Soap

CHEMICHAL DEFINITION:-
Soap is a salt of a fatty acid. Soap is
mainly made by two processes:
1. SAPONIFICATION
 the reaction of Neutral Oil with Alkali
(i.e. Caustic Soda)
Vegetable Oils / Animal Fats + Caustic
Soda = Soap + Glycerin.
Continue…
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EXAMPLE
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2. NEUTRALIZATION

• the reaction of a Fatty Acid with

Alkali (i.e. Caustic Soda)
• Fatty Acids + Caustic Soda = Soap
+ Water.
 Continue…
• Neutral Oils are composed by triglycerides:
Fatty Acids and Glycerin.
• The fatty acids used in soap manufacturing have
carbon chains composed from 8 to 20 carbons.
• Soap produced using Neutral Oils (Vegetable
Oils / Animal Fats) as raw materials contains
some points of glycerine;
• soap produced using Fatty Acids as raw
materials does not contains glycerine.
 Raw Materials
1. OILS & FATS
•In Handmade soap manufacturing (also called
Cold Process) it is possible to use a variety of
oils with carbon chains with different lengths,
from C8 to C20.
•In Industrial soap manufacturing the majority of
Fatty Matters have chains from 12 to 18
carbons;
 Raw Materials….
• longer and shorter carbon chains produce a
soap not easy to work with industrial
machines, due to the properties as hardness
and titre.
•TITRE:-It is the Temperature in degrees Celsius, at
which a raw material solidify.
•A typical oil blend used by industrial soap
manufacturers is "80:20"
 Raw Materials….
• an oil blend composed by 80% of Palm Oil plus 20% of Coconut Oil (or
20% of Palm Kernel Oil);
•this blend has a good ratio of carbon chains and a good IV (Iodine
Value) of 41-43, to produce a soap that can be easily extruded and
stamped with industrial soap machines.

•IODINE VALUE:-It is a measure of the unsaturation of fats and oils

and is expressed in terms of the number of centigrams of iodine
absorbed per gram of test sample.
•This parameter is also used to predict the soap hardness. A fatty
matter with an High Iodine Value gives a soft soap, while a Fatty
Matter with a Low Iodine Value gives an hard soap.
 Raw Materials….
In both cases (Cold Process and Industrials soap manufacturing) it is
necessary to use a blend of fatty matters to mix the carbon chains and
obtain a soap with the best performances.
•For example
chains shorter than 12 carbons give a skin irritant soap, while
chains longer than 18 carbon produce a too soft soap.
• Lauric carbon chain (C12) produces foamy soap but with
limited detergent property.
• Palmitic and Stearic carbon chain (C16 - C18) produces soap
with very good detergent property but also too hard.
• Oleic carbon chain (C18.1) produce a soap with good foam,
solubility and detergency, but too soft and with a poor stability.
 Raw Materials….
lauric acid (dodecanoic acid -
C12H24O2)
palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid -
C16H32O2
stearic acid (octadecanoic acid -
C18H36O2)
oleic acid (9-octadecenoic acid -
C18H34O2)
PALM OIL
•Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the palm tree
cultivated in countries like
 Malaysia,
 Indonesia and
 West African countries.
• The pulp of the palm fruit contains from 30% to
70% of palm oil.
• Palm oil has an high melting point and a colour from
brown to red.
PALM OIL…
Thanks to its characteristics palm oil is the
most used oil in soap manufacturing.
In soap manufacturing Crude Palm Oil is used to
produce Laundry soap bars mainly in some African
Country.
To produce toilet soap noodles, Palm Oil is bleached,
refined and Deodorized; after these processes it is
called RBD Palm Oil.
TALLOW
Animal Tallow is obtained from the recovery of fat
tissue of cattle.

also sheep, goat and other animals supply animal fat

for Soap Manufacturing.

