Palm Oil for Soap Making
Palm Oil is a hard hard oil dominated by palmitic (44%), oleic (39%), linoleic (10%). Its palmitic and stearic acids build a firm, long-lasting bar with a stable, creamy lather, making it a common backbone for cold process recipes.
Quick Facts
How Much Lye for Palm Oil?
With a SAP value of 0.142, fully saponifying palm oil takes 0.142 grams of sodium hydroxide per gram of oil (at 0% superfat):
| Oil amount | NaOH (0% superfat) | KOH (liquid soap) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 g | 14.2 g | 19.9 g |
| 500 g | 71 g | 99.5 g |
| 1000 g | 142 g | 199 g |
Real recipes use a superfat discount (typically 5%) and almost always blend several oils. Always run your full recipe through the Soaply lye calculator rather than weighing lye from a single-oil table.
Predicted Bar Properties
Derived from the fatty acid profile, for a bar made of 100% palm oil:
Fatty Acid Profile
| Fatty acid | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Myristic | 1% |
| Palmitic | 44% |
| Stearic | 5% |
| Oleic | 39% |
| Linoleic | 10% |
Substitutes for Palm Oil
The closest matches by fatty acid profile, which is what actually determines how an oil behaves in soap. Swap by weight and re-run the lye calculation, since SAP values differ:
Build a recipe with Palm Oil
The free Soaply calculator handles the lye math, water, superfat, and property predictions for any blend of 100 oils.
Open the lye calculatorMore Hard Oils
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