How to Make Vegan Soap (Plant-Based Cold Process Recipe)

Vegan soap uses only plant-derived oils and butters instead of animal fats like tallow or lard. The process is identical to any cold process soap: mix oils with lye, pour into a mold, and cure for four to six weeks. The only difference is ingredient selection.

This guide covers which plant oils work best, a tested palm-free recipe, and how to adjust any existing recipe to be fully vegan.

What Makes Soap Vegan?

A soap is vegan when every ingredient comes from plants or minerals. The main non-vegan ingredients in traditional soap making are:

• Tallow (rendered beef fat)
• Lard (rendered pork fat)
• Goat milk, cow milk, honey (used as additives)
• Beeswax (sometimes added for hardness)
• Lanolin (from sheep's wool)
• Silk fibers (sometimes dissolved in lye water)

Sodium hydroxide (lye) is a mineral compound, not an animal product, so it is vegan. The saponification process itself does not change this.

If you are already making soap with olive oil, coconut oil, and shea butter, your soap is likely vegan. The key is checking every additive.

Best Plant-Based Oils for Soap

Different oils contribute different properties. Here is how to build a balanced vegan recipe:

For Hardness

• Coconut oil (20-30% of recipe) - produces a hard, white bar with big lather
• Cocoa butter (5-15%) - adds firmness and a subtle chocolate scent
• Shea butter (5-15%) - hard bar with excellent skin conditioning

For Lather

• Coconut oil - the single best lathering oil in soap making
• Castor oil (3-8%) - stabilizes and boosts lather from other oils
• Babassu oil (15-25%) - similar to coconut, slightly milder

For Conditioning

• Olive oil (25-50%) - gentle, moisturizing, the backbone of many vegan recipes
• Avocado oil (5-15%) - rich in vitamins, excellent for dry skin
• Sweet almond oil (5-15%) - lightweight conditioning
• Rice bran oil (10-20%) - similar to olive, traces faster

For Shelf Life

• Jojoba oil (3-5%) - technically a liquid wax, very stable
• Avoid high percentages of sunflower, canola, or soybean oil. These are cheap but go rancid quickly in soap.

For a complete breakdown of every oil's properties, see our soap making oils guide. Use the Soaply calculator to see how each oil affects your bar's hardness, cleansing, conditioning, and lather scores.

The Palm Oil Question

Palm oil is plant-based, so technically vegan. But many vegan soap makers avoid it due to environmental concerns: deforestation, habitat destruction for orangutans, and labor practices in some growing regions.

Your options:

• Skip it entirely and use the palm-free recipe below
• Use RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil if you want palm's properties (excellent hardness and a creamy lather)
• Substitute with cocoa butter, shea butter, or kokum butter for similar hardness

This guide focuses on palm-free formulations. For more palm-free ideas, see our palm-free soap recipes.

Vegan Cold Process Recipe (Palm-Free)

This recipe produces about 2 lbs of balanced, conditioning soap with good lather and hardness.

Ingredient	Amount	Percentage
-----------	--------	-----------
Olive Oil	340 g	40%
Coconut Oil (76 degree)	213 g	25%
Shea Butter	128 g	15%
Sweet Almond Oil	85 g	10%
Castor Oil	43 g	5%
Cocoa Butter	43 g	5%
Total Oils	852 g	100%
Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH)	122 g	(5% superfat)
Distilled Water	281 g	(33% of oils)

Optional additives:

• 17 g essential oil blend (2% of oil weight)
• 1 tablespoon sodium lactate in lye water (for harder bars)
• Natural colorant: turmeric, spirulina, cocoa powder, or clay

Verify these numbers in the Soaply calculator before mixing. The calculator handles all the lye math and shows predicted bar properties so you can adjust before committing ingredients.

Why This Blend Works

• Olive oil at 40% provides the conditioning backbone. It is gentle, widely available, and pairs well with harder oils.
• Coconut at 25% delivers lather and hardness without being overly stripping.
• Shea butter at 15% adds luxury conditioning and firmness.
• Almond oil at 10% rounds out the conditioning with a lighter feel.
• Castor oil at 5% stabilizes the lather and adds a creamy texture to the bubbles.
• Cocoa butter at 5% boosts hardness and unmolding speed.

The predicted bar properties from this recipe:

• Hardness: 39 (solid bar, unmolds in 24-48 hours)
• Cleansing: 17 (mild, suitable for face and body)
• Conditioning: 56 (very moisturizing)
• Bubbly lather: 22
• Creamy lather: 39
• INS: 147 (within the ideal 136-170 range)

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Prepare Your Space

Lay out all equipment: digital scale, stick blender, heat-safe containers, silicone mold, spatula. Put on safety goggles and chemical-resistant gloves.

For complete safety guidance, read our soap making safety guide.

2. Weigh All Ingredients

Weigh oils, lye, and water separately using grams. Precision is critical with lye. Even 5 g off can affect the final product.