To be used to produce toilet soap, the Tallow must be

bleached and deodorized.
COCONUT OIL
•Coconut oil is obtained from the kernel of the coconut
fruit.
•This oil contains an important fraction of lauric acid.
•It is seldom used in oil blends with a percentage of
about 20%.
•Thanks to his foaming properties, the coconut oil is
widely used in cold process soap manufacturing, and
a lot of soap makers produce 100% coconut oil soap.
BABASSU OIL
•Babassu oil is obtained from the kernel of the seeds of
Babassu Palm that grows in Brazil.
•The properties of this oil are very similar to Coconut
Oil and PKO.
•In Brazil the Babassu oil is used instead of the
Coconut oil.
PALM KERNEL OIL
•Palm kernel oil (also called PKO) is obtained from the
kernel of the palm fruit.
•In term of characteristics, Palm kernel oil is very
similar to Coconut oil, since it has an important fraction
of lauric acid.
OLIVE OIL
•Olive oil is obtained from the fruit of the olive tree.
•The fruit contains from 20% to 60% of olive oil.
•Olive oil is expensive oil, but is an excellent edible oil
used in Europe and other countries.
•The inedible olive oil is used in soap manufacturing;
this soap is mainly produced with artisan system,
because 100% olive oil soap is difficult to be extruded
by means of industrials soap machines.
OLIVE OIL….
•In Middle East traditional Soap Industries
produce 100% olive oils soap using big kettles for
saponification.
•When the neat soap is ready, it is discharged on
the floor and after solidification it is cut by hand.
•After the cutting stage the olive oil soap is left to
dry naturally for weeks, before being marketed.
COTTONSEED OIL
Cottonseed oil is obtained from the seeds of
cotton plant.
This oil is present in many Areas of the
World, like India, China, Pakistan, USA and
other countries.
The seed contains from 25 to 40% of oil.
If refined the cottonseed oil is an edible oil.
A by-product of refining is the soap-stock
useful in soap production.
RAPESEED OIL
Rapeseed oil is obtained from the seed of
rape fruit.
This oil is also called Colza Oil.
It has been used as a lubricant for
machinery but in the recent years Rapeseed
is cultivated in Europe for the biodiesel
production.
RAPESEED OIL…
During the chemical refining the soap-stock
is produced as by-product.
Acidulation of soap-stock recovers the Fatty
Acids, useful for soap manufacturing, that
are used in soap industries as a part of the
blend for the saponification.
CORN OIL
Corn oil is obtained from the germs of the
corn.
This oil is also called Maize oil. It is used in
Food industry for edible purpose.
a Low grade of corn oil is also used in Soap
manufacturing.
CORN OIL
The germs contains from 40 to 50% of oil.

The biggest manufacturers of Corn Oil are

USA and China, but this oil is produced in
many other countries.
SUNFLOWER OIL
Sunflower oil is obtained from the seed of
sunflower fruit (yellow flower) cultivated in
countries like Russia, Ukraine etc.
It is used in Food industry for edible
purpose.
It is also used in cosmetic formulations as
an emollient.
 SUNFLOWER OIL
The seed contains from 20 to 35% of oil,
while the kernel contains from 45 to 55%
oil.
Sunflower oil is a cheaper option used in
handmade soap manufacturing.
SUNFLOWER OIL…
The seed contains from 20 to 35% of oil,
while the kernel contains from 45 to 55%
oil.
Sunflower oil is a cheaper option used in
handmade soap manufacturing.
PALM STEARINE & PALM OLEIN
Palm Stearin is obtained from the
fractionation of Palm Oil.
During the fractionation, the palm oil is
separated in two layers depending by the
melting points.
PALM STEARINE & PALM OLEIN…

The part with lower melting point is called

palm olein and it is liquid, while the part
with higher melting point is solid and called
palm stearin; this part is used in soap
manufacturing and produce hard soap.
SOAP STOCK
Soap-stock oil is obtained from the chemical
refining process of edible oils. /PHIBELA
EDIBLE OIL MANUFACTURING PLC/
During the refining process, the sodium
hydroxide reacts with free fatty acid of the
oil and give a soap-stock composed by soap,
water, fatty acids, glycerine, caustic soda,
pigments and oxidation products.
The colour is yellow/brown and becomes
dark when soap-stock is in contact with air.
SOAP STOCK …
The acidulation process is used to recovery
the fatty acids from the soap-stock.
Sulphuric acid is mixed with heated soap-
stock and the fatty acids are extracted,
(refined and bleached if required) and used
for soap manufacturing.
Depending on the process and the type of
oil, the soap-stock can normally includes
from 20 to 45% of fatty acids.
PFAD - PALM FATTY ACID DISTILLATE

