Products

Soap Bases

Open jar containing soap base

A Legacy of Soap Base Expertise

At