Cocoa butter vs mango butter in soap
Cocoa butter is the hardener of the two, 61 for hardness on its own against mango butter’s 49, and it melts at 31–35 °C, where mango butters range from 17.6 to 34.3 °C with the variety. Mango butter is the one to use for feel rather than firmness. They take almost the same lye, so a swap in the bar below leaves the superfat at 4.9 %.
Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Oil) Mango Butter Compare them with other oils
The published figures
| Cocoa butter | Mango butter | |
|---|---|---|
| Saponification value, mg KOH/g | 188–198 | 185–198 |
| Used by the calculator, mg KOH/g | 193.0 (midpoint) | 191.5 (midpoint) |
| SAP for NaOH, g/g | 0.1376 | 0.1365 |
| Iodine value, g I₂/100 g | 33–42 | 32–57 |
| INS (SAP − IV) | 156 | 147 |
| Melting point, °C | 31–35 | 17.64–34.32 |
| Unsaponifiable matter, % | — | 0.94–1.9 |
| Name on a soap label | Sodium Cocoa Butterate | Sodium Mangoseedate |
Each oil alone
| Cocoa butter | Mango butter | Usual range | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 61 | 49 | 29–54 |
| Cleansing | 0 | 0 | 12–22 |
| Conditioning | 38 | 46 | 44–69 |
| Bubbly lather | 0 | 0 | 14–46 |
| Creamy lather | 61 | 49 | 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, mango butter takes 0.8 % less lye than cocoa butter. For a kilogram of oil at a 5 % superfat, that is 130.7 g of sodium hydroxide for cocoa butter and 129.7 g for mango butter.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cocoa butter | Mango butter | 4.9 %barely moves |
| Mango butter | Cocoa butter | 5.1 %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: 55 % olive oil, 25 % coconut oil, and 5 % castor oil.
| With cocoa butter | With mango butter | Usual range | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sodium hydroxide, g | 139.9 | 139.7 | |
| Hardness | 38 | 37 | 29–54 |
| Cleansing | 17 | 17 | 12–22 |
| Conditioning | 58 | 59 | 44–69 |
| Bubbly lather | 21 | 21 | 14–46 |
| Creamy lather | 26 | 24 | 16–48 |
| Iodine value | 58 | 60 | 41–70 |
| INS | 148 | 147 | 136–165 |
| Linoleic and linolenic acid, % | 8.4 | 8.3 |
Open the bar with cocoa butter Open the bar with mango butter
Fatty-acid profile
| Fatty acid | Cocoa butter | Mango butter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palmitic acid | C16:0 | 26.5 (23–30) | 6.0 (2–10) |
| Stearic acid | C18:0 | 34.0 (31–37) | 42.5 (35–50) |
| Oleic acid | C18:1 | 34.5 (31–38) | 42.5 (35–50) |
| Linoleic acid | C18:2 | 3.2 (1.6–4.8) | 3.0 (1–5) |
| α-Linolenic acid | C18:3 n-3 | 0.8 (0–1.5) | 0.0 |
| Arachidic acid | C20:0 | 0.8 (0–1.5) | 4.0 (1–7) |
The figure the calculator uses for each oil, as a percentage of its fatty acids, with the published range in brackets.
Recipes with cocoa butter
- Mocha swirl bar 25 % of the oils
- Cream and honey luxury bar 23 % of the oils
- Men's cedar and orange bar 20 % of the oils
- Rice bran and avocado bar 20 % of the oils
- Vegan hard bar 20 % of the oils
- Unscented chamomile bar 17 % of the oils
Recipes with mango butter
- Turmeric and honey bar 15 % of the oils
- Lemongrass and cedar camp soap 10 % of the oils
- Tomato and charcoal swirl bar 10 % of the oils
Guides
Other comparisons
Where these numbers come from
Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Oil)
Mirror site hosting the USP 29-NF 24 text; values transcribed from that page. Newer USP editions may differ.
JP XVIII 'Cacao Butter' (Oleum Cacao): melting point 31-35 C; congealing point of fatty acids 45-50 C; acid value NMT 3.0; saponification value 188-195; iodine value 35-43.
Five Venezuelan hybrid cultivars: palmitic 22.9-26.1%, stearic 34.7-37.3%, oleic 36.2-39.9%, linoleic ND-1.6%; iodine value 32.5-34.1; saponification value 193.4-194.9 mg KOH/g; melting point 35-36 C.
Mango Butter
Public.Resource.Org copy on the Internet Archive (linked from law.resource.org). Table 1, refined / raw grade 1 / raw grade 2: saponification value 185 to 198 (all three); iodine value (Wijs) 32 to 57; unsaponifiable matter max. 1.5 / 2.5 / 2.5 %; acid value max. 0.5 / 6 / 20; refractive index at 60 C 1.4394-1.4498. Foreword 0.3.1: major fatty acids oleic 33-53 % and stearic 24-49 %; "The raw fat can be used in soap making". Amendment No. 1 (October 1995) adds eco-mark clauses only.
The source of the fatty-acid profile: palmitic 2.0-10.0, stearic 35.0-50.0, oleic 35.0-50.0, linoleic 1.0-5.0, arachidic 1.0-7.0 %; no lauric or myristic acid is listed. Acid value max. 2.0; refractive index (40 C) ca. 1.460. No saponification value.
The source of the melting point (Table 1) and unsaponifiable matter (Table 2). Its saponification values (Table 2) and fatty-acid composition (Table 3) are recorded in the notes and not used.
Regulatory identity standard for the refined commercial product: saponification value 185-198, iodine value (Wijs) 32-57, unsaponifiable matter not more than 1.5%, butyro-refractometer reading at 40 C 43.7-51.6 (or refractive index 1.4550-1.4604). The same figures as IS 9231.