Saponification Value Chart: SAP Values for 24 Soap Making Oils (NaOH and KOH)

Reference · SAP values · Updated 2026-07-22

A saponification value is the milligrams of potassium hydroxide needed to fully saponify one gram of a fat. Divide it by 1,000 to get grams of KOH per gram of oil for liquid soap, or by 1,402.5 to get grams of NaOH per gram of oil for solid bars. Olive oil sits near 190 mg KOH/g, so it needs about 0.135 g of NaOH per gram; coconut oil sits near 257, so it needs about 0.183 g.

The chart below gives the SAP value and both derived factors for every oil, butter and fat you are likely to put in a batch. It also explains the thing most reposted SAP charts leave out: these numbers are measured ranges, not physical constants, which is why two charts can quote coconut oil differently and both be right.

Master saponification value chart

Two entries deserve an asterisk. Jojoba and beeswax are not triglycerides - jojoba is a liquid wax ester and beeswax is a true wax, so they saponify only partially and their low SAP values reflect that, not a mild oil. Use them as additives, not as base oils. Everything else in the chart is a triglyceride and behaves normally.

The two conversion constants

The KOH divisor is 1,000 only because a SAP value is already stated in milligrams of KOH per gram, so the conversion is a unit change and nothing else. The NaOH divisor is that same 1,000 multiplied by the ratio of the two molar masses: KOH is 56.11 g/mol and NaOH is 39.997 g/mol, and 56.11 / 39.997 is about 1.4029. Soap making convention rounds that to 1.4025, giving 1,402.5. NaOH is the lighter molecule, so you always need fewer grams of it than of KOH for the same oil.

Worked example: a 2 lb batch

Take 907 g of oils (about 2 lb) split 60% olive, 25% coconut, 15% castor, made as solid bars at 5% superfat.

1. Weigh each oil: Olive 544.2 g, coconut 226.8 g, castor 136.1 g.
2. Multiply each by its NaOH factor: 544.2 x 0.135 = 73.47 g. 226.8 x 0.183 = 41.50 g. 136.1 x 0.128 = 17.42 g.
3. Add them up: 73.47 + 41.50 + 17.42 = 132.39 g of NaOH at 0% superfat. This is the full saponification requirement, never the amount you actually pour.
4. Apply superfat: At 5% superfat, multiply by 0.95: 132.39 x 0.95 = 125.77 g of NaOH. Round to 125.8 g on a 0.1 g scale.

For the same recipe as liquid soap, swap in the KOH column (0.190, 0.257, 0.180), which gives 186.2 g of KOH at 0% superfat. Liquid soapers usually run a much lower superfat, often 0 to 3%, because unsaponified oil clouds the finished soap.

Why two SAP charts disagree, and how much it matters

A saponification value is a titrated laboratory measurement, run under a method such as ISO 3657 or ASTM D5558, or calculated from the fatty acid profile by gas chromatography under AOCS Cd 3a-94, that reports the average molecular weight of the fatty acids in one particular lot of oil. Crop, region, harvest year and refining all shift it, which is why food standards including the Codex Alimentarius standard for named vegetable oils (CXS 210) publish SAP as a range rather than a single figure. Commonly cited ranges put coconut oil at 248 to 265 mg KOH/g and olive oil at 184 to 196.

So how much does the disagreement cost you? Coconut has the widest spread in common charts, quoted anywhere from about 0.183 to 0.191 g NaOH per gram. In the 907 g batch above, 226.8 g of coconut at 0.191 needs 43.32 g of lye instead of 41.50, a difference of 1.8 g on a 132.4 g total. That is about 1.4% of the lye, which reads as roughly 1.4 superfat points: your intended 5% batch lands nearer 3.6% or 6.4%. Real, but not dangerous, and inside the margin any superfat above 3% is already buying you. Palm kernel is the other genuine outlier: the reference ranges put it at 230 to 254 mg KOH/g (0.164 to 0.181 g NaOH per gram), yet some supplier charts publish figures well under that band, so cross-check palm kernel against a second source before you trust it. For the softer oils, where charts differ by a point or two rather than eight, the shift is a fraction of one superfat point and you will never see it in the bar.

