How to Tell When a Soap Mixture Has Reached Trace

Trace I learned how to make soap from reading all of the great resources on the Internet. I read many articles about the subject and really did my homework before attempting my first batch of soap. The one thing I was still left a little unsure of was how to determine when my soap mixture has reached trace. The purpose of this article is to attempt to explain how to determine when your soap mixture has reached trace.

What is Trace?

Trace occurs when the soap mixture begins to change from a liquid to a solid. It is called trace because when the soap mixture is drizzled off of a spoon back into the mixture, you will see a trace of a line instead of the drizzle immediately reforming with the mixture in the bowl. It is often very difficult to see at first but does become more obvious as time passes. I can often tell that a mixture is about to trace when I start to see oily trails in the mixture caused by the drizzle.

What Does Trace Look Like?

Trace can be quite subtle, but basically trace looks like a little raised trail on the surface of the mixture in the bowl when some of the mixture is drizzled. It is important that a raised trail is left. Any trail that you see as a raised line is considered trace. Depending on the soap properties you may want to pour it into the mold at light trace, but usually you can keep stirring until the trace becomes more obvious. Many ingredients such as fragrance oils and herbs are added at trace to keep the chemical modification of them to a minimum.