| Base oil, butter or fat | Soft, hard or brittle | Properties in soap | Recommended usage | Breaking the rules & other notes |
| Coconut oil | Hard | large fluffy bubbles, highly cleansing, high amounts can be too drying, makes a white bar | 15-30% | Some soapers will use a high amount of coconut oil and bump up the super fat amount. The higher amount of un-saponified oils in the bar balance out the high cleansing from coconut oil. Soap making is all about finding the right balance. Also a 100% coconut oil soap with a super low or none at all superfat makes a great laundry soap. |
| Palm oil | Hard | a great base oil, makes a hard long lasting bar, stabilizes lather | 25-50% | Palm oil is the base oil of choice for those who don’t want to use animal fats such as lard or tallow. I personally do not use palm oil anymore. |
| Olive oil | Soft/Hard | makes a very gentle and mild bar, low lotion-like lather, low cleansing, great for babies and elder folk’s skin, some people say that high amounts of olive oil make for a slimy or snotty feel in the shower | 25-50% | Castile soap is made with 100% olive oil. I classify this as a soft/hard oil because it makes a very soft bar of soap initially upon unmolding but cures into a rock hard bar. Soaps high (50%+) in olive oil need longer to cure. |
| Lard | Hard | a great base oil, makes a hard bar with a low creamy lather, makes a white bar, stabilizes lather | 25-50% | 100% lard soap with no superfat makes a great laundry soap. |
| Tallow (beef) | Hard | a great base oil, makes a hard bar with a low creamy lather, stabilizes lather | 25-50% | 100% tallow soap with no superfat makes a great laundry soap. |
| Palm Kernel oil | Brittle | similar to coconut oil, large fluffy bubbles, highly cleansing but milder than coconut oil | 15-30% | Palm kernel oil is a great sub for coconut oil. You can also use it with coconut oil to add some hardness to your bar. If you have a recipe that calls for 20% coconut oil…try using 10% coconut oil and 10% palm kernel oil. I personally do not use palm oil anymore. |
| Cocoa butter | Brittle | makes a hard bar of soap, stabilizes lather | 5- 15% | You can experiment using cocoa butter and other butters in high amounts – up to 80%. Try a bar made from 60% cocoa butter and 40% coconut oil. You might like it! |
| Shea butter | Hard | makes a hard bar of soap, seems to add a silky feel to the lather, stabilizes lather | 5- 15% | Same as cocoa butter. I typically use 5-15% but occasionally will experiment with using up to 60%. |
| Castor oil | Soft | helps suspend/hold the lather from coconut oil, adds creaminess, high amounts will cause a bar of soap to be sticky and have a drag when using it in the shower | 5-10% | Some soap makers like to use 15-20% castor oil in their shampoo bars or shaving bars. |
| Apricot Kernel oil | Soft | a wonderful sub for some or all of the olive oil in a recipe, similar properties to olive oil | 5-12% | Apricot Kernel is a wonderful sub for some of the olive oil in a recipe. |
| Avocado oil | Soft | makes a very gentle and mild bar, low cleansing, great for babies and elder folk’s skin | 5-12% | Avocado oil is a wonderful sub for some of the olive oil in a recipe. |
| Jojoba oil | Soft | a liquid wax, stabilizes and suspends lather | 5-12% | Jojoba oil is too expensive to use now in soap making. I save it for leave on products like lotions and creams. |
| Sunflower oil | Soft | sustains lather, mildly cleansing, creamy and rich | 10-20% | Sunflower oil is a wonderful sub for some of the olive oil in a recipe. |
| Grapeseed oil | Soft | 5-10% | I don’t use grapeseed oil much as it has a very limited shelf life. | |
| Hazelnut oil | Soft | 5-10% | I don’t use hazelnut oil much as it has a very limited shelf life. | |
| Hempseed oil | Soft | 5-10% | I don’t use hempseed oil much as it has a very limited shelf life. | |
| Safflower oil | Soft | mildly cleansing | 5-15% | Safflower oil is a wonderful sub for some of the olive oil in a recipe. |
| Soybean oil | Soft | sustains lather, mildly cleansing | 10-20% | Soybean oil is a wonderful sub for some of the olive oil in a recipe. |
| Rice Bran oil | Soft | makes a very gentle and mild bar, low cleansing, great for babies and elder folk’s skin , similar properties to olive oil, can give soap a waxy almost shiny finish | 10-25% | Rice bran is a wonderful sub for some or all of the olive oil in a recipe. |
| Almond oil, sweet | Soft | sustains lather, mildly cleansing | 10-20% | Sweet Almond oil is a wonderful sub for some of the olive oil in a recipe. |
*Just because I don’t like an oil, doesn’t mean you won’t. I recommend trying anything once!
Soft, hard and brittle? What does that mean?
Oils, fats and butters are generally classified as soft, hard or brittle. You’ll see that I did so in the soap making oil chart.
Soft oils are generally oils that are liquid at room temperature such as olive oil, castor oil, sweet almond, rice bran…etc. As a general rule, soap made from a high percentage of these oils will be on the softer side. The only exception to this rule is olive oil. Soap made from a high percentages of olive oil is soft upon un-molding but will cure to be a really hard bar of soap.
Hard oils are oils, fats and butters that are solid but scoopable at room temperature such as palm oil, lard, tallow, coconut oil, mango butter and shea butter. Hard oils make a hard bar of soap.
