“Trace”- When oils and Lye Water have come together and emulsified. i.e the lipids, reacting with the lye have converted into soap molecules.

Traces can be divided into three states

• Thin Trace – Ideal for Swirls
• Medium Trace – For adding additives, when you want something suspended in the soap
• Thick Trace – Good for Texture, for making cupcake soaps, piping, decoration etc.

There are various factors that affects the trace –

1. The oils used in the recipe. Especially the Base Oils.
2. The temperature in soap making
3. The speed and amount and way of mixing
4. Additives
5. Amount of water in the recipe

If we can control each factor, it will give us control over how quickly we want our soaps to trace.

Oils Used in the Recipe –

Base oils used in the recipe and their fatty acid quotient affects the traces in soap making. Ricinoleic acid accelerates the trace but gives softness to the bar. Castor oil is high in Unsaturated ricinoleic acid and can accelerate the soap when used in high amounts even making the soap rubbery.

The best way to determine how quickly The soap will trace is to look at the fatty acid profile in the software used for soap making.

Look at the ratio of saturated to unsaturated. If the ratio of saturated fats is higher than unsaturated fats, then your soap batter will be traced soon.

If using a recipe that has a high saturated fat ratio and wants to still reduce the trace amount, try working with other factors like water discounts, temperature, additives etc.

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2. Temperature in Soap Making

• The temperature of your room and the ingredients will affect the trace time.