Waxes

Beeswax (yellow / white)

INCI Cera Alba. Also: Cera flava (yellow beeswax), Cera alba (white beeswax), Yellow wax, White wax, INS 901.

Calculate a 100 % Beeswax (yellow / white) bar

Published values

Saponification value	87–104 mg KOH/g
Used by the calculator	95.5 mg KOH/g (midpoint)
SAP for NaOH	0.0681 g/g
Iodine value	—
INS (SAP − IV)	—
Melting point	62–65 °C
Unsaponifiable matter	—

A bar made of 100 % Beeswax (yellow / white)

Hardness 0 below 29–54

Cleansing 0 below 12–22

Conditioning 0 below 44–69

Bubbly lather 0 below 14–46

Creamy lather 0 below 16–48

Conventional qualities summed from the fatty-acid groups; a single-oil bar is a reference point, not a recipe.

Fatty-acid profile

Fatty acid		Published range, %	Used
This is a true wax — esters of long-chain acids and alcohols rather than a triglyceride — so a fatty-acid profile in the soapmaking sense does not describe it.

Where these numbers come from

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), FAO — Beeswax (INS 901) - specifications monograph, revised at the 65th JECFA (2005), published in FNP 52 Add 13 (2005) · document dated 2005 · read 2026-09-20

Melting range 62-65 C; acid value 17-24; peroxide value NMT 5; saponification value 87-104; glycerol and other polyols NMT 0.5%; lead NMT 2 mg/kg.

JECFA (FAO/WHO) — Chemical and Technical Assessment (CTA), 65th JECFA: Beeswax (P.M. Kuznesof; reviewed D.B. Whitehouse) · document dated 2005 · read 2026-09-20

Composition: free fatty acids 12-14% (C24-C32), free primary alcohols ~1% (C28-C35), linear wax mono-/hydroxy-monoesters 35-45% (C40-C48), complex wax esters 15-27%, odd-numbered hydrocarbons 12-16% (C27-C33). Ester value 72-79 (cited from FCC 5th ed.).

United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP 29-NF 24 text as mirrored at pharmacopeia.cn) — USP 29-NF 24 (2006), NF Monographs: White Wax (Official January 1, 2007), page 3458 · document dated 2007-01-01 · read 2026-09-20

Mirror site hosting the USP 29-NF 24 text; values transcribed from that page. Newer USP editions may differ.

United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP 29-NF 24 text as mirrored at pharmacopeia.cn) — USP 29-NF 24 (2006), NF Monographs: Yellow Wax (Official January 1, 2007), page 3459 · document dated 2007-01-01 · read 2026-09-20

Mirror site hosting the USP 29-NF 24 text; values transcribed from that page. Newer USP editions may differ.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan (Japanese Pharmacopoeia, 18th Edition, English version) — JP XVIII, Crude Drugs and Related Drugs (official monographs) · document dated 2021-06-07 · read 2026-09-20

JP XVIII 'Yellow Beeswax' (Cera Flava) and 'White Beeswax' (Cera Alba): acid value 5-9 or 17-22; saponification value 80-100; melting point 60-67 C.

Gustav Heess GmbH (oil producer/refiner), product specification sheet — Product Specification: Beeswax white Ph. Eur. 12 (Reg-No. Sp502031k) · document dated 2026-07-29 · read 2026-09-20

Beeswax is a WAX (esters of C24-C34 alcohols with palmitic/15-hydroxypalmitic/oleic acids, ~12-16 % hydrocarbons, ~12-14 % free C24-C32 fatty acids), not a triglyceride: only the free acids react readily with lye at soap-making temperatures, the wax esters saponify slowly, so it contributes little soap and is used mainly as a hardener/thickener. SAP 87-104 mg KOH/g, melting range 62-65 C, acid value 17-24 and peroxide NMT 5 from the JECFA specification (65th JECFA, 2005). USP 29-NF 24 'White Wax'/'Yellow Wax': melting range 62-65 C, acid value 17-24, ester value 72-79 (SAP = acid + ester value = 89-103). JP XVIII 'Yellow Beeswax'/'White Beeswax': acid value 5-9 or 17-22 (covers Apis cerana wax), saponification value 80-100, melting point 60-67 C. Heess 'Beeswax white Ph. Eur. 12': drop point 61-66 C, acid value 17.0-24.0, ester value 70-80. INCI: Cera Alba (white) / Cera Flava (yellow). No iodine value or fatty-acid profile is published in these documents.

This record is part of the open ingredient database (ODbL). Found an error or a better primary source? The dataset is on GitHub; corrections with a document link are welcome.