Calculate ingredients in soap : the saponification charts

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In soap making, an acid ( oils ) is saponified in water by a base ( pellets of sodium or potassium hydroxide ) according to saponification values :

1) weight of oil  × saponification value  = weight of pellets
2) weight of pellets  ×  3.33 =  weight of  pellets + weight of water
3) weight of water = 2) - 1)

 For instance from saponification charts 1 weight of canola oil needs 0.13 pellets of sodium hydroxide to saponify ( or we say the saponification value is 0.13 ) , then we can determine that the weight of water to which pellets will be added is 0.30 :

1)   1 weight of canola oil x 0.13 = 0.13 weight of sodium hydroxide ( NaOH ) pellets
2)   0.13 weight of NaOH pellets x 3.33 = 0.43 weight of NaOH pellets + water
3)   0.43 - 0.13 = 0.30 = weight of water.

We see that the ratio of canola oil to NaOH pellets is roughly 7.6 ( ie 1 / 0.13 ) and water to NaOH is roughly 2.3 ( ie 0.30 / 0.13 )

More water, more or less heat will produce different pastes.

If potassium hydroxide ( caustic potash, KOH )  is used, the saponification value of canola oil is 0.18 instead of 0.13

If you want this soap to produce lots of bubbles you will need to mix it  in water and more glycerin : here is the formula.







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