GMM Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Last night I made a castile soap. 90% Pomace Olive Oil and 10% Castor Oil. I figured it'd take a long time to trace since I hand stir. So, as I added the lye solution, I stirred briskly, then continued to stir for about 15 minutes, then left the room to have dinner. When I came back into the kitchen about 45 minutes later, I was at a heavy trace. Does this sound normal? Isn't a mostly OO soap supposed to take hours, even days, to trace?I went ahead and poured it into a mold, then today did the zap test. No zap, no separation of oils/lye, and in fact it's starting to look like soap already. Is this just a fluke, or does the CO have some effect on the OO that I haven't read about?Thanks a million!Gina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carriegsxr6 Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Yes Olive is suppose to take forever to trace, are you using a stick blender? Pics please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Gina, once you mix the oils and the lye, the saponification process begins, even if you are not stirring at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMM Posted October 6, 2006 Author Share Posted October 6, 2006 Not using a stick blender, just a stainless steel whisk. I was just so surprised that it would reach heavy trace (and I do mean heavy) so quickly, being all soft oils, and all veggie. Everything I've read about "pure" castile soap is that it takes soooooooo long to reach trace. Well, once it's cured for a little bit, I'm going to try to use it, and if if does not burn my skin from my body I'll consider it good. I don't think I'm doing anything really out of the ordinary or special enough to post pictures of them. Y'all are doing some really spectacular stuff here! Maybe when I get good enough to swirl or make up my own fabulous soap recipes. For now I'm just sticking with herbals. Last night I melted a pound down and made chamomile/lemon soap. So far it's looking and smelling very nice. Subtle, subtle scent, but that's what I like. Once I'm out of the shower I don't want to smell like anything until I put on my perfume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 My castile is 90% olive and 10% castor; does not take long to trace at all. Castor is a fast tracer and speeds the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Yeah, like eugenia said. I've never heard of it taking days to trace for 100% OO soap. With my stick blender, 90% OO and 10% Castor I think it was only a matter of minutes until trace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridith Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Ditto what Carrie and Eugenia said. And, my bars set up rock hard to pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 I just made it tonight with pomace olive oil. Other times I used regular OO. What a difference that solvent extraction makes! My soap (just poured) is a creamy brown color - like faded carmel, and it came to trace very fast - I think I used my SB for like 20 seconds to get heavy trace. I did soap with pretty hot lye sol'n but still!Since I would like it to be as white as possible I put it in the fridge - maybe if it doesn't gel...?This was my first batch in over 6 weeks. Can't get to my colors or most of my FOs, etc - but I just HAD to make something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenia Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 Pomace tends to be more green and will affect the color. Gel has nothing to do with it. The oil itself is darker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 well, it'll be interesting! my pomace oil was a golden color, on the dark side so I'm not suprised the soap is not white... as long as its mild, it doesnt' matter to me!Gina, what color did your soap end up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 My pomace tends to be very light in color when cured and doesn't take long to trace. I have way more problems with acceleration than I do with long-to-trace soaps, generally speaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMM Posted October 12, 2006 Author Share Posted October 12, 2006 My pomace OO soap ended up a lovely light cream color. I did not add anything to it. It's a lovely soap--very mild, decent creamy lather, and I love the way my skin doesn't feel all tight when I get out of the shower. One of my friends who uses it told me she doesn't feel the need to instantly moisturize upon toweling off, but that she also doesn't feel "greasy." I take that as a nice, big compliment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 The longer castile cures the better - I've read that 6 weeks minimum, and some say 3+ months! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty1_AJ Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 There are other factors in speedy trace besides the ingredients. Temperatures at which you soap also factor in. If you soap cool (lye water and oils at 100 degrees or so), trace will most likely be slower, especially if using a whisk rather than a stick blender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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