•PFAD is obtained from Palm Oil refining

process.
•PFAD contains mainly fatty acids and other
impurities.
•It is a low cost raw material used in soap
manufacturing but also used in animal feed
and to produce biodiesel.
PFAD - PALM FATTY ACID DISTILLATE…

•If obtained from crude palm oil, the PFAD is

brown solid at room temperature and melts to
a brown liquid on heating.
•This type of PFAD is mainly used for
laundry soap;
• it needs to be bleached for toilet soap
manufacturing.
FATTY ACIDS
•Fatty Acids are organic acids derived from
Vegetable Oils / Animal Fats.
•Fatty acids are produced by the hydrolysis of
Neutral Oils; this process is well know with
the name of Splitting, where the Glycerine is a
by-product in the process of Fatty Acids
manufacturing.
FATTY ACIDS…
A process called Fractionation is used in
order to obtain different types of Fatty Acids,
each of which with the proper carbon chain
length.
FATTY ACIDS…
If available a Splitting Plant to process the
Palm Oil, the soap is produced from Fatty
Acids;
while if the soap is produced starting from
Palm Oil (and its fractions like Palm Stearin)
the glycerin is removed after the
Saponification Process.
Raw Materials - Numbers and Values

•Each fatty matter used in Soap Manufacturing

has proper chemical numbers, It is important
to know that the same fatty matter (i.e. Palm
Oil) can have different values, depending by
many factors: provenience, treatments and
other parameters.
Raw Materials - Numbers and Values..

•These are the most useful values:

A.ACID VALUE:-
•It is the number of milligrams of potassium
hydroxide required to neutralize 1g of Fatty
Acid.
B. SAPONIFICATION NUMBER:-
• It is the number of milligrams of potassium
hydroxide required to saponify 1g of
Vegetable Oil /Animal Fat.
Raw Materials - Numbers and Values..

C. IODINE VALUE;-
•It is a measure of the unsaturation of fats
and oils and is expressed in terms of the
number of centigrams of iodine absorbed per
gram of test sample.
Raw Materials - Numbers and Values..

• This parameter is also used to predict the

soap hardness.
• A fatty matter with an High Iodine Value
gives a soft soap, while a Fatty Matter with a
Low Iodine Value gives an hard soap.
Raw Materials - Numbers and Values..

D. TITRE:-
•It is the Temperature in degrees Celsius, at
which a raw material solidify.
Raw Materials
2. CAUSTIC SODA
• For Saponification and Neutralization
reactions, Sodium hydroxide (NaOH),
commonly referred as caustic soda, is used
in water solution with a variable
concentration.
CAUSTIC SODA..
• Caustic soda is sold in solid form (flakes,
pearls or cylindrical shapes) or in water
solution at 49-50%.
• Dissolution of solid caustic soda in water
generates an exothermic reaction in which a
big amount of heat is liberated.
CAUSTIC SODA..
• It is highly hygroscopic, and absorbs the
moisture, carbon dioxide, or sulfur
dioxide in the air.
• It is also highly deliquescent and absorbs
moisture to form an aqueous solution.
CAUSTIC SODA..
• Caustic soda is highly corrosive and very
dangerous for human contact. For this
reason it is strongly recommended the
use of rubber gloves and eye protection.

Density / Concentration of caustic soda

solution (in water)
CAUSTIC SODA..
• Caustic soda is highly corrosive and very
dangerous for human contact.
• For this reason it is strongly recommended
the use of rubber gloves and eye
protection.

Density / Concentration of caustic soda

solution (in water)
Density / Concentration of caustic soda solution (in water)

 TEMPERATURE
20°C 30°C 40°C 60°C 80°C 100°C
CONCENTRATION  DENSITY Kg/Liter
24% 1.2629 1.2570 1.2512 1.2388 1.2259 1.2124
28% 1.3064 1.3003 1.2942 1.2814 1.2682 1.2546
32% 1.3490 1.3426 1.3362 1.3232 1.3097 1.2960
36% 1.3900 1.3834 1.3768 1.3634 1.3498 1.3360
40% 1.4300 1.4232 1.4164 1.4027 1.3889 1.3750
44% 1.4685 1.4615 1.4545 1.4405 1.4266 1.4127
48% 1.5065 1.4993 1.4922 1.4781 1.4641 1.4503
50% 1.5253 1.5181 1.5109 1.4967 1.4827 1.4690
Fillers & Additives used In Soap Manufacturing

