Time to trace...

[Guest]

Well, I made CP peppermint soap that looks beautiful! But, I'm still worried. This is the first CP soap I've ever made and I don't know if I mixed it long enough. It traced allright, but it didn't take very long. How long does it usually take to trace? I had a nice pretty, thick trace, but it only took about 10 minutes or less. The parsley swirl is beautiful and the peppermint smells great. It actually smells different than HP soap.

 

[Soapmaker Man]

10 minutes is fine. As long as all your lye solution is thoroughly incorporated into your oils/fats, you can pour. Depending on the type of swirls I'm doing, I just mix my batter together and pour before trace, or at extremely thin trace.

 

[Lane]

Congrats on your first CP! Woo!

I work with higher temps and I usually hit trace in under 5 minutes. Once you get a few more CP batches down, you really will get the "feel" for trace. A good way to check, after you pull the stick blender out (once you think you hit trace...) stir a couple times with a spoon. If your mix still leaves "trace" lines, you got it! Sometimes, cool lye can thicken your oils and produce false trace. I always Spoon check my mixture :wink:

 

[Guest]

Whew! Thats a relief! Thanks, I'll post pics soon!

 

[Lane]

Hooooray! Pictures!

 

[Guest]

Congrats on your first CP! Woo!

Thanks for the advise! I've made HP forever, but Now that I know how both types work, I can see why more people make CP. I think CP holds the scent differently and even though it needs to age forever, the actual concentration time involved is much less that HP. Yipee!!