Would this be false trace?

[delicious]

Hi,
I've done my third batch so far.
The first batch was 100% olive oil and the second was something like 70% OO and 23§ coconut and 7% castor. So (mainly) soft oils for both.
Both batches only ever got to thin trace after about 10 to 15 minutes with the stick blender.
Oh yeah: I soap at room temperature and it's quite chilly where I am now. The water-lye solution didn't even get hot imo.
Both soaps were quite soft when I unmolded.

For this one, I wanted a laundry soap and I wanted it to be harder than the other two, so my recipe was:
50% beef tallow
30% coconut oil
20% rice bran oil
1% lye discount
Water as % or oils was at 35% (water lye ration was about 2.4:1)

I melted the oils and mixed them together. They were clear when heated but before I got to making the soap, they had cooled down a little and though the mixture was still liquid and warm-ish it had gone opaque.

I mixed the water and lye and then poured the solution into the oils and stirred with a spoon a few seconds while pouring.
I knew it would be different with this soap because of the % of hard oils in it, but because the other two soaps took so long to trace, I took my time and before putting the stick blender in, I went to wash out the lye bowl to get that over with.

I got back, put the stick blender in and turned it on FIVE-TEN seconds. I pulled out the stick blender and it was already at what I would call THICK trace! WT...?

Because I had been warned by someone on this forum that using the room temp method would put me at greater risk of false trace, I was alert.
I took out the stick blender and mixed with the spoon a few seconds. The soap was back to a more liquid state after that. It was more of a thin trace.
So I put the stick blender back in and mixed some more. It would immediately turn back into a thick trace and soften back down after letting it sit a bit.
It made me think of beating egg whites stiff.

So I insisted with the blending and continued for some 4-5 minutes until I was sure that it would stay as it was.

I poured it in the mold and the next morning it was hard as rock (and nice and white) so I unmolded and cut it.
Because I used a 1% lye discount I did the zap test and there was nothing.
With small scraps I tried to wash my hands and it was nice and foamy.

Everything went well, but would that be what we call a false trace?

 

[judymoody]

Sounds like false trace to me. When it initially thickened, did it look sort of grainy rather than creamy?

I'm curious, when you say your lye/water solution doesn't get hot, do you mean not ever? Not even right after you mix them? Regardless of your ambient temperature, it should get very hot, like 180 degrees F. If not, there may be something wrong with your lye.

You also might want to cut back on your water with high OO soaps - they will trace faster and the soap will get harder sooner.

 

[delicious]

Sounds like false trace to me. When it initially thickened, did it look sort of grainy rather than creamy?

No, it was extra creamy.

I'm curious, when you say your lye/water solution doesn't get hot, do you mean not ever? Not even right after you mix them? Regardless of your ambient temperature, it should get very hot, like 180 degrees F. If not, there may be something wrong with your lye.

To tell you the truth, I have been questionning my lye. The first two batches I did something like a 5-7% superfat but they were really oily after setting. The second batch had a thin layer of oil resting on the top of the hardened soap.
This batch had a 1% lye discount and it wasn't oily. I tried it out (12 hours after pouring) and it wasn't drying to the skin (I have dry skin to start with).

I haven't measured the temperature of my lye solution, but it doesn't seem hot. I mix it in a stainless steel bowl and the bowl only gets sort of warmish, but not so much. I would say that it doesn't go over 90-100°F at max. The water is 60°ish to start with.

Another thing I noticed, but that may not have anything to do with it: when I wipe off soap residues (fresh or already hardened) from ustensils or molds or whatever, the paper towels become pink. Does that happen to you all too?

You also might want to cut back on your water with high OO soaps - they will trace faster and the soap will get harder sooner.

Yup, did that, but I might cut back more water in future OO batches.

 

[JackiK]

Glad this one went well for you, but I'd certainly get a new batch of lye before moving forward. Your lye should get hot, even if using 60 degree water. Not sure how it will affect your finished soap (I would think they'd be on the greasy side).

Keep us posted!

 

[delicious]

Glad this one went well for you, but I'd certainly get a new batch of lye before moving forward. Your lye should get hot, even if using 60 degree water. Not sure how it will affect your finished soap (I would think they'd be on the greasy side).

Keep us posted!

I have only found two sources of lye and they are from the same company. It is packed in a sealed plastic bag (I was scared touching the outside of the bag, I almost warned the cashier who grabed it full handed! Yikes). I store it in a ziplock bag to keep moisture out.

I bought if from a home depot sort of store, and it may have been sitting there for ages, so I could get it directly from the company who has their own shop in town and ask when it was packed and to have the freshest.

But I'll finish this package, adjusting the lye discount to what seems good (I will not go below 1% though).

 

[busymakinsoap!]

If your oil solution was opaque then I would think that ment that your oils (esp the tallow) were starting to solidify again. If you lye was cool, then I dont think it would melt the oils initially so you would have been blending hardened oils which would make it seem like trace???? Dunno just a guess :?

I always make sure my oils are warm enough to be fully melted before I add my lye.

 

[judymoody]

But I'll finish this package, adjusting the lye discount to what seems good (I will not go below 1% though).

If I had doubts about the lye I wouldn't try to compensate - you have no way to know what might be wrong with it. Better to set it aside and try some fresh lye than waste more materials in soap that might not turn out right.

 

[lovelysuds]

If your oil solution was opaque then I would think that ment that your oils (esp the tallow) were starting to solidify again. If you lye was cool, then I dont think it would melt the oils initially so you would have been blending hardened oils which would make it seem like trace???? Dunno just a guess :?

I always make sure my oils are warm enough to be fully melted before I add my lye.

I use tallow in 95% of my recipes and had a false trace only once bc of it cooling too much and slightly thickening. It really looks like it traced, but when i VERY slightly warmed the oils again it was amber colored and fixed itself.