All About the Trace

When I first got started in making my own bath and body products, the first class I took was in  melt and pour soap.  It took me a long time before I took a cold process class and finally start making my soaps by this method.  The most important thing in cold process soap making is trace.  It is the most tricky for a newbie to learn and recognize what it is\ and it can be really confusing.  One batch I made I thought it traced and the it did not gel correctly so the soap was soft.  So what is trace?  It is the point in the cold process soap making process when oils and lye have emulsified.  Once your soap batch has reached a thin trance, it will continue to thicken over time.  So want to learn more?  A post from The Soap Queen called All About the Trace will explain the topic in full detal.