Help!! my soap went to very thick trace immediately.

by Dave
(Lake Leelanau, Mi.)

I made my second batch (ever) of CP soap today.

It went to a hard, thick trace within a couple of minutes.

I added my FO into the oils before I added the lye/water mixture to the oils.

Is that what I did wrong, should I mix the lye/water solution to the oils and then add the coloring and the FO?

I need help. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

Dave

Answer:

Some fragrance and essential oils can definitely accelerate trace.

I always add my scents last because this gives me time to add colours and botanicals to my soap base without having to hurry or worry about the soap siezing.

Another possible cause of an accelerated trace is a high quantity of stearic and palmitic acids in a recipe.

Ingredients like palm oil, shea butter and especially cocoa butter contain large amounts of these acids.

I try to use no more than 15% cocoa butter in a recipe and around 40% as a combined total for palm, shea and cocoa butter.

I once tried to make a batch of soap with a high amount of cocoa butter in it and it went to an almost immediate trace (sieze) and hit the gel stage within 10 minutes of mixing. I ended up hot processing that batch since I didn't get the chance to even pour the soap into a mold.

Good luck,
Cathy