Still not tracing....

[Crystal629]

Hi everyone. I'm very new at making soap. This is my second attempted batch and I'm starting to think its a fail. Please help me determine if I'm just being impatient or did something wrong.

Here is my recipe from soapcal:
Total wt 15 oz
Water 38%
SF 7%

Coconut oil 6 oz
Olive oil 9 oz
Water 2.7 oz
Buttermilk 3 oz
100% lye 2.2 oz
2tsp honey

I mixed the water and lye, it heated up fairly well. I don't know what temp as my daughter dropped the thermometer and broke it while I was mixing the solution outside. The glass bowl was cool enough for me to pick up and carry inside after 10 min. The oils and milk were blended with a hand blender as I can't find my stick blender. The honey was added to the lye solution and immediately turned to red gel, which I expected. Then the oil and milk were blended in. The batter looks like red/brown oil and is not getting any thicker. I know it would be a while since I didn't have a SB but it hasn't even thickened the least bit. It's been 2 hrs of on and off with the traditional hand mixer. I read several threads and realize it will take a while but I'm starting to get discouraged. I should've stopped after not being able to find my SB and the thermometer getting broken. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I did make sure my scale was calibrated right too.

 

[Seawolfe]

Do you have a whisk? Maybe alternating will help. It shouldn't hurt to stop a bit and look for the stick blender. Mixing by hand is one of the reasons our great grandmothers hated making soap I bet, it takes a long long time.

I have heard of soap makers making small batches in blenders, I don't know if you have one, just a thought. Be careful, thick trace in a blender could be oooky.

 

[Confused_Penguin]

Having a stick blender helps a lot. I heard that making soap without it it could take up to 1 hour to reach trace.

 

[new12soap]

Hi, Crystal and welcome!

I am very glad to see that you are using soapcalc!

I notice when you talked about your lye container, you said the glass was cool enough to carry. PLEASE do NOT ever mix lye in glass! DO NOT USE PYREX, over time the high caustic lye will etch the glass! You may not even be able to see it, but it can explode without warning. ALWAYS use stainless steel or heavy duty chemical resistant plastic, such as PP or HDPE and check to make sure they don't have any cracks or anything. Never glass, never aluminum!

A mixer will take roughly forever, so I agree with finding the stick blender or even using a regular blender this time. When you stop stirring, what happens? Does the mixture separate out into layers? If it doesn't, you may have emulsification and be good to go. I suspect you have lost a lot of your heat because it is such a very small batch.

Which brings me to... It is a really good idea to try to stick to 1.5 to 2lb batches in the beginning. That is large enough to cover any measurement errors and give you a feel for the process, and not so large as to waste a lot of ingredients if it doesn't work out.

If all else fails, throw it in a crockpot on low and cook it!

HTH, and don't worry, you will get the hang of it and be just as addicted as the rest of us in no time

 

[navigator9]

Is it possible you measured the lye incorrectly? You said, "I mixed the water and lye, it heated up fairly well." Lye usually heats up more than fairly well.....it gets HOT! So I'm wondering if you have enough lye to saponify your oils. I would find that missing stick blender and see what happens when you use it. If after stick blending, it still doesn't trace, my guess would be not enough lye.

 

[shunt2011]

Doing it by hand can take forever.....when I made my first batch I did it by hand and I think it took 1 1/2 hours to trace. I bought a stickblender the next day. As others have stated, never mix lye in glass. You don't want to risk having it shatter on you. Plastic (pp5 or 2) containers work great or stainless steel. You don't really need a thermometer, as long as the lye is only slightly warm to the touch on the outside of the container and your oils are warm you should be fine.

It's all a learning process, you may want to check your scale to make sure it's accurate. Too little lye will affect how your batch works out.

Hopefully it comes together for you.

 

[newbie]

I did my first batch my hand as well (high OO, like yours). I stirred (no hand blender) for at least two hours- nothing. I left for a couple hours and by then it had thickened up and was at trace. First and last time I made soap without a SB.

 

[Crystal629]

Thank you all so much! I did leave it be for a bit and it did not separate. It has thickened pretty well and I have put it in a mold! I can't find my stick blender so I will be buying another tomorrow along with a stainless pot I can dedicate to soap making . I will keep you updated.

I measured the lye 3 times and made sure that my scale was right each time. I was paranoid I wouldn't have the lye right and end up having to toss it.

And I also want to say that this is by far the best place I've been to. I've spent hours on here reading as much as possible and making notes in my journal. All of you are fantastic!!!

 

[Susie]

Hey and welcome! You don't have to spend much money on the pot- just go to the dollar store and find you a mixing bowl with a 2 or a 5 on the bottom. Or go to the hardware store and look for some paint buckets(they come in lots of sizes) with those numbers. Cheap and cheerful. But if you do go get stainless steel, bring a magnet with you. I have had problems with the stainless that a magnet does not stick to, as have others here. Make sure the magnet sticks.

 

[Extreme_Soaping]

I know this feeling. You're going to laugh so hard when you get trace in 30 seconds with a stick blender...

 

[Seawolfe]

I use the paint buckets from the hardware store - easy to stack

When looking for a stickblender - make sure the whole bottom part is metal, and I think gaps on the bottom edge help too. I like this one, and I've found it as cheap as $10 on sale - or haunt the 2nd hand shops.

 

[Crystal629]

Update: I have my soap out of the mold and cut. It has turned out rather nice so far. It looks like it ashed across the top but I don't mind as it is for us here at home.

 

[Seawolfe]

I think ash is a big shiny badge of made-at-home-with-love-awesomeness

 

[Purplerain]

Awww. I love that!