While stirring the lye-water-oil mixture with the stick blender, turn on the blender in short bursts. To start with, blend for 3-5 seconds and then stir some more. Once you start using the stick blender, you will immediately see the soap mixture begin to come together. Keep blending in short bursts until the oils and lye-water are completely mixed together. Once they are completley mixed together, you are nearing trace.
If you were to hand-stir the pot of soap, like soap makers used to do, it might take an hour or more to reach trace. With the advent of stick blenders to soap making, trace can be reached in under a minute.
For more information about TRACE, watch my getting to "trace" in soap making video.
