Teach Soap

Hi everyone! I have been lurking around here for a little while taking it all in. I was a member at the other forum for a while and the way the gang up on newbies is shameful. I have learned so much from reading all of your threads over the past couple of weeks and feel ready to make my very first batch tonight. I got all of my equipment and supplies and now I feel ready. This is what I have learned so far.

Soapbuddy has the experience and knows how to do everything and has done everything pertaining to soapmaking and she is always here to help and answer questions.

Supersoaper understands the chemistry behind it and why it works that way and he is also a good source of info. He likes his brownies and football but do not get him sidetracked talking about something else. He IS entertaining though! And the guys in here stick together.

Bubbles2, mella, plschrader and lmj1180 know the common sense tricks and always recommend the right way to do things.

Midnightstorm, hairdo, methree and many others have been asking the same questions I have been thinking and they are where I want to be in a few months of soapmaking.

I only have one question before I am ready to tackle my first batch. I have my recipe and checked the numbers through soapcalc and have watched countless videos and read a few books. The only thing that is not rally covered is how long trace takes. All the information said it varies. But should I expect it in 2 minutes or closer to 20 minutes? I know I do not want to wait too long to pour into my mold. I decided that I am not going to use any fragrance oils for my first 2 or 3 batches until I have my habits under control. I do not yet have a regular mold and am just using a tupperware container until I see how it turns out. Everyone here seems very helpful. Thanks you everyone in advance.

Hi AmourSoup and welcome to the addiction. Glad to see you're getting to know everyone here so quickly. I can tell you that everything anybody else tells you about me is a lye. Hate football, hate brownies, and I have no idea what's going on.....and I don't know any other guys since I'm an alien.

To answer your question: Depends. Depends on the recipe, depends on the water discount, depends on your mixing method, depends on the temperature of your oil/water when mixed. Just depends. For the first batch you ever do, I would whisk by hand, mixing vigorously for about 10 seconds, then take a break for about a minute, then do it again, and again, and.....you get the point. When you start seeing "trailers" in the soap behind the whisk, you're starting to trace. It could take 2 minutes (but I doubt it), it could take 20 minutes. If you use a high % of olive oil, trace will generally take longer. I mix with a whisk for the majority of my batches but was using a stick blender for a long while before. My formula with a stick blender, would take about 1 minute of blending to reach trace. By hand, it takes about 10 to 12 minutes. I mix my ingredients at 115 degrees F and rock & roll. I commend your decision to make your first batch without fragrance. The hard part is going to have to wait for 3 weeks before you try it.

Go gettum tiger.

Hi Supersoaper!!!! Thank you for the information. I was actually planning to use just the whisk tonight to you know get the feel of things. But just so I have things right I add fragrances at trace right? I do not plan to anything as complicated as coloring just yet. I have been reading the coloring thread now posted and that is so far beyond what I can even think about right now. I am not going to ask you your recipe but can I ask how much olive oil you use for your soap that takes 10 to 12 mintues to trace?

Again.....it depends. I make several different formulas for dry skin, one for extra oily, for combination skin, etc. All of them contain some amounts of olive oil. I'm not trying to evade your question. Again....it depends. One formula uses 22% olive oil, one uses as much as 41% olive oil. The one with 22% takes a little less time to trace than the one with 41%. You won't see a huge difference in trace times between these two. A factor is how rapidly I mix and how frequently. On average anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes using a whisk.

Are you ok with your recipe? You can post it here for someone to look at it or you can PM it to me if you would like. Whatever you are comfortable doing. There are many experienced soapmakers here that can help you.

I think you're afraid you're not going to recognize trace when it occurs. You will. For a reference, when you start hand whisking, your soap will be the consistency of whole milk. At thick trace, it will be the consistency of yogurt. Somewhere in between there is where you would want to add fragrance and colorants then pour. Some fragrances will accelerate trace very rapidly. But we can help you with that when you're ready.

I'll be here later tonight if you start getting nervous. I'm sure others will be here also for a little hand-holding if you would feel better. You'll do fine.

hi AmourSoap! I lurked for a long time too before joining any forum, and did lots of reading and watching videos...it sounds like you are ready to make your first batch!

SuperSoaper is right...it depends. I'm always trying something different each time-a different lye concentration, a different recipe, etc....so the time it takes to get trace varies for me. I use a stickblender and tend to overuse it, lol...but I am using my whisk more now and things go better.

Good luck, and I think the simple the recipe starting out, the less stressful. I don't know what I was thinking, but there was no talking me out of it...my first batch was goatmilk and honey, and I did the bubblewrap/honeycomb look!

Thank you for the advice. I got a stick blender but promised myself I will not use it for the first few times LOL! I sort of know what to expect now. I have been stressing for a few days now but starting to feel better. You are right supersoaper I am afraid I will not recognize trace. But your description helps alot thanks. You will probably see me here tonight sweating bullets as I start mixing thiings. One more question. I only bought 1 pound of coconut oil not knowing if I would like soapmaking. Then I look around and see that I already spent $350 on other equipment and supplies and realize I was stupid to relate 1 pound of coconut oil to all the other expenses. I know Bramble Berry sells coconut oil but was looking for a local supplier. Can anybody recommend a place around Burlington North Carolina?

hahahahaha supersoaps is going to have a konipshun when he sees this!!!!!!!!!

Hi AmourSoap! Welcome to the addiction!

I do want to correct you on one thing - "Bubbles2, mella, plschrader and lmj1180 know the common sense tricks and always recommend the right way to do things." I haven't been soaping anywhere near long enough (only since December) to be considered knowledgeable! I started the same way you did and my first batch took forever to trace by hand (over 30 minutes and still nothing!). I finally gave up and got the stick blender out and had it done in a couple of minutes. I still haven't worked with any coloring except for paprika, turmeric & ginger. I just ordered my first colors and a "real" mold. I think you get the idea.

This is a great forum and everyone is very helpful. Glad you are here!

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Armour, I don't think we are any where near what you imagin. We just like to talk. You are lucky you found this forum before starting, I just jumped in with my first batch. And of course it had issues. Then I e-mailed my teacher and she said to check out one of the on-line forums. I was fortunate enough to find this one first. My first batch traced in under 2 minutes... from a light trace to a very heavy trace before I could even take it over to the molds. I have learnt since then but it is only been about 14months. There are videos on you tube showing you what trace will look like... check it out. If I was close enough I would come give you moral support.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Um ok. Why? He has been very complete explaining things and it all makes sense.

just wait and see....

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

k. You guys are scaring me a little bit.

Please don't be scared! You are doing everything correctly. If you're in a pinch, you can usually find coconut oil at walmart with the rest of the cooking oils.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

No I mean about making supersoaper have a fit. I hope I did not upset him or something. He always seems so nice and friendly on here. Now I am worried about what I said.

love2dostuff is always teasing SuperSoaper. Nothing you said or did. Don't worry.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!