3. Make the Lye Solution

Pour distilled water into a heat-safe container. Slowly add sodium hydroxide to the water while stirring. Never reverse this order. The solution will reach about 200 F and produce fumes. Work near an open window or outside. Set aside to cool to 100-110 F.

4. Melt and Combine Oils

Melt the coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter together in a pot on low heat or in the microwave. Once melted, add the olive oil, sweet almond oil, and castor oil. Stir to combine. Let the oil blend cool to 100-110 F.

5. Combine Lye and Oils

When both are in the 100-110 F range, pour the lye solution into the oils. Blend with a stick blender in short bursts until you reach a light trace. This recipe traces at a moderate speed, giving you a few minutes to work.

6. Add Fragrance and Color

At light trace, stir in any essential oils and natural colorant. Mix thoroughly. For fragrance guidance, see our fragrance load calculator.

7. Pour and Mold

Pour into your prepared mold. Tap on the counter to release air bubbles. Smooth the top. Optionally spritz with isopropyl alcohol to prevent soda ash.

8. Insulate, Unmold, Cure

Cover with cardboard and a towel. Check after 24-48 hours; unmold when firm. Cut into bars and cure on a rack for 4-6 weeks. The olive oil in this recipe benefits from a full cure to develop a harder, milder bar. Read more in our curing guide.

Converting Any Recipe to Vegan

Already have a favorite recipe that uses tallow or lard? Here is how to swap:

Replacing Tallow

Tallow makes a hard, white bar with moderate lather. The closest plant substitute is a blend:

• Replace with 50% olive oil + 30% coconut oil + 20% shea butter
• Or use palm oil if you are comfortable with RSPO-certified sources

Replacing Lard

Lard produces a conditioning, creamy bar. Replace with:

• Olive oil (similar conditioning, slower trace)
• Rice bran oil (close feel, better shelf life than lard)
• A blend of 60% olive + 20% coconut + 20% cocoa butter

Replacing Goat Milk

• Use coconut milk or oat milk as a 1:1 replacement in the liquid portion
• Both add creaminess and a mild scent

Replacing Honey

• Use sugar dissolved in lye water (1 teaspoon per pound of oils) for the same lather boost
• Agave nectar also works at the same ratio

Replacing Beeswax

• Use candelilla wax at half the amount (candelilla is harder, so you need less)
• Or skip it entirely and increase cocoa butter or kokum butter

After swapping, always recalculate your lye amount. Different oils have different SAP values. The Soaply calculator handles this automatically when you change oils.

Common Mistakes With Vegan Soap

Using too much olive oil

Recipes above 70% olive oil take months to cure and stay soft for a long time. Keep olive at 40-50% and pair with harder oils for a practical bar. Our castile soap guide covers 100% olive if you want to try it.

Skipping castor oil

Castor is a small ingredient (3-8%) but it makes a big difference in lather quality. Without it, high-olive vegan recipes can feel flat and produce thin lather.

Using cheap oils for hardness

Soybean, canola, and sunflower oil are tempting because they are affordable, but they go rancid quickly in soap and produce soft, short-lived bars. Invest in coconut, shea, and cocoa butter for structure.

Not adjusting superfat when removing tallow

Tallow at 5% superfat produces a mild bar. Some plant oil blends at 5% may feel more stripping (especially coconut-heavy ones). Consider bumping to 6-8% superfat for a vegan recipe with high coconut content.

💬 Frequently Asked Questions

Is all handmade soap vegan?

No. Many traditional recipes use tallow (beef fat) or lard (pork fat). Goat milk soap is also common. You need to check the ingredient list specifically. If the recipe only uses plant oils, plant butters, and mineral lye, it is vegan.

Is lye vegan?

Yes. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and potassium hydroxide (KOH) are inorganic chemical compounds manufactured from salt and water through electrolysis. No animal products are involved.

Can I make vegan soap without coconut oil?

Yes, but you will lose significant lather. Babassu oil is the closest substitute and performs similarly. Without either, your soap will have minimal bubbles. You can boost lather slightly with castor oil and sugar in the lye water.

Does vegan soap last as long as tallow soap?

With the right recipe, yes. The key is using enough hard oils and butters (coconut, cocoa butter, shea) to achieve a hardness score of 35-45. Soft, olive-heavy bars dissolve faster in the shower. Check your bar property predictions in the Soaply calculator.

What about palm-free AND coconut-free?

This is possible but limiting. Use babassu oil for lather, cocoa butter and kokum butter for hardness, and olive or avocado for conditioning. The bar will be milder and less bubbly than coconut-based recipes.

Can I label my soap as vegan?

If every ingredient (oils, lye, fragrance, colorant, additives) is plant-derived or mineral, you can label it vegan. Be careful with fragrance oils: some contain animal-derived musks. Look for fragrances explicitly labeled as vegan. Essential oils are always plant-derived and safe.

Make Your First Vegan Batch

Plug the recipe above into the Soaply calculator to get started. Adjust the superfat or swap oils to match what you have on hand. The calculator recalculates lye and bar properties instantly.

For related recipes, try our palm-free soap recipes, sensitive skin soap, or castile soap guide.