Browse 100 oils and butters with SAP values, fatty acid profiles, and predicted bar properties. Click any oil to see its full profile.
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Understanding Soap Making Oil Properties
Each oil and butter in soap making contributes different properties to your finished bar. The SAP (saponification) value tells you how much lye is needed to convert that oil into soap. The INS value helps predict whether an oil will produce a good bar of soap, with values between 136 and 170 generally considered ideal.
How Bar Properties Are Calculated
Bar properties are derived from the fatty acid profile of each oil. Hardness comes from lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Cleansing is driven by lauric and myristic acids. Conditioning comes from oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids. Bubbly lather is produced by lauric, myristic, and ricinoleic acids, while creamy lather comes from palmitic, stearic, and ricinoleic acids.
Choosing Oils for Your Recipe
A balanced soap recipe typically includes a mix of hard oils (for bar hardness and lather) and soft oils (for conditioning and skin feel). Most recipes use 40-60% hard oils and 40-60% liquid oils. Use our soap calculator to build and balance your recipe with real-time property predictions.