The Soap Opera was created by Sarah Wheatley. If you liked what you heard, please rate and review the show in iTunes, or tell your friends and family about it! Spreading the word makes all the difference.

If you have any questions about soap, tools, or ingredients, you can contact me on Patreon, on Instagram @shiresuds, or you can email me at [email protected]!

Many thanks to Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com for the music (Licensed under Creative Commons 4.0). The tracks used in this episode are "Ripples" and "Finding Movement".

If you want to challenge your soapmaking skills some more, I recommend checking out Humblebee and Me, a wonderful website with tons of science-based soap, skincare, and makeup recipes!

If you want to purchase any of the soap I made for this show, you can find it at shiresuds.com. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Soap Opera! Happy Sudsing!

The Recipe

SOAP CALCULATOR

SoapCalc.net

IMPERIAL WEIGHT

• 26.46 oz. Olive oil

• 3.33 oz Lye

• 10+ oz Water

• 1.5 tbsp uniodized salt (optional)

METRIC WEIGHT

• 750 g Olive oil

• 94.5 g Lye

• 285+ g Water

• 1.5 tbsp uniodized salt (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Assemble all your tools. Make sure you have plenty of space to work!

2) Measure out all your ingredients -- use the glass container for the water and the large bowl for the oil.

3) Add the water to a glass container. Don’t use too much water, or your soap will take much longer to harden!

4) While wearing the mask and gloves, slowly add the lye into the water, mixing it up while you do so. It will get very hot, so be careful! Then add the salt and stir until it dissolves.

5) Add the lye mixture to the bowl.

6) Using the immersion blender on the lowest speed, gently pulse the blender until the soap has reached “trace” stage. As the soap thickens, increase the speed of the blender. Stop before it gets too thick to pour into molds.

7) Carefully pour the soap into your mold, using the rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl.

8) Set the molds to cure in a cool, stable location.

HOW TO IDENTIFY TRACE STAGE“Trace” is the term for when you drag a spatula across a liquid material and it leaves a valley behind. A “thin” trace happens when the valley disappears quickly. A “thick” trace happens when the valley disappears slowly, or not at all. A thin trace can be found in most cream sauces, thicker soups, and products like buttermilk and heavy cream. A thick trace can be found in sour cream and whipped cream.

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