Teach Soap

Still "finding my feet" in the process of making soap and would love to hear your tips and advice regarding how to keep soap thin enough to do techniques such as column/funnel pours, swirling, etc.
I know the fragrance oil can cause soap to thicken quickly, but apart from that, what should I do to keep it a thin consistency? Add more water to the recipe? Adjust the temp I mix oils & lye-water at? Any words of wisdom?

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Carrie
Wife to my Best Friend and Homeschool mom to 7 beautiful gifts

My advise would be to know your recipe. I have one that riced every time (do not use that one anymore), one that traces quickly no matter what FO\EO I use (best for uncolored or single colored bars), and others that behave very well. This is where experience over time comes in play.

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

I mix my lye water and oils only for about 15-20 seconds, do not get it to a full trace, just emulsified enough so that you can see it is mixed well. Then I start with one fragrance/color at a time. Do not add the fragrance or colorant until you are ready for it. Last night I made a 3 color stacked soap. I mixed the brown first and added my fragrance to that jar, then the pink and fragrance, then the white.

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Handmade Soaps
http://www.ForTheLoveOfSuds.com

Different oils, butters and fragrances react differently. There is no one rule for all. Experiment with your recipe and keep good notes. On some of my soaps, I use the whisk instead of the stick blender because I know the soap sets up fairly fast.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Ohh thanks Irena! I never thought of that! One of my scents accelerates trace a bit, never thought of whisking instead of stick blending!

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~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

I pour my lye solution at 110 degrees but my oils are always much cooler than that. 89 degrees maybe. I find that even if I only bring the mix to emulsification, that it is still getting a little too thick by the end of the 5 color pour. Is this because I've been lazy with temperature?

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~Wendy
Onboard the Yellow Suds-Marine

Depending which oils or butters you use, if the temp is too low, you can get false trace. Try having both in the vicinity of around 110 degrees (US) and use a whisk instead of the stick blender.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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~Wendy
Onboard the Yellow Suds-Marine

You're welcome. I find pomace oil tends to accelerate trace for me.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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~Wendy
Onboard the Yellow Suds-Marine

Larger % of regular olive oil (not pomace) should help slow down trace.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Great. Thanks for sharing your advice and knowledge. I sooo appreciate it.

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~Wendy
Onboard the Yellow Suds-Marine

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I have also noticed that different stick blenders operate differently causing it to get to a trace too fast. Usually the cheaper stick blenders work best for me for soaping. I am like the person above, i rarely ever let my soap get past a very thin light trace.

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Laura