Sweet almond oil vs apricot kernel oil in soap
Apricot kernel oil is much like sweet almond oil, with a little less oleic acid and a little more linoleic, and it is used the same way, as a minor share. Faiola keeps it to 15 % and Cable to 10 %; both find more gives a soft bar that does not hold up in the shower. It takes 2.6 % less lye, and a swap in the bar below leaves the superfat at 4.7 %.
Almond Oil (Sweet Almond Oil) Apricot Kernel Oil Compare them with other oils
The published figures
| Sweet almond oil | Apricot kernel oil | |
|---|---|---|
| Saponification value, mg KOH/g | 183–207 | 185–195 |
| Used by the calculator, mg KOH/g | 195.0 (midpoint) | 190.0 (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH, g/g | 0.1390 | 0.1354 |
| Iodine value, g I₂/100 g | 85–109 | 90–115 |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 98 | 88 |
| Melting point, °C | — | — |
| Unsaponifiable matter, % | ≤ 2 | ≤ 1 |
| Name on a soap label | Sodium Almondate | Sodium Apricot Kernelate |
Each oil alone
| Sweet almond oil | Apricot kernel oil | Usual range | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 8 | 10 | 29–54 |
| Cleansing | 0 | 2 | 12–22 |
| Conditioning | 94 | 91 | 44–69 |
| Bubbly lather | 0 | 2 | 14–46 |
| Creamy lather | 8 | 9 | 16–48 |
A single oil’s hardness, cleansing and the rest are the same sums the calculator shows for a recipe, applied to that one oil. They explain what the oil brings to a blend; they do not predict how a soap of only that oil would feel.
Swapping one for the other
Gram for gram, apricot kernel oil takes 2.6 % less lye than sweet almond oil. For a kilogram of oil at a 5 % superfat, that is 132.1 g of sodium hydroxide for sweet almond oil and 128.7 g for apricot kernel oil.
In the bar below, where it is 15 % of the oils, weigh the lye for one and put in the other without recalculating, and the superfat moves:
| Lye weighed for | Oil used | Superfat |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet almond oil | Apricot kernel oil | 4.7 %barely moves |
| Apricot kernel oil | Sweet almond oil | 5.3 %barely moves |
The superfat is the share of the oils the lye leaves unsaponified, planned here at 5 %; below zero, there is more lye than the oils can take. Put the oil you actually have in the lye calculator and it works out the lye for that oil.
The same bar with either
The bar: 15 % of the one or the other, at a 5 % superfat, for 1,000 g of oils. The rest: 40 % olive oil, 25 % coconut oil, and 20 % shea butter.
| With sweet almond oil | With apricot kernel oil | Usual range | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium hydroxide, g | 139.5 | 139.0 | |
| Hardness | 37 | 37 | 29–54 |
| Cleansing | 17 | 17 | 12–22 |
| Conditioning | 60 | 59 | 44–69 |
| Bubbly lather | 17 | 17 | 14–46 |
| Creamy lather | 20 | 20 | 16–48 |
| Iodine value | 61 | 62 | 41–70 |
| INS | 145 | 143 | 136–165 |
| Linoleic and linolenic acid, % | 10.6 | 11.1 |
Open the bar with sweet almond oil Open the bar with apricot kernel oil
Fatty-acid profile
| Fatty acid | Sweet almond oil | Apricot kernel oil | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Myristic acid | C14:0 | 0.1 (0–0.1) | 1.5 (≤ 1.5) |
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 | 6.5 (4–9) | 6.5 (3–10) |
| Palmitoleic acid | C16:1 | 0.5 (0.2–0.8) | 1.5 (≤ 1.5) |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 | 1.5 (0–3) | 2.3 (0.5–4) |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 69.0 (62–76) | 62.0 (54–70) |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 25.0 (20–30) | 27.5 (20–35) |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 0.3 (0–0.5) | 1.0 (≤ 1) |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 | 0.3 (0–0.5) | 0.5 (≤ 0.5) |
| Gadoleic acid | C20:1 | 0.2 (0–0.3) | 0.5 (≤ 0.5) |
| Behenic acid | C22:0 | 0.1 (0–0.2) | 0.5 (≤ 0.5) |
The figure the calculator uses for each oil, as a percentage of its fatty acids, with the published range in brackets.
Recipes with sweet almond oil
- Lemongrass and cedar camp soap 20 % of the oils
- Almond and oat exfoliating bar 15 % of the oils
- Almond milk and oat bar 15 % of the oils
- Stearic acid shaving soap 15 % of the oils
- Lemon, annatto and cocoa linear swirl bar 14 % of the oils
- Lavender goat milk bar 10 % of the oils
Recipes with apricot kernel oil
- Dandelion zebra-stripe bar 8 % of the oils
- Kukui and nut oil bar 6 % of the oils
- Nettle and yarrow split bar 5 % of the oils
- Shampoo bar for normal to oily hair 2 % of the oils
Guides
Other comparisons
Where these numbers come from
Almond Oil (Sweet Almond Oil)
Verbatim mirror of the FAO file CXS_210e.pdf; the official FAO link (https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/en/?lnk=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fworkspace.fao.org%2Fsites%2Fcodex%2FStandards%2FCXS%2B210-1999%2FCXS_210e.pdf) was Cloudflare-gated at retrieval. Table 1 (Section 3.1) = mandatory GLC fatty-acid ranges, % of total fatty acids, ND = not detectable (<=0.05%). Table 2 (Appendix 'Other quality and composition factors') gives saponification value, iodine value (Wijs) and unsaponifiable matter of CRUDE oils; the Appendix is explicitly ADVISORY (a product not meeting it may still conform). This print predates the 2021-2025 amendments; the 2024 additions (avocado, camellia seed, sacha inchi, high-oleic soya bean) are not included.