How do I work with honey and sugar in soap?
Short answer
Both boost lather, but they heat the batter and speed up trace, so add them carefully and keep things cool.
Explanation
Honey is a humectant that boosts lather, at about 1 teaspoon per 500 g of oils (8 g, around 2%, in the Goat Milk & Honey recipe). It's heat-sensitive: add it to the oils or batter below 38 °C, and in hot process, only after the cook. Sugar (up to 1 tablespoon per 500 g of oils, dissolved in warm recipe water) gives more and creamier lather. Both add heat and accelerate trace.
What to do
- Soap cooler and consider individual molds.
- Watch for overheating, cracking or 'volcanoing', especially with oven gel.
Source: The Big Book of Homemade Soap — Natural & Functional Additives for Handmade Soap