Brittle oils are oils that are solid at room temperature but require some chipping at or a bit of elbow grease to break them up. These generally include palm kernel oil and cocoa butter. Brittle oils make a hard bar of soap.
Here are some general rules when talking about soft, hard and brittle percentages in your recipe.
Hard and brittle oils
Soap made with higher percentages of hard and brittle oils will be easier and quicker to un-mold. These soaps set up quickly and harden faster than soaps made with high percentages of soft oils. Recipes high in hard or brittle oils can be hard to swirl or do advanced designs with that take time as the soap can set up too quickly.
Recipes high in hard and brittle oils make un-molding soap easier in single cavity molds.
Soap made with higher percentages of hard and brittle oils will require higher temps when mixing. If you soap at too low of a temperature you can get what is called false trace. This is when the solid and brittle oils start thickening up/re-solidifying because of the low temperatures. It looks similar to trace so you might end up pouring your soap before you reach trace. Keep the oil temps in the range of 100-120.
Soft oils
Soap made with high percentages of soft oils tend to be softer and stickier when un-molding. Simply leave them in the mold a day or two longer before un-molding and cutting. If you are using single cavity molds, you can try freezing them to harden and hopefully the soap will pop out easier.
Soap made with soft oils, especially olive oil, is slower to trace and setup. This makes them perfect for swirling. You have more time to color and play with the soap batter.
What are your favorite oil combos and percentages to use? Do you like to break out of the box and do anything wacky? Please leave a comment!
I like cottonseed oil, because it contains tocopherol, which improves shelf life. It’s also fairly inexpensive, though not available at the grocery store.
I also like Candellila wax, because it helps harden up a soft bar. I use hot process, and mold from 180F down to 130F. 130F and it’s really a little too hard for molding. It’s fun to melt it with the hard oils, then pour in the liquids and watch the candellila coat the spoon.
But mostly, I like to just take whatever I have handy and make soap from it. It’s all about documenting and experimenting. I even learned how to turn KOH soap hard (molar conversion to sodium soaps with table salt).
Love experimenting with handfuls of Indian spice seeds, particularly cloves, star anise, cinnamon barks and fennel seed. Great scratchy soap
Just found this site, and really think it is so informative. I have been making my own soap for a couple of years, but still love to find new opinions and advice.
thanks
Something new that we can all learn! Nice info.
Thank you for posting this.
My rule of thumb is to practice and experiment with oils to create soap you realy love.
We make mostly Castile soaps as well as olive oil and coconut soaps – but we have customers that love different types, so ocassionaly we make cocoa butter and shea butter soaps as well.
Thank you for posting this article.
I make soap for gifts and for largess (I belong to http://www.sca.org). We experimented recently and found that adding fresh not used coffee grounds to the soap made an excellent kitchen soap. It helps remove ‘odors’ such as peppers, onions, etc. Our favorite turned out to be a mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg which smelled like fresh french toast.
I’m so happy I found your site – I’m new to soap making and decided to experiment – and looking at your oil chart – my batch should have worked – I used 20% almond oil, 10% castor oil, 30% coconut oil and 40% olive oil. But my soap is soft! So disappointing. Is there something glaring about this recipe I should be aware of?
thank you.
Hi Jane, You can go to SoapCalc.com and create a soap recipe. When all the oils add up to 100%, you are asked to click on the next page. Down towards the bottom of the page, after you see your recipe, is a gauge that tells you if your recipe is within two numbers that refer to :
How cleansing the bar is
How creamy ”
How much later
How Hard the bar will be, etc.
This is a great way to check the percentage of your oils to see if you are making a balanced soap. If your numbers don’t come somewhere in the middle of the guage for each quality for the soap, just fool around with your percentages til they do. I love this soap calculator and have used it for years and it has helped me greatly. Good Luck, Joanne!
Thank you so much….that’s exactly what I need. Gratefully appreciate the help!!!!!! Best wishes…Jane
Hi,
I been enjoying your site, lots of great information. My question is, you mention Hemp Seed oil has a short shelf life, is that before it’s made into soap? If I use it shortly about buying it would the soap be fine?
Thanks.
Have been trying various soap bases that you just melt, flavor, color and mold. So far I’ve discovered that if you put wistera blooms in hot soap mix they turn white, greenish, and a teal color… very far away from the natural purple colors. So I’m going to try drying some and then adding them and see what happens.
Oh and if you make the ‘kitchen’ soap (which really helps get yucky smells off your hands) it can be used on hands and feet. Do not use it on ‘other’ parts of your body as the coffee will clump (my poor neighbor tester) which are difficult to remove.
You’re totally welcome, anytime!
I’m really against using palm oil, even if it is fair trade oil. Is there a more sustainable oil I can substitute in recipes that contain palm? All palm free recipes I have found seem to be really heavy on olive oil.
I’m also on a similar search…
I had the same concerns, did some research and settled on Crisco in the can or the store brand equivalent. It has cottonseed oil and soybean oil. I have not tried it yet. so can’t tell you more.
I do think about each of the concepts you might have available within your posting. They are simply genuine all of which will undoubtedly get the job done. However, this threads are extremely quick instructor can. Might just you want expand these folks a bit from the very next time? Basically post.