• Different types of Fillers are used in soap

manufacturing, mainly to reduce the cost of
the final soap bars.
• Fillers are used in Laundry soap bars, and in
some developing countries are used also in
toilet soap bars.
 Fillers & Additives used In Soap
Manufacturing…
• Some fillers can also improve some
characteristics of the soap; laundry soap
with powder fillers inside is little bit abrasive
or alkaline and can better wash the clothes.
• The % of the fillers is variable by the soap
manufacturer from 5 - 20% of the soap
weight.
Fillers & Additives used In Soap Manufacturing..

• Some fillers can also improve some

characteristics of the soap;
• laundry soap with powder fillers inside is
little bit abrasive or alkaline and can better
wash the clothes.
The % of the fillers is variable by the soap
manufacturer from 5 - 20% of the soap
weight.
KAOLIN & TALC

• Kaolin is an aluminium silicate clay mineral

also called China Clay. Talc, also called
"talcum powder" is a magnesium silicate
mineral.
• For soap manufacturing Talc and Kaolin are
sold in white powder.
KAOLIN & TALC…

• Kaolin and Talc are inert materials, which

means they take no part in chemical
reactions.
• they are also both insoluble in water, so
they do not dissolve.
• The talc is much whiter than kaolin; while
this last is much easier to disperse into
water than talc, which tends to sit on top of
the water.
KAOLIN & TALC…

• Kaolin is more used laundry soap bars, since

usually it is cheaper than talc, while for
white toilet soap, where whiteness is
required, the best chose is talc.
• Kaolin gives the structure to the soap, but
the most important function of kaolin is to
reduce cost of the final soap bars.
Soap Numbers and Values

• The mainly Values and Numbers of Soap are

the following:
A. TFM
• This is the most important characteristic to
understand the soap quality.
• This value is the percentage of Total Fatty
Matter inside the Soap.
TFM…

• The standard TFM for Toilet soap bars is min

76%,
while for Laundry soap:-
for grade 1----min 62
for grade 2----min 50
for grade 3----min 45
Soap Numbers and Values..

• Lower value of TFM are acceptable,

considering the quality decreasing.
• filled soap has a very low TFM, up to 50%
Soap

Genuine(pure) laundry soap:-

A laundry soap which in addition to moisture
may contain a small amount of substance such
as :- -couloring matter
-perfume
-optical brighteners
-preservatives
-glycerine or
-opacifires
laundry Soap…

Built laundry soap:-

A laundry soap which in addition to moisture
and moderate quantities of builders may
contain a small amount of substance such as :-
-couloring matter
-perfume
-optical brighteners
-preservatives
-glycerine or opacifires
laundry Soap…

builders:-
• Are added to soap to improve its
effectiveness under the condition of use.
• The action of builders is mostly physico-
chemical and comprise a series of effects
which result in more economic usage and
better cleansing action of soap especially in
soda ash.
builders…

Sodium substances commonly used as

builders are:-
• soda ash
• Sodium silicate
• Sodium phosphate
• Borax and
• Cellulose derivatives
laundry soap..

Filled laundry soap:-

A laundry soap which in addition to moisture
and moderate quantities of fillers may contain
a small amount of substance such as :-
-couloring matter
-perfume
-optical brighteners
-preservatives
-glycerine or opacifires
Filled laundry soap…

• Fillers are added to soap to increase the

mass of the product but do not improve its
effectiveness under the condition of use.
• Fillers are generally inert and are of almost
non-detergent character .
Filled laundry soap…

Substances commonly used as fillers are:-

• Clay
• Talc
• Starch
• Sodium chloride
• Chalk and
• Magnesium carbonate
Filled laundry soap…

• Soda ash and sodium silicate regarded as

fillers when used in large quantities.
Soap Numbers and Values…

B. MOISTURE
• This value in percentage represents the
quantity of water inside the soap.
• The standard value for Toilet soap bars is
15%, while laundry soap includes more
water inside.
for grade 1----max 26
for grade 2----max 28
for grade 3----max 30
Soap Numbers and Values…

