--- title: "Oil Properties Chart for Soap Making | Clover Radiance" description: "Sort and filter 47 soap-making oils by SAP value, hardness, cleansing, iodine, INS and fatty acids, with published SAP ranges and notes on variation." url: https://cloverradiance.beauty/oil-properties-chart/ --- 47 oils · butters · fats · waxes # Oil Properties Chart for Soap Making SAP values for NaOH and KOH, iodine and INS, the bar-property numbers and the eight fatty acids soap calculators track. Click a column to sort it, or search for an oil. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Apricot kernel oilLiquid oil | 0.139 | 195 | 100 | 91 | 6 | 0 | 93 | 0 | 6 | – | – | 6 | – | – | 66 | 27 | – | | | Argan oilLiquid oil | 0.136 | 191 | 95 | 95 | 15 | 1 | 81 | 1 | 14 | – | 1 | 14 | – | – | 46 | 34 | 1 | | | Avocado oil, see note 1 Liquid oil | 0.133 | 186 | 86 | 99 | 22 | 0 | 70 | 0 | 22 | – | – | 20 | 2 | – | 58 | 12 | – | | | Babassu oilHard (lauric) oil | 0.175 | 245 | 15 | 230 | 85 | 70 | 10 | 70 | 15 | 50 | 20 | 11 | 4 | – | 10 | – | – | | | Beef tallowAnimal fat | 0.143 | 200 | 45 | 147 | 58 | 8 | 40 | 8 | 50 | 2 | 6 | 28 | 22 | – | 36 | 3 | 1 | | | Beeswax, see note 2 Wax or additive | 0.067 | 94 | 10 | 84 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | | | Camellia seed oil (tea seed)Liquid oil | 0.138 | 193 | 78 | 115 | 11 | 0 | 85 | 0 | 11 | – | – | 9 | 2 | – | 77 | 8 | – | | | Canola oil, see note 3 Liquid oil | 0.133 | 186 | 110 | 56 | 6 | 0 | 91 | 0 | 6 | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | 61 | 21 | 9 | | | Canola oil, high oleicLiquid oil | 0.133 | 186 | 96 | 90 | 6 | 0 | 90 | 0 | 6 | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | 74 | 12 | 4 | | | Castor oilLiquid oil | 0.128 | 180 | 86 | 95 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 90 | 90 | – | – | – | – | 90 | 4 | 4 | – | | | Chicken fatAnimal fat | 0.139 | 195 | 69 | 130 | 33 | 1 | 59 | 1 | 32 | – | 1 | 25 | 7 | – | 38 | 21 | – | | | Cocoa butterButter | 0.138 | 194 | 37 | 157 | 61 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 61 | – | – | 28 | 33 | – | 35 | 3 | – | | | Coconut oil (76 °F or 92 °F), see note 4 Hard (lauric) oil | 0.183 | 257 | 10 | 258 | 79 | 67 | 10 | 67 | 12 | 48 | 19 | 9 | 3 | – | 8 | 2 | – | | | Corn oilLiquid oil | 0.137 | 192 | 117 | 69 | 14 | 0 | 84 | 0 | 14 | – | – | 12 | 2 | – | 32 | 51 | 1 | | | Cupuaçu butter, see note 5 Butter | 0.137 | 192 | 39 | 153 | 43 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 43 | – | – | 8 | 35 | – | 42 | 2 | – | | | Flaxseed (linseed) oilLiquid oil | 0.135 | 190 | 180 | -6 | 9 | 0 | 90 | 0 | 9 | – | – | 6 | 3 | – | 27 | 13 | 50 | | | Grapeseed oilLiquid oil | 0.129 | 181 | 131 | 66 | 12 | 0 | 88 | 0 | 12 | – | – | 8 | 4 | – | 20 | 68 | – | | | Hazelnut oilLiquid oil | 0.139 | 195 | 97 | 94 | 8 | 0 | 85 | 0 | 8 | – | – | 5 | 3 | – | 75 | 10 | – | | | Hemp seed oilLiquid oil | 0.138 | 193 | 165 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 90 | 0 | 8 | – | – | 6 | 2 | – | 12 | 57 | 21 | | | Illipe butterButter | 0.132 | 185 | 33 | 152 | 62 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 62 | – | – | 17 | 45 | – | 35 | – | – | | | Jojoba oil (liquid wax), see note 6 Wax or additive | 0.066 | 92 | 83 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | – | – | | | Kokum butterButter | 0.135 | 190 | 35 | 155 | 60 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 60 | – | – | 4 | 56 | – | 36 | 1 | – | | | Lard (pork fat)Animal fat | 0.141 | 198 | 57 | 139 | 42 | 1 | 52 | 1 | 41 | – | 1 | 28 | 13 | – | 46 | 6 | – | | | Macadamia nut oil, see note 7 Liquid oil | 0.139 | 195 | 76 | 119 | 14 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 14 | – | – | 9 | 5 | – | 59 | 2 | – | | | Mango butterButter | 0.136 | 191 | 45 | 146 | 49 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 49 | – | – | 7 | 42 | – | 45 | 3 | – | | | Marula oilLiquid oil | 0.137 | 192 | 73 | 119 | 18 | 0 | 79 | 0 | 18 | – | – | 11 | 7 | – | 75 | 4 | – | | | Neem seed oilLiquid oil | 0.138 | 193 | 72 | 121 | 39 | 2 | 58 | 2 | 37 | – | 2 | 21 | 16 | – | 46 | 12 | – | | | Olive oil, see note 8 Liquid oil | 0.135 | 190 | 85 | 105 | 17 | 0 | 82 | 0 | 17 | – | – | 14 | 3 | – | 69 | 12 | 1 | | | Olive pomace oilLiquid oil | 0.134 | 188 | 84 | 