Soap Oil & Butter Properties Chart
Every oil and butter in a soap recipe does two jobs. It reacts with lye at its own rate, and it shapes how the finished bar feels, lathers, and cleans. This chart puts both pieces in one place: each oil's SAP value, plus ratings for hardness, cleansing, conditioning, bubbly lather, and creamy lather.
A balanced bar needs a mix of properties working together. No single oil delivers cleansing, conditioning, hardness, and lather at once. Scan the chart, combine oils that cover the other gaps, then run your final numbers through the calculator.
How to read this chart
SAP value is the amount of lye needed to fully saponify one gram of an oil. A higher SAP value means the oil calls for more lye in the batch, and it usually signals more cleansing power. Coconut oil, for example, carries a higher SAP value than olive oil, which is why a coconut heavy recipe needs more lye per pound of oils.
Hardness rates how firm and long lasting the finished bar will be. A soap built entirely on soft oils stays mushy and dissolves fast in the shower.
Cleansing rates how thoroughly an oil strips oil and residue from skin, and too much cleansing power can leave skin feeling tight and dry.
Bubbly lather rates the size and volume of bubbles an oil produces. Creamy lather rates how dense and stable that lather feels on skin.
Conditioning rates how much moisture an oil leaves behind after rinsing, which matters most in facial and hand soaps.
These differences lead back to fatty acid makeup. Lauric and myristic acids drive cleansing and bubbly lather. Oleic and linoleic acids drive conditioning. Palmitic and stearic acids drive hardness. Blending oils with different fatty acid profiles is what gives a bar balance instead of one dominant trait.
Each oil SAP value sets its lye amount, and its hardness, cleansing, lather, and conditioning ratings shape the finished bar. No single oil scores high across every category. For the chemistry behind this number, see our guide to saponification and SAP values.
The properties chart
The table below covers the oils and butters Makers reach for most in cold process and hot process soap. Values reflect standard sodium hydroxide saponification data. Crop, season, and supplier can shift these numbers slightly, so always confirm your final recipe in the lye calculator before you weigh out lye.
High SAP hard oils like coconut, palm, and cocoa butter build a firm, long lasting bar. Softer, lower SAP oils like olive and sweet almond add conditioning but need a longer cure to harden fully. Shea butter and cocoa butter each bring conditioning and hardness in one ingredient. See how each performs in the shea butter guide and the cocoa butter vs. shea butter comparison.
How to use the chart with the lye calculator
Start with your recipe goals. For a hard, long-lasting bar, lean on coconut, palm, or cocoa butter. For something gentler and more conditioning, build around olive, sweet almond, or shea butter. Add castor oil in small amounts, typically five percent or less, to boost and stabilize lather without softening the bar.
Once you've chosen your oils, weigh them against each other. A common starting ratio blends one or two hard oils with one or two conditioning oils, plus a small percentage of castor oil for lather. A recipe built on thirty percent coconut oil, forty percent olive oil, twenty five percent shea butter, and five percent castor oil covers hardness, conditioning, and lather in one batch.
From there, pick oils by property from this chart, then size the exact lye and water with the lye calculator. It applies the correct SAP value for each oil automatically and lets you set a lye discount for a gentler, superfatted bar. A five to eight percent discount is a solid starting point for most facial and body bars. For more combinations that work well together, see our guide to best oils and butters for soap making.
FAQ
What is a SAP value?
A SAP value is the amount of lye needed to fully saponify one gram of a specific oil or butter. Every oil carries its own value based on its fatty acid makeup. Soap calculators use this number to tell you exactly how much lye a recipe needs, so the right SAP value keeps a bar from turning out too harsh or too soft on skin.
Which oils make a hard bar of soap?
Coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, and cocoa butter all produce a hard, long-lasting bar. These oils carry higher SAP values and a fatty acid profile suited to firm soap. Blend one or two of them with softer, conditioning oils like olive or sweet almond oil for a bar that stays durable and still feels gentle on skin.
How do I use an oil properties chart?
Start with the property that matters most for your recipe, such as hardness, lather, or conditioning. Find oils rated high in that column, then check their SAP values. Combine a few complementary oils, weigh out your batch, and run the full recipe through a lye calculator to confirm the exact lye and water amounts before you mix.
Why does each oil need a different amount of lye?
Each oil is made up of different fatty acids, and each fatty acid reacts with a different amount of lye during saponification. Coconut oil's fatty acids call for more lye per gram than olive oil's, for example. That's why every soap calculator asks for the specific oils in a recipe before it calculates a safe, accurate lye amount for the batch.
Build Your Recipe
Ready to build your recipe? Shop oils and butters for the ingredients in this chart, then run your numbers through the lye calculator to get exact lye and water amounts before you mix.
