Immediate trace..!!

by dhanya
(india)

I am a soap newbie..

I tried making my first batch of your 'Basic Homemade Soap Recipe' with a tbsp of beeswax and without any of the mentioned optional Additives but vanilla essence(thats all i had). The moment i added lye to heated oils it traced..!! then just for the sake of it i mixed it for 10 mts added vanilla and poured into moulds. I have kept it covered, to be opened later.
I want to know why it traced so soon.. where did i go wrong?

Answer:

A couple of things could be the reason for the immediate trace.

First and foremost is always to check that you measured the ingredients properly. This is obviously difficult to check after the fact but it is really important to pay strict attention to the measuring...I've made many mistakes in measuring by getting distracted by the phone or what have you.

Temperatures that are too high or too low can cause the soap to trace rapidly as well.

The amount of beeswax used in a recipe should be around 1-2 percent of the overall oil weight...ie...if you used 900 grams of oil the weight of the beeswax should be between 9 and 18 grams. Check to see if your tablespoon amount exceeded this amount.

I strongly suggest to beginner soap makers to make the basic homemade soap recipe as is....you can omit the optional ingredients but don't try to use anything fancy until you have made the recipe once first. This will give you an idea of how the soap should look like and feel like while you are making it.

Good luck and happy soaping,
Cathy