Teach Soap

Hi

I am new to CP soap making. I have made a few batches of what I call simple soap which has come out fine.

I have seen on here that I should take the temperature of my oils and lye before mixing, would somebody be kind enough to explain why. And what benefit would this have on my soaps.

At the moment I just mix them together.

Many thanks

Ian

For newbies just starting out, it's best to have the lye & oils at temps that are close to each other because the soap usually traces at a nice quick, but not too quick time.
You never want to have oils that are much hotter than lye, because you can get a soapy volcano.
The hotter that your oils & lye are, the faster your soap will trace.

I prefer soaping at lower temperatures so I have more time to play with colors & designs.

There are other additives (Butters, FO's, EO's, honey, beer, etc) that can make your soap trace slower or faster as well, so that will also have a part in a soaper's decision on what temps that they are soaping at.

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Genny

I suggest to new soapmakers that they start out with about 110 degrees for both oils and lye water. That way there are less surprises. Once you get the hang of the process, know what trace is and how your recipe behaves, then you can soap at lower or higher temps.

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

Many thanks for your help and advice.

May I ask another question which may sound utterly stupid.

But when I make my soap I want to pour the soap into individual square moulds. What I do is by using a stick blender I whisk until I get a light trace and then rush like mad to pour the soap into the moulds before it hardens, is this correct or is there something that I can do or add that will allow me to pour a little more slowly.

Many thanks for your help

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