104 | 17 | 0 | 83 | 0 | 17 | – | – | 14 | 3 | – | 69 | 12 | 2 | | | Palm kernel oilHard (lauric) oil | 0.176 | 247 | 20 | 227 | 75 | 65 | 18 | 65 | 10 | 49 | 16 | 8 | 2 | – | 15 | 3 | – | | | Palm oilHard (lauric) oil | 0.142 | 199 | 53 | 145 | 50 | 1 | 49 | 1 | 49 | – | 1 | 44 | 5 | – | 39 | 10 | – | | | Peanut oilLiquid oil | 0.137 | 192 | 92 | 99 | 11 | 0 | 82 | 0 | 11 | – | – | 8 | 3 | – | 56 | 26 | – | | | Pumpkin seed oilLiquid oil | 0.139 | 195 | 128 | 67 | 19 | 0 | 83 | 0 | 19 | – | – | 11 | 8 | – | 33 | 50 | – | | | Rice bran oilLiquid oil | 0.133 | 187 | 100 | 87 | 26 | 1 | 74 | 1 | 25 | – | 1 | 22 | 3 | – | 38 | 34 | 2 | | | Rosehip seed oilLiquid oil | 0.133 | 187 | 188 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 89 | 0 | 6 | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | 12 | 46 | 31 | | | Safflower oilLiquid oil | 0.137 | 192 | 145 | 47 | 7 | 0 | 90 | 0 | 7 | – | – | 7 | – | – | 15 | 75 | – | | | Safflower oil, high oleicLiquid oil | 0.135 | 190 | 93 | 97 | 7 | 0 | 92 | 0 | 7 | – | – | 5 | 2 | – | 77 | 15 | – | | | Sal butterButter | 0.132 | 185 | 39 | 146 | 50 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 50 | – | – | 6 | 44 | – | 40 | 2 | – | | | Sesame oilLiquid oil | 0.134 | 188 | 110 | 81 | 15 | 0 | 83 | 0 | 15 | – | – | 10 | 5 | – | 40 | 43 | – | | | Shea butter, see note 9 Butter | 0.128 | 179 | 59 | 116 | 45 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 45 | – | – | 5 | 40 | – | 48 | 6 | – | | | Soybean oilLiquid oil | 0.136 | 191 | 131 | 61 | 16 | 0 | 82 | 0 | 16 | – | – | 11 | 5 | – | 24 | 50 | 8 | | | Stearic acid, see note 10 Wax or additive | 0.141 | 198 | 2 | 196 | 99 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 99 | – | – | – | 99 | – | – | – | – | | | Sunflower oilLiquid oil | 0.135 | 189 | 133 | 63 | 11 | 0 | 87 | 0 | 11 | – | – | 7 | 4 | – | 16 | 70 | 1 | | | Sunflower oil, high oleicLiquid oil | 0.135 | 189 | 83 | 106 | 7 | 0 | 88 | 0 | 7 | – | – | 3 | 4 | – | 83 | 4 | 1 | | | Tamanu oilLiquid oil | 0.148 | 208 | 111 | 82 | 25 | 0 | 73 | 0 | 25 | – | – | 12 | 13 | – | 34 | 38 | 1 | | | Walnut oilLiquid oil | 0.135 | 189 | 145 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 78 | 0 | 9 | – | – | 7 | 2 | – | 18 | 60 | – | | | Wheat germ oilLiquid oil | 0.130 | 183 | 128 | 58 | 19 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 19 | – | – | 17 | 2 | – | 17 | 58 | – | | - Saturated - Monounsaturated - Polyunsaturated - Not among the eight tracked No oil matches that search. Try a shorter word, or add it to the lye calculator as a custom oil with your supplier's SAP value. ## Notes on individual oils 1. **Avocado oil.** Avocado oil also contains palmitoleic acid, which the eight tracked fatty acids leave out. 2. **Beeswax.** Beeswax is mostly wax esters and about half of it does not turn into soap; its fatty acids are not among the eight tracked, so the bar numbers ignore its hardening effect. 3. **Canola oil.** Most rapeseed oil sold for cooking today is the low-erucic (canola) type. Older high-erucic rapeseed oil has a lower SAP value, about 168–181 mg KOH/g. 4. **Coconut oil (76 °F or 92 °F).** Fractionated (liquid) coconut oil is different: it is mostly caprylic and capric acid and has a much higher SAP value. Add it as a custom oil with your supplier's figure. 5. **Cupuaçu butter.** Cupuaçu butter also contains arachidic acid, which the eight tracked fatty acids leave out. 6. **Jojoba oil (liquid wax).** Jojoba is a liquid wax, not a true oil: about half of it stays unsaponified and most of its fatty acids are longer than the eight tracked. 7. **Macadamia nut oil.** Macadamia oil is rich in palmitoleic acid (often around a fifth), which the eight tracked fatty acids leave out. 8. **Olive oil.** The olive oil trade standard allows roughly 55–85 % oleic acid, so real bottles can sit well away from this typical profile. 9. **Shea butter.** Unrefined shea butter carries several per cent of unsaponifiable matter, one reason its SAP value is quoted over a wide range. 10. **Stearic acid.