prepped everything before hand - the EOs, clays. This time I reduced the amount of soy wax and made sure to soap atleast 120F, doing it in my crockpot to keep the temp above that but not too hot and just reached light trace... it was going good until I transferred the batter to the funnel pitcher, hoping to make two separate batters for my colorants and as I pour them they have become thick already and within seconds have solidified so I've never got to swirl I'm thinking if I should reduce it significantly (it was at 15.5%) or just lose it altogether. I know I can use lard but people tend to get turned off when they learn there's pork fat in my soap. If I only do a single color soap though, it would be easier..but I was hoping to do different swirl techniques too. How do I keep this batter fluid? I welcome any thoughts/suggestions.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I've been using soy wax for about 4 years or more and I don't have the problems you describe. I use it at 20% and I tend to soap around your 40 degrees. What other ingredients do you use - maybe they are affecting the thickness of the batter?

 

[Mobjack Bay]

What kind of soy wax are you using? If it’s GW 415, or similar, using 15.5% should not be an issue at all. Are you willing to share your full recipe? If so, that will make it a lot easier to troubleshoot.

 

[DeeAnna]

How you're getting to "a light trace" may have as much to do with your troubles as anything. If you are stick blending the batter a lot to get to the thickness you're looking for, consider changing your mixing technique. Try this instead: stick blend 2-3 seconds, hand stir 20-30, stick blend 2-3, and repeat until the batter is at the consistency you want. And after dividing the batter and adding color, stick blend only the absolute minimum needed to disperse the color.

If you are wanting to divide your batter and add color, etc., you may need to stop at "emulsion" instead -- the point when the batter is at a stable emulsion, but doesn't show obvious signs of trace.

Bear in mind too that accelerating fragrances and solids such as clay can thicken the batter substantially.

 

[GinangO]

I've been using soy wax for about 4 years or more and I don't have the problems you describe. I use it at 20% and I tend to soap around your 40 degrees. What other ingredients do you use - maybe they are affecting the thickness of the batter?

The first ones have RBO, shea, sunflower. The last recipe I did has no butters - I only used RBO, canola, and coconut. Lye concentration at 33%...

 

[GinangO]

What kind of soy wax are you using? If it’s GW 415, or similar, using 15.5% should not be an issue at all. Are you willing to share your full recipe? If so, that will make it a lot easier to troubleshoot.

I am using the American Soy Organics' Freedom Soy Wax... is that a good brand though? The latest recipe I did:

RBO: 37.98%
CO: 24.81%
Canola: 21.71%
Soy Wax: 15.5%

Lye concentration: 33%

Added FO but even before adding it, it has gotten thicker already..

 

[GinangO]

How you're getting to "a light trace" may have as much to do with your troubles as anything. If you are stick blending the batter a lot to get to the thickness you're looking for, consider changing your mixing technique. Try this instead: stick blend 2-3 seconds, hand stir 20-30, stick blend 2-3, and repeat until the batter is at the consistency you want. And after dividing the batter and adding color, stick blend only the absolute minimum needed to disperse the color.

If you are wanting to divide your batter and add color, etc., you may need to stop at "emulsion" instead -- the point when the batter is at a stable emulsion, but doesn't show obvious signs of trace.

Bear in mind too that accelerating fragrances and solids such as clay can thicken the batter substantially.

I'm actually afraid of getting a false trace so I kind of timed myself to stick blend straight 5 secs, stir, then another 5 secs -this pattern for a little over 1 minute.. I guess its a lot of mixing. I will attempt another batch with the tips above...thank you thank you so much!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I wonder if it has to do with the recommended pour temp of that particular wax? It is 135-160 degrees. The wax I use has a pour temp of 90 - 100 degrees. I know we are not pouring candles here, but that's quite a big difference.
Also I think it does sound like you're stick blending too much.

 

[DeeAnna]

I'm actually afraid of getting a false trace so I kind of timed myself to stick blend straight 5 secs, stir, then another 5 secs -this pattern for a little over 1 minute.. I guess its a lot of mixing. I will attempt another batch with the tips above...thank you thank you so much!

Yes, that's a lot of mixing in one minute. For a typical batch, I have timed how much I use the stick blender. I might SB for 15-20 seconds total in 5 minutes or so. The hand stirring periods aren't wasted nor boring -- I evaluate how the batter is changing with time, and I scrape the sides of the soap pot well with my spatula.

Think of it this way -- Aggressive mixing causes the rate of saponification to rev up. Once you've got this chemical reaction going well, the rate of saponification will continue on at a fast pace. It doesn't slow down just because the soap maker stops mixing.

It's like starting a fire in a fireplace. You can start it with some crumpled newspaper and a match ... or you can start it with kerosene and a blow torch. If you want to create a calm manageable fire, stick with paper and match.

If the actual temperature of the soap batter drops below the freezing temperature of the fats, the soap batter is at risk for false trace. Preventing false trace is more about managing the temperature of the starting ingredients and the soap batter.

In your case with the soy wax you're using, false trace is certainly a possibility. KiwiMoose and Mobjack Bay are offering wise advice based on their experience with various soy waxes.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

All good advice above.

If you have more of the wax to use up, I suggest that you make a small test batch (500 g), with no fragrance or a very friendly one, and cut way back on the stick blending per @DeeAnna advice. Keep good notes and let us know how it goes. For future reference, many of us use GW 415 with good, predictable results.