Unrefined Grade A Shea Butter for Soap Making

Recommended specifications for soap making

For soap making, saponification value, unsaponifiable matter and iodine value decide the bar; free fatty acid and colour matter far less than they do in cosmetics. SAP is the only recipe number here — copy the batch value from the COA into the shea saponification lye calculator. How to read the rest of the sheet is in the COA guide.

Why Unrefined Grade A shea butter suits soap making

• Literature saponification value of 170–195 mg KOH/g converts to an NaOH factor of about 0.121–0.139 (about 0.128 at SAP 180) and a KOH factor of about 0.170–0.195; use the batch SAP on the COA, not a table average.
• Unsaponifiables (4–11 %) survive saponification and remain in the bar as an emollient fraction — the reason shea bars feel conditioning even at 0 % nominal superfat; the same fraction softens bars and reduces lather at very high shea loads.
• Iodine value 52–66 marks shea as a low-unsaturation fat: hard, slow-to-oxidise bars with low orange-spot risk compared with high-IV liquid oils.
• Typical inclusion is 5–20 % of the oil blend; 100 % shea soap is workable but traces slowly, cures hard and lathers little — most makers pair shea with a lather oil.
• FFA tolerance is higher than in cosmetics: free fatty acids saponify directly. Grade A is still recommended because low FFA and peroxide value protect the cured bar's odour. EMI supplies Grade A only.
• Unrefined colour (ivory to pale yellow) and nutty odour largely disappear in saponification; unrefined is therefore the sensible, lower-cost choice for natural soap.

Stearic-rich fats accelerate trace when a blend sits above about 30 % butters — plan pour time, or discount water, rather than blaming the lot. The lye calculator does the arithmetic from the batch SAP. Pair shea with a lather oil if the brief needs foam; the hardness-versus-lather contrast with coconut oil is on shea butter versus coconut oil. Cure cool and dry; inspect for orange spots on bars stored warm.

Bench-test before scaling a recipe:

• one 1 kg test batch at the top of the intended shea percentage using the batch SAP from the COA;
• zap or pH check at 48 hours and hardness at four weeks' cure;
• lather assessment against the same recipe without shea;
• eight-week cure inspection for orange spots or off-odour on bars stored warm.

This page makes no moisturising or healing claims about the finished soap.

When to choose refined N-RBD instead

Refined N-RBD is only worth the extra cost for a white, fragrance-neutral bar base or a buyer specification that demands a refined free-fatty-acid ceiling. Refining changes nothing in the saponification value or the lye calculation. There is no refined-for-soap application page. refined N-RBD shea butter.

Supply format

EMI Agro loads at Apapa (Lagos) and Tin Can Island (Lagos). Packaging, sample size, minimum order, Incoterms and lead time are confirmed on the quote for the grade and destination you name.

Quality & traceability

Finished butter is specified on a NIS 571:2013 basis. Parameters in the table are measured on every finished batch; the Certificate of Analysis reports the measured values. Kernel lots are titrated for free fatty acid at intake and kept segregated. Kernels are wild-collected through a cooperative network of 5,000+ women collectors. Certification status: NAFDAC registered, SON approved, HACCP in progress, USDA NOP (Organic) in pursuit, EU Organic (EOS) in pursuit, COSMOS in pursuit. Detail sits on the quality page.

• Every finished batch is tested; measured values are reported on the Certificate of Analysis.
• Kernel lots are titrated for free fatty acid at intake and kept segregated.