Shea Butter for Soap Making
Shea Butter is a hard butter dominated by oleic (48%), stearic (40%), linoleic (6%). 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 Shea Butter?
With a SAP value of 0.128, fully saponifying shea butter takes 0.128 grams of sodium hydroxide per gram of oil (at 0% superfat):
| Oil amount | NaOH (0% superfat) | KOH (liquid soap) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 g | 12.8 g | 17.9 g |
| 500 g | 64 g | 89.5 g |
| 1000 g | 128 g | 179 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% shea butter:
Fatty Acid Profile
| Fatty acid | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Palmitic | 5% |
| Stearic | 40% |
| Oleic | 48% |
| Linoleic | 6% |
Substitutes for Shea Butter
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 Shea Butter
The free Soaply calculator handles the lye math, water, superfat, and property predictions for any blend of 100 oils.
Open the lye calculatorMore Butters
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