C. GLYCERIN
• This value in percentage represents the
quantity of glycerin inside the soap.
• An amount of 6-8% is presents in semi
boiled soap,
• while full boiled soap usually has an amount
of 0.1-1%.
definition
FULL BOILED SOAP:-
• Full boiled is the term to classify a soap
produced with the separation of the
glycerin from the soap.
• Full Boiled soap is obtained by means of
Kettle Saponification or Continuous
Saponification with Washing Section. This
soap includes 1% of glycerin or less.
 Definition…
SEMI BOILED SOAP:-
• Semi boiled is the term to classify a soap produced
without the separation of the glycerin from the soap.
• Semi boiled soap is obtained by means of Batch
Saponification or Continuous Saponification of oils
and fats without Washing Section.
• The reaction between caustic soda and oils/fats
produce glycerin in a range of 6 - 8% and this
glycerin is not separated and remains in the final
soap.
 SEMI BOILED SOAP…
SEMI BOILED SOAP:-
• Until some years ago, Semi boiled soap was
considered a low quality soap and was used in
laundry soap bars, but in the last decade the
production of semi boiled soap increases and
today is using also in toilet soap bars.
• Semi boiled soap is cheaper that full boiled soap
because less working stages are required in soap
manufacturing.
Definition…
SWING SOAP:-
• In the last years soap industry started to
speak about SWING soap.
• SWING means: Soap With INside
Glycerine.
• At the end SWING soap and Semi Boiled
soap are two terms to indicate a soap
produced without the glycerine removal.
GLYCERIN….

• If required the Glycerin can be added to the

soap, a typical application is the translucent
soap.
Soap Numbers and Values…

D. FREE CHLORIDE as NaCL

• This value in percentage represents the
quantity of NaCl inside the soap.
• A very low value like 0.2% can be consider
acceptable in toilet soap,
FREE CHLORIDE as NaCL…

while for laundry soap the percentage usually

increase up to 0.8% or also little bit more.
for grade 1----max 1.5
for grade 2----max 1.5
for grade 3----max 2
Refining
 The Raw Materials used in Soap Manufacturing
can be saponified as they are in nature, but the
major part of time they undergo treatments for
many reasons:
• removal of impurities and free fatty acids
• color changing
• removal of bad odor
Refining…
The Oil Refining is composed by three
processes:
• Refining (chemical or physical)
• Bleaching (physical)
• Deodorization
CHEMICAL REFINING
• The oil is mixed with caustic soda (NaOH,
sodium hydroxide).
• The mixture is heated, stirred, then separated.
• This process removes free fatty acids in form of
soap stock, but also removes phospholipids,
minerals and impurities.
• For removal of alkali traces, oil is washed with
hot water.
 PHYSICAL REFINING
• Physical refining is a modern process to refine
palm oil by distillation at higher temperature
and under vacuum.
• This process replaces chemical refining.
• The free fatty acids, in form of palm fatty acid
distillate (PFAD), is a by-product that is
removed from refined oil during the physical
refining process.
 Bleaching
a.PHYSICAL BLEACHING
•The refined oil is pumped into a cylindrical vessel
with agitator called "Bleaching Reactor" and kept
under vacuum and heated by means of steam.
•The oil is mixed and treated with bleaching
earths that adsorb most of the colour oil.
•The mixture of oil and bleaching earths is
pumped through a filter (Vertical type of press
type) for separation.
 Bleaching…
•During the bleaching of palm oil, the oil comes
out from the filter and passes through heating
system, to destroy all the carotenoid pigments.
•The clear oil obtained is bleached oil.
•The bleaching level depends from the quantity
of bleaching earths used in the process.
•To increase the bleaching level, the bleached oil
is reworked in the bleaching plant. The physical
bleaching is used to produce RBD Palm Oil.
 Bleaching…
B. CHEMICAL BLEACHING
• The refined is pumped into a Chemical
Bleaching Reactor.
• Inside this reactor the oil is heated up to
over 90°C by means of a spiral
serpentine and is treated with air
bubbles for several hours (i.e. 5-6 hours).
• This is a batch and atmospheric process.
 Chemical bleaching…
• The bleached oil is not comparable with the
bleached oil obtained with physical bleaching
process.
• This process is used for inedible oils and the
bleached oil is used for laundry soap. To produce
white soap, it is necessary to use the physical
bleaching process.
Deodorization
• After bleaching the oil is practically pure,
but still contains small quantities of
original odoriferous matter
• The oil bleached by means physical
bleaching is pumped in the Deodorization
Plant.
• The oil is distilled at 240-270°C by means
of steam and, under pressure and under
vacuum for 30 - 60 minutes.
Deodorization…
• Deodorization removes odorous
substances, free fatty acids, and
molecules generated from previous
processes that give an unpleasant smell
oil.
• During the Deodorization process, the
peroxide value of oil is reduced down as
minimum as possible.
Deodorization…
•The obtained oil (or oil blend) is odorless,
tasteless, colorless and is ready for use in
Soap Manufacturing to produce white
soap.
Deodorization…
•After Refining, Bleaching and
Deodorization, the crude oil is transformed
in RDB oil (Refined Bleached and
Deodorized Oil).
•In Soap Manufacturing this process is
widely diffuse for Palm Oil and their by-
product, like Palm Olein and Palm
Stearine.
Small Scale Soap Manufacturing System

