How long does it take to trace soap?

Thick trace is the consistency of pudding and holds its shape. It usually takes at least 2 minutes of stick blending, up to 4-5. It’s great for layers, textured tops, and soap frosting.

How do you fix a false trace?

Adjusting the recipe can help as well. Adding more slow-moving soft oils like pure olive oil, canola oil, and sweet almond oil to the recipe will allow you more time to work with the design. They will stay liquid throughout the entire process and help prevent false trace.

When do you use trace in soap making?

Trace is the point in soapmaking when the oils and lye have started to saponify. Once the soap reaches thin trace, it will continue to thicken as you work with it. This post has more information on trace.

What’s the point of no return in soap making?

It’s a “point of no return” where the oils and lye are no longer at any risk of separation. Past that “point of no return” there are a lot of variables. There are soap makers that pour at “very light trace” which may just take a few short blasts of the stick blender to achieve.

What’s the difference between heavy trace and dribble soap?

The soap will still be watery and won’t be able to support the tell-tale traditional “dribble” of soap on top of the mix, yet it will still be well mixed enough to not separate. On the other end of the spectrum, there are soap makers who prefer to pour (or scoop) at “heavy trace” which is thick and pudding-like.

Why does my soap have hard places when I slice it?

Soap has hard and soft places when you slice into bars: Reason: This could be because your soap didn’t completely emulsify; you stopped mixing too soon. Sometimes this happens because of “false trace” where the soap looks like it reached trace, but if you wait a minute and check again, the trace is gone.