Cold weather soaping

[PinkCupcake]

I live in a rickety old house that is impossible to heat, so in order to keep our heating costs down, we keep the house VERY cold--right now the thermostat is set at 63 degrees. The last few batches of soap I have made (since the weather got cold) have traced way faster than usual, even with my regular basic recipe. My basic recipe is 70% OO, so it usually takes forever to trace. The batch I made yesterday was a thick pudding consistency by the time I stirred in the coloring.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or am I the only one bundled up in a freezing cold house? I guess during the winter, I'm going to increase the water in my recipe a little, and just live with the longer curing time.

 

[judymoody]

We keep our house at about 63 during the day, less at night. Maybe you might soap with your oils and lye a bit hotter than usual to compensate?

 

[Eve]

63 isn't extreme, should work just fine... My house is anywhere between 16 and 20 degrees C (63 F is 17.2 C) usually, and it doesn't matter much. I soap before my oils have cooled to room temperature, though.

 

[PinkCupcake]

I have been wondering about soaping a little warmer than usual. I usually describe what I like to do as "room temp soaping" but maybe I should just say "lower temp soaping", as my hard oils would be solid at my current room temperature!

Thanks for your input & advice, judymoody & Eve. It's very helpful.

 

[Lin]

Could it actually be the oils thickening up from the lower temperature and not a true trace? You only have 30% thats not OO, is it all hard oil?

 

[PinkCupcake]

It's 25% coconut oil. Not sure if that's enough to get false trace. I think I'll try soaping warmer, then try a little more water if I need to. Maybe even turn up the heat when soaping!