COLD PROCESS;-
• This saponification system is generally used to
produce hand-made soap bars.
• The Cold Process uses the isothermal heat
produced by the mixing reaction of natural oils
with caustic soda solution.
COLD PROCESS…
•Usually the caustic soda solution is discounted,
to produce soap without any alkalis; this practice
is also called “super-fat” because the soap
contains a few percentage of oil in excess.
•It is useful to produce delicate soap for skin and
also special soaps that cannot be produced with
industrial saponification plants.
COLD PROCESS…
•The Cold Process is an easy system to produce
soap in small quantities, for this reason there are a
lot of soap-makers that produce soap bars, using
cold process system, mainly for hobby;
•it is also true that there are many companies that
produce hand-made soap bars for sale.
 COLD PROCESS…
•The soap produced by means of cold process is the more
natural soap in the world.
•Unlike the industrial process, the cold process produces a
soap without chemical additives or odd ingredients.
•This kind of soap is also used for skin cure and it can find
many applications for acne and other skin problems.
•Moreover, thanks to the low temperature of oils, this soap
contains many precious natural ingredients that are burned in
the industrial soap manufacturing.
 COLD PROCESS…
• To calculate the amount of Caustic Soda
and other parameters, you can use our
Soap Calculator for handmade soap.
 Raw Materials and Cold Process
RAW MATERIALS USED IN COLD PROCESS
• The raw materials used in cold process are
mainly natural vegetable oils and animal
fats.
• Almost all kinds of natural oils can be
used to produce soap with Cold Process
system.
RAW MATERIALS USED IN COLD PROCESS…

