Basic Soap Recipe

Basic Soap Bars

A Basic Soap Recipe can be made with just one oil or fat. You may want to use several oil combinations to enhance your soap attributes and properties. 

For example you may want to increase the lather, moisturizing ability or hardness of the soap bar.  Here is a Basic Soap that uses 3 oils to help achieve those results.

Basic Soap Recipe:

1. Oils  

a. Olive Oil XX%............8.40 oz.

b. Coconut Oil-XX%…....6.40 oz.

c. Canola Oil XX% .........5.20 oz.

Three Oils Total=100% = 20.0 oz.

 2.Lye Amount............................................................................2.95 oz.  

 3.H20 Amount...........................................................................6.88 oz.

This Basic Soap recipe calls for three oils: Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Canola Oil. The Olive Oil is the majority oil at XX%. It makes a harder soap bar and is moisturizing to the skin. The second oil used is Coconut Oil at XX%. This oil makes a harder bar and will make a very nice lather.  The third oil used is Canola Oil at XX%. It makes a soft bar and a more creamy soap lather.


Basic Soap Recipe by the numbers

With our combination of oils we have a soap bar with the hardness of 34. The cleansing capabilities are at 21. The conditioning quality is at 61. The bubbly factor is at 21. The creamy number is 13. Iodine is at 68. The INS number is at 141. So what do all these numbers mean?

Well there are seven soap qualities to look for in a soap. When using different oils you will come up with different soap quality numbers.

7 Soap Attributes (Optimal Range per category)

Generally the 7 Soap Attributes have an optimal range in each category.  These range numbers are from the soap-calc.

1 Hardness. Optimal range is between (29 – 54). The higher the number the harder the soap bar will be. Our basic soap is at (34) which is good and within range.

2. Cleansing. Best range is between (12 – 22). The lower the number the more mild the soap. Our basic soap number is (21) and that’s good, it is at the higher end but still within range. Other soaps may be more mild than our basic soap.

3. Conditioning. Optimal range is between (44 – 69). The higher the number the more soothing and softening to your skin. We have a number of (61) which is on the higher end of the acceptable range. This is really good. Our basic soap will be more soft and soothing to the skin.

4. Bubbly. Best range is between (14 – 46). Higher numbers in this category equate to more bubbly lather. Our Bubbly number is (21). This is on the lower end of the lather scale but still within the acceptable range.

5. Creamy. The best range is between (16 – 48). The higher the number the more lather you will have. Our basic soap Creamy number is (13). This is not within the range. But there will still be lather just not massive amounts of it. If the number was (0) then it would be safe to say there would be no lather.

6. Iodine. The range here is anything (under 70). If your number is (under 70) the soap will not go rancid. Our basic soap number is at (68). That’s close to the cutoff but still within range so our soap will not go rancid.

7. INS. The best range here is between (136 – 165). The lower the number the more moisturizing the soap will be to your skin. We have the number (141). This is on the lower end and that’s great. Our basic soap recipe bar will be a moisturizing bar.