Soapmaking 101

Lesson 8: Advanced techniques

Superfatting your soap

Most soapmakers superfat their soap. What does this mean? It means that some of the oils are left suspended in the soap (i.e. they don’t combine with the lye and saponify). This makes for a more moisturizing bar.

There are three ways to superfat your soap:

1. Use oils which have higher percentages of unsaponifiables. Oils such as Avocado oil and Shea Butter contain oils which will not combine with lye and will remain in your soap for a more nourishing bar.

2. Reduce the amount of lye in your soap (also called discounting the lye). This essentially raises the level of oil in your soap above that which is necessary to combine with the lye for saponification. The excess oil will not saponify and will be available in your soap for a more moisturizing bar. Most soapmakers superfat their soap by 5% automatically. Some superfat as high as 8%.

3. Add certain oils at trace. Adding more expensive and highly nutritious oils at trace, after most saponification has taken place, will results in these oils remaining in the soap. Add oils such as cocoa butter and wheatgerm at trace for dry skin bars. For each pound of soap, add about one tablespoon of warmed/melted oil.

Remember, too much oil in your soap could results in a bar that is too soft to use or in excess oil oozing out of your bar (not a pretty sight). Most recipes from books and on the web have already been superfatted at 5%.

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