• Expert Soap Makers use oil blends composed

with many types of oils, to produce a soap with
specific characteristics like hardness, cleansing
and lather.
• These features depends from the Fatty Acids
carbon chains included in each oil.
•Essential Oils are used as fragrances and natural
colorants can be mixed in different ways to obtain
handmade soaps with a very attractive looks. 
 COLD PROCESS SAPONIFICATION
• Oils and caustic soda solution are heated up to
40°- 50°C.
• The oils before, and only in a second step the
caustic soda solution, are poured inside a
pot/drum where are mixed by means of electro-
mechanical blades, or also by hand.
• After the saponification, perfume, additives and
other ingredients are added in the liquid soap.
COLD PROCESS SAPONIFICATION…
• When the batch is ready, the soap is
poured inside plastic or wooden boxes,
where it becomes solid after a couples of
days or more, depending from the oils
specifications and from the quantity of
water used in the caustic soda solution.
COLD PROCESS SAPONIFICATION…
• When the soap blocks are solid but fresh,
they are cut manually or by means of a
wire cutter, to produce finished soap
bars.
• Before to be used, the soap bars have to
mature for few weeks; after that the
saponification process is really finished.
Hot Process
• The Hot Process is an improvement of
cold process.
• During the saponification, the pot/drum
is heated to speed up the reaction.
• Anyway the Hot Process, due to the
temperature, can damage some of the
precious properties of the natural
ingredients. 
 EXAMPLE OF OIL BLEND USED IN COLD
PROCESS
•Blend of 75% RBD soybean oil with 25%
coconut oil.
• The soybean oil is liquid at 20°C while, at
the same temperature the Coconut oil is still
solid.
• After the heating at 50°C both oils are liquid
and the oil blend is ready for the
saponification process.
Steps in the manufacturing of bar soap
Step1: into a container ,pour water and add caustic
soda to it , stir very well, and let the caustic soda
completely dissolve, and allow the mixture to cool
down ,since the reaction is exothermic;
Step2: into a different container ,heat up the oil to
the flash point , the add the previous
solution/step1/ into the hot oil ,stir for moment , to
obtain a homogeneous mixture , until the oil and
water separation is no longer visible from your eyes;
 Steps in the manufacturing of bar soap….
Step3:
 take the solution in step 2, and pour it into a
mixture ,stir very well until the trace is obtained.
 The trace is the point at which soap has thickened and
blended enough to have formed a stable emulsion,
where the oil , water and caustic soda are at a point of
no return, and there will be no risk of separation
between ingredients , and this will produce good soap .
 The trace can be detected simply by stirring the
mixture , it will trace while stirring ,reason why it’s
called the trace.
Steps in the manufacturing of bar soap….
Step 4:
 After obtaining the trace , before the mixture
is completely cool down, additives like dye
and perfumes can be added , then the soap
mixture can be poured into molds according
to desired.
 Steps in the manufacturing of bar soap….
 NB: please note that caustic soda is not soluble
in oil , but it’s soluble in water , so it needs to be
dissolved in water first then mixed with oil.
 Also note there are two types of saponification
process , the hot and cold process.
 The hot process of saponification makes the
soap ready after 24 to 48 hours after the soap
mixture has been poured into the molds.
Steps in the manufacturing of bar soap….
 The cold process of saponification takes 72
hours or more to obtain soap , after the soap
mixture has been poured into the molds.
 The choice on the making soap process will
depend on how high is the demand , if the
demand is high ,then the hot process of
saponification will be suitable, for quicker
production.
Steps in the manufacturing of bar soap….
 Also note that ,while adding the mixture in step
1 into hot oil, make sure that bubbles are not
formed , in case there’re bubbles into your
mixture, use an alcohol , methanol or ethanol
to reduce the vapor pressure , this will make
the bubbles to go away.
 because presence of bubbles will create empty
spaces into your soap , and will make the soap
easily breakable while solidified, and that is not
good for quality of your soap.
 Manufacturing of bar soap
Ingredients:
• soap is made by the process of saponification.
The main ingredients into bar soap are:-
• Oil
• Caustic soda
• Water.
 Ingredients…
• Dyes and perfume can be added as additives ,
to a particular step of the manufacturing
process.
Basic ratio of manufacturing of bar soap:
Ratio suitable for vegetable and palm oil
Oil ------------------1 part
Caustic soda-------1part/3
Water----------------1part*3
 Manufacturing of bar soap…
NB: the ratio means that for the chosen amount
of oil,
• The amount of caustic soda must be the one
third(1/3) of the amount of oil,
• And the amount of water must be three
times(1*3) the amount of oil.
 Illustration of basic ratios of manufacturing of bar soap

Illustraion 1:
Oil ------------------1 liter
Caustic soda-------0.333 grams
Water----------------3 liters
Illustraion 2:
Oil ------------------5 liter
Caustic soda-------1.667 grams
Water----------------15 liters
 Illustration of basic ratios of manufacturing of
bar soap…
Illustraion 3:
Oil ------------------15 liters
Caustic soda-------5nkg
Water----------------45 liters
 Preparation of soap
SAP Calculation
 First Lye Calculation
Eg. So, let’s say our first recipe looks like this:
30% coconut oil
30% lanolin
40% castor oil

We have a nice new mould and we know that it

fits a batch of 730 grams of oils
SAP Calculation …

• first task is to find out how much of

each oil we need for our 730g
batch.
SAP Calculation …

• first task is to find out how much of

each oil we need for our 730g
batch.
SAP Calculation …

• To get the weight of each individual

oil we’ll multiply each percentage
by 730.
SAP Calculation …

• To get the weight of each individual

oil we’ll multiply each percentage
by 730.
Saponification Chart

30% = 30/100 = 0.3

 Saponification Chart…

 Now we need a saponification chart. A

saponification chart is a list of oils and
fats and their respective SAP
(saponification) values
 on technical data sheets saponification values are
expressed as milligrams of KOH per gram of oil.
They tell you how many milligrams of potassium
hydroxide you will need to fully saponify one
gram of a particular oil.
 Saponification Chart…

saponification values for oils vary

depending on factors such as:-
o growing conditions, 
o varietals,
o extraction method etc
Lye calculation

• We are making bar soap so from

the chart above let’s pick out the
NaOH values for our chosen oils
and add them to our table
Lye calculation…

• Then it’s time to multiply our

SAP values by our oil weights to
get the amount of NaOH needed
to saponify each of our oils
Lye calculation…
 What is Superfat?