** Stearic acid is a free fatty acid: it reacts with lye almost at once and can make the batter thicken fast. ## How to read the chart Each row is one oil, butter, fat or wax. **SAP NaOH** is the grams of sodium hydroxide that turn one gram of the oil into soap; **SAP KOH** is the same for potassium hydroxide, in milligrams per gram as lab tables give it. **Iodine** rises with the number of double bonds in the oil: higher means softer and quicker to go rancid. **INS** is an older combined hardness index. Hardness, cleansing, conditioning, bubbly and creamy are sums of fatty acids: for one oil on its own, hardness is lauric + myristic + palmitic + stearic, cleansing is lauric + myristic, and so on. They only become useful once you blend oils, which is what the [soap lye calculator](https://cloverradiance.beauty/) does with the same data. Switch the columns to **Fatty acids** to see the eight acids as a percentage of each oil. The coloured bar groups them into saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated; a hatched end means part of the oil is made of fatty acids or wax esters outside the eight. Click any column heading to sort by it (click again to reverse), type in the search box, or pick a type to narrow the list. ### Worked example Sort by **Cleansing** and the lauric oils come to the top: coconut 67, babassu 70 and palm kernel 65. Sort by **Iodine** and the most unsaturated oils, such as rosehip at 188 and flaxseed at 180, rise to the top: oils to use in small amounts in a bar, if at all. ## Typical values, not specifications Every number here is a typical value for that kind of oil, taken from the SoapCalc oil list. Real oils vary with variety, growing conditions, refining and age. Where a published range exists, the saponification value is checked against it: olive oil 184–196 mg KOH/g, coconut 248–265, palm 190–209, palm kernel 230–254, shea butter 170–190, cocoa butter 192–200, lard 192–203, canola 182–193 and beeswax 60–102. Fatty-acid profiles move too: the olive oil trade standard allows 55–85 % oleic acid. If your supplier publishes a certificate of analysis for your batch, its figures beat any table. **Buying an unusual butter from a new shop?** Kokum, sal or cupuaçu often come from small online shops you have not used before. WebTraceCheck's free [DNS and domain lookup](https://webtracecheck.com/dns-lookup) shows the records behind a shop's web address before you pay. ## Sources - SoapCalc, [Soap making oil chart](https://soapcalc.net/oil-list): SAP values, iodine and INS values and fatty-acid profiles of each oil. - Wikipedia, [Saponification value](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification_value): published ranges in mg KOH/g, citing Gunstone, *Oils and Fats in the Food Industry* (Wiley, 2009) and Akoh & Min, *Food Lipids* (CRC Press, 2008). - Wikipedia, [Iodine value](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine_value): what the iodine value measures and why higher values mean more unsaturation. - International Olive Council, [Trade standard applying to olive oils and olive pomace oils](https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/COI-T.15NC-No.-3Rev.-22-_TRADE-STANDARD-REV-22_EN.pdf), Rev. 22: fatty-acid composition limits. ## Questions **Why do different calculators give slightly different SAP values?** Because there is no single true value. Each calculator picks a typical figure from a published range, and some round differently or build a small discount into their numbers. A difference of one or two per cent in lye is normal and is what the superfat absorbs. **Why do the fatty acids not add up to 100 %?** Soap calculators track eight fatty acids. Some oils contain others in quantity, such as palmitoleic acid in macadamia and avocado oil or arachidic acid in cupuaçu butter, and jojoba and beeswax are mostly wax esters. Those parts are shown hatched at the end of the bar and are left out of the property numbers. **Is a high iodine value bad?** Not on its own, but it tells you the oil is highly unsaturated. In soap, such oils give a softer bar and are more likely to go rancid, which is why oils like hemp, rosehip and flaxseed usually play a small part in a bar recipe rather than a large one. **Can I use a single oil on its own?** Yes. Castile soap is traditionally 100 % olive oil, and some soapmakers make 100 % coconut or lard bars. A single oil's numbers will sit outside several of the usual ranges, which only shows that the ranges are guidelines, not rules.