202 oils with verified SAP values, on your phone. Soap Calculator: Lye & Recipe ships a 202-oil catalog with verified saponification values on device, so there is no PDF to re-download and no spreadsheet to transpose. Pick NaOH for bars or KOH for liquid soap, set superfat anywhere from 0 to 15 percent, set water as a percentage of oils, and the lye weight recalculates as you move percentages. Every oil carries its fatty-acid profile and its INCI saponified name alongside the SAP value. Download Soap Calculator: Lye & Recipe on the App Store.

Reading the chart safely

• Never run 0% superfat on a bar you will use. The chart gives the full saponification requirement. Take 5% off it for a standard bar, more for a high-coconut recipe.
• Check whether a number is the SAP value or the NaOH factor. A row reading 0.135 is a factor; a row reading 190 is a SAP value. Confusing the two by a factor of 1,000 is the most common lye-math error there is.
• Watch for named variants. Coconut 76 deg, coconut 92 deg and fractionated coconut are different products with different SAP values, as are palm kernel oil and hydrogenated palm kernel flakes.
• Weigh, do not measure by volume. SAP factors are mass to mass. A cup of oil is not a usable input.
• Wear the PPE. Goggles, gloves, ventilation, and lye into water never the reverse. The chart tells you how much sodium hydroxide to handle, not that it stopped being caustic.

How Soap Calculator handles this

Soap Calculator: Lye & Recipe does the whole chain in one screen: enter oils by percentage or by grams, choose NaOH or KOH, set superfat and water, and it returns lye weight, water weight and the seven predicted bar properties (hardness, cleansing, conditioning, bubbly, creamy, iodine, INS) with a fatty-acid ribbon that shifts live as you change an oil. When the recipe is right it generates an FDA-compliant INCI label in saponified format, prints to Avery 5160 sheets with lot numbers, and starts a Dynamic Island cure timer for the full four to six week cure. It works offline, with no account, because every SAP value is already on the device.

Frequently asked questions

What is the saponification value of coconut oil?

Roughly 250 to 265 mg KOH per gram, most often quoted at about 257 for standard 76 degree coconut oil. That gives 0.183 g of NaOH or 0.257 g of KOH per gram of oil at 0% superfat. Wikipedia's summary range for coconut oil is 248 to 265, and your supplier's spec sheet is the most accurate source for your own lot.

How do you convert a SAP value to NaOH?

Divide the SAP value in mg KOH/g by 1,402.5. The constant is the molar mass ratio of KOH (56.11 g/mol) to NaOH (39.997 g/mol), times 1,000 to convert milligrams to grams. Olive oil at 190 mg KOH/g becomes 190 / 1402.5 = 0.1355 g of NaOH per gram of olive oil.

Why do different saponification charts give different numbers?

Because a SAP value is a titrated laboratory measurement of a specific lot, not a physical constant. Crop, region, harvest year and refining all move it, so standards bodies publish ranges. A few points of disagreement typically shifts your total lye by well under one superfat percentage point, which is why superfat exists.

Is there a printable saponification value chart PDF?

Plenty circulate, and most are re-uploads of the same list with no NaOH or KOH conversion column, no purity note and no source. The table on this page carries both conversions, and Soap Calculator keeps 202 oils with verified SAP values on your phone so you do not need to find the PDF again mid-batch.

Keep reading

• How to Calculate Lye for Soap Making by Hand (and How Much Lye per Pound of Oils)
• What Superfat Percentage Should I Use? A Chart by Soap Type
• Soap Qualities Chart: What Hardness, Cleansing, Conditioning, Bubbly, Creamy, Iodine and INS Really Mean