 The superfat in a soap is

unsaponified oil (fatty acid)
remaining after saponification is
complete.
 In cleaning and laundry soap we don’t want
any unsaponified oil, but in skincare soap we
want superfat – for two resons:
 Super fat…

1. Unsaponified oil in soap helps

condition skin by adding oils instead
of the natural skin oils that get
washed off by the soap. It makes the
soap more conditioning while making
it less cleansing. It also inhibits lather
to some extent.
Super fat…
2. A slight surplus of oil gives us a
safety margin in our lye calculation. To
make sure that we never end up with
an excess of lye, e.g. due to slight
measurement errors, we allow for a
slight surplus of oil instead.
 Super fat…

. So, in order to be left with some

unsaponified oil in our soap we
discount the lye.
 Super fat…

• . In our recipe we want to allow for

a 5% superfat. A 5% superfat means
a 5% lye discount, i.e. we will use
100% – 5% = 95% of our lye
 Super fat…

• . In our recipe we want to allow for

a 5% superfat. A 5% superfat means
a 5% lye discount, i.e. we will use
100% – 5% = 95% of our lye
 Super fat…

• To make this recipe with a 5%

superfat I need 89 grams of sodium
hydroxide
 Let’s recap

1. . You multiply the weight of each oil in your formula

with its respective NaOH saponification coefficient. This
gives you the amount of NaOH needed to saponify that
particular oil.
2. You then add up all the NaOH amounts to get the total
amount of NaOH needed to fully saponify all the oils in
the formula.
3. Finally you discount the total NaOH amount by your
superfat percentage of choice – and round down the
resulting number to a unit you can weigh on your scale.
 Super fat…

. Exercise
Now that we know how this works, let’s try
another recipe. Again, I recommend that you
don’t try to make this recipe at home; it’s only
formulated to illustrate lye calculation – not to
make great soap
 Super fat…
. For this bar soap recipe we are planning a total oil weight of
3270g with the following oils and proportions:
 13% beef tallow
 22% beeswax
  7% shea butter
 31% stearic acid
 15% lard
 12% cocoa butter

and a superfat of 8%
 Instead of going through all the steps separately, let’s just look
at the full calculation here
 Super fat…

Exercise 2/
A final example. Here we know our individual
oil weights and we want to do a 3% superfat
 100g olive oil
 250g avocado oil
 250g grape seed oil
 200g sunflower oil
 200g soy bean oil
 Super fat…

Exercise 2/
A final example. Here we know our individual
oil weights and we want to do a 3% superfat
 100g olive oil
 250g avocado oil
 250g grape seed oil
 200g sunflower oil
 200g soy bean oil
 Super fat…

. With a 3% superfat this recipe

requires 129g of NaOH
 What about the water?

• Soap is made by saponifying oils

with lye. In order for lye and oil to
combine lye crystals need to be
dissolved in water. The water
activates the lye and makes the
saponification reaction possible.
 What about the water?

The amount of water necessary to

facilitate the saponification reaction is
equal weight to lye.
I.e. our example recipe above which requires
129g NaOH would require a minimum of 129g
water.
 What about the water?...

• Less water than that and we risk

that the lye crystals don’t fully
dissolve. This may leave our soap
with pockets of unsaponified lye
and we want to avoid that.
 What about the water?...

• The upper limit is a little more fluid

but in general when making
coldprocess soap you don’t want to
go higher than three times the
weight of the lye.
So the water range is from 1:1 water:lye to 3:1
water:lye.
 calculation
1.(amount of fat)x(saponification value of the
fat)=(amount of lye)

2. (amount of lye)÷0.3=(total weight of lye

water solution)

3. (total weight of lye water solution)-(amount

of lye)=(amount of water)