The following chart will give you the saponification values for the most common oils, fats and butters used in soap making, as well as some important properties of the oils to help you create your own soap recipe.
A typical soap recipe will have a selection of hard and soft oils, a 5-10% superfat (the percentage of oils that do not saponify), and a water-to-caustic soda ratio of 2:1. This will ensure a solid, long lasting bar of soap with a good lather and isn’t too drying on the skin.
KEY to TABLE
* – keep refrigerated
SAP – saponification value, amount (g) of caustic soda (NaOH) needed to transform 1 gram of oil to soap
Usage – recommended usage in soap recipes
Hardness – contribution toward hard or soft bar of soap
Lather – contribution to lather qualities of soap