All about oils in soapmaking
This year (2022) I formulated a challenge for myself. I want to learn a lot about cold process soap making and therefore I challenge myself to make one cold process soap a week, hopefully resulting in 52 soaps by the end of this year. On this page, I will document all information about oils and butters in soapmaking.
A balanced combination
You can make soap using only one oil however, the best soap recipes use a balanced combination of oils. Every oil will contribute a different quality to the final bar. You can categorize the qualities of soap in different values. Following you find the values that Soap Calc uses to qualify your recipe.
- Hardness
- Cleansing
- Conditioning
- Bubbly
- Creamy
In the table you find a lot of useful information about soapmaking oils. You can also click on the names of the individual oils/butters in the table to learn more about them in the ingredients portfolio.
Soapmaking oil chart
| Oils | soft, hard, brittle | SAP value | Properties in soap | Recommended usage rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almond oil | soft | .136 | Mild cleansing, medium lather | up to 20% | A moisturizing and good substitute for olive oil |
| Avocado oil | soft | .133 | Mild cleansing, medium lather | 5-20% | Rich in vitamin E and other vitamins. |
| Castor oil | soft | Boosts lather | 5-10% | ||
| Cocao Butter | brittle | .137 | Luxurious and moisturizing feel. Hard long-lasting bar. | up to 15% | You can experiment with higher percentages however, higher percentages can cause cracking in your soap bars |
| Coconut oil | hard | .178 | Very good lather, large bubbles, white colour, hard bar, good cleansing | up to 33% | It is possible to make a 100% coconut oil soap, but it is recommended to use a 20% superfat. Coconut oil soap can be very drying, the extra high superfat can counter this drying effect. |
| Hemp oil | soft | .135 | Mild cleansing, medium to a good lather | up to 15% | Helps hydrate the skin. |
| Olive oil | soft | .134 | Low cleansing. Very mild, moisturizing and nourishing. Creamy, slippery lather. | up to 100% | It is possible to make a 100%. Soaps with high percentages of olive oil will need longer to unmold and cure. |
| Shea butter | hard | .133 | Luxurious and moisturizing. Helps harden the soap bar | up to 15% | You can experiment with higher percentages. |
| Sunflower oil | soft | .134 | Mild cleansing, medium lather. Conditioning | up to 20% | Rich in essential fatty acids and vitamin E. |
Sources I use for my research are the information on the suppliers’ websites. The product descriptions as well as the SDS and fact sheet documents. Besides the suppliers’ information, I find the information from Bramble Berry and Lovinsoap very useful.