Saponification Chart for Soap Making

A saponification chart or saponification table takes out the guesswork of soap making and wondering how much lye or caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide, you should be adding to each type of fat that you decide to use. Elaine White, the American Soapmaker, is responsible for the following chart.

Knowing the exact amount of caustic soda or sodium hydroxide should be added to the different oils or fats that you may use is important, because if you add too much, it could burn your skin. If you add too little, your soap will contain excess fat which will cause your soap to go rancid.

Use the following saponification saponification chart or table for making soap by multiplying the number of grams of oil or fats by the figure stated and this will give you the exact amount of sodium hydroxide to saponify it. For example, if you are going to use 150 g of sunflower oil or olive oil, multiply 150 x 0.134 which will give you 20.1 grams. You can round up or down your numbers accordingly, and therefore I would only add 20 grams of sodium hydroxide or caustic soda to the sunflower or olive oil to get the correct balance and to saponify your soap.

If you are working in ounces, follow the same process, using the figures on the saponification chart but the amount of sodium hydroxide you will need will be expressed in ounces. Therefore 16 oz of sunflower or olive oil will be multiplied by 0.134 resulting in 2.1 oz of sodium hydroxide. Add 2 oz of caustic soda to your soap.

If you are using more than one type of oil in a single soap recipe, do the above step for each oil used on the saponification chart and then total your results together to get the total amount of lye needed. By using the saponification chart learning how to make soap suddenly became a whole lot easier!

* Don't forget to use sodium hydroxide listing for making hard soaps and potassium hydroxide for making liquid soaps.

* The term lard on the saponification chart is pig fat.




Oil

Sodium
Hydroxide (NaOH)

Potassium
Hydroxide (KOH)

Oil
Sodium
Hydroxide (NaOH)
PotassiumHydroxide (KOH)
Apricot Kernel 0.1350 0.1890 Maize 0.1360 0.1904
Arachis 0.1360 0.1904 Mink 0.1400 0.1960
Avocado 0.1330 0.1862 Mustard 0.1241 0.1737
Babassu, Brazil nut 0.1750 0.2450 Neat's foot 0.1359 0.1902
Beef Hoof 0.1410 0.1974 Neem 0.1387 0.1941
Beeswax, White 0.0690 0.0966 Niger-seed 0.1355 0.1897
Brazil Nut 0.1750 0.2450 Nutmeg Butter 0.1160 0.1624
Butterfat, Cow 0.1619 0.2266 Olium Olivate 0.1340 0.1876
Butterfat, Goat 0.1672 0.2340 Olive 0.1340 0.1876
Canola 0.1240 0.1736 Palm Butter 0.1560 0.2184
Castor 0.1286 0.1800 Palm Kernel 0.1560 0.2184
Chicken Fat 0.1389 0.1944 Palm 0.1410 0.1974
Chinese Bean 0.1350 0.1890 Peanut 0.1360 0.1904
Cocoa Butter 0.1370 0.1918 Perilla 0.1369 0.1916
Coconut 0.1900 0.2660 Poppyseed 0.1383 0.1936
Cod-liver 0.1326 0.1856 Pumpkinseed 0.1331 0.1863
Coffee-seed 0.1300 0.1820 Ramic 0.1240 0.1736
Colza 0.1240 0.1736 Rape 0.1240 0.1736
Corn 0.1360 0.1904 Rapeseed 0.1240 0.1736
Cottonseed 0.1386 0.1940 Rice Bran 0.1280 0.1792
Earthnut 0.1360 0.1904 Ricinus 0.1286 0.1800
Flaxseed 0.1357 0.1899 Safflower 0.1360 0.1904
Florence, aka Olive 0.1340 0.1876 Sesame Seed 0.1330 0.1862
Gigely Tree 0.1330 0.1862 Shea Butter 0.1280 0.1792
Goose Fat 0.1369 0.1916 Shortening (veg.) 0.1360 0.1904
Grapeseed 0.1265 0.1771 Soybean 0.1350 0.1890
Hazelnut 0.1356 0.1898 Sunflower Seed 0.1340 0.1876
Hemp Seed 0.1345 0.1883 Sweet Oil 0.1340 0.1876
Java Cotton 0.1370 0.1918 Tallow, bear 0.1390 0.1946
Jojoba 0.0690 0.0966 Tallow, beef 0.1405 0.1967
Kapok 0.1370 0.1918 Tallow, chinese vegetable 0.1345 0.1883
Karite Butter (Shea) 0.1280 0.1792 Tallow, deer 0.1379 0.1930
Katchung 0.1360 0.1904 Tallow, goat 0.1383 0.1936
Kukui Nut 0.1350 0.1890 Tallow, sheep 0.1383 0.1936
Lanolin 0.0741 0.1037 Teal/Teel/Til 0.1330 0.1862
Lard 0.1380 0.1932 Theobroma 0.1370 0.1918
Linseed 0.1357 0.1899 Tung 0.1377 0.1927
Loccu 0.1340 0.1876 Walnut 0.1353 0.1894
Macadamia 0.1390 0.1946 Wheatgerm 0.1310 0.1834


Now that you have the saponification chart under your belt visit our Making Soap page for more information on how to make soap at home. You will also find Soap Recipes for the three main types of soaps; hand-milled soaps where you do not have to use raw lye, cold process and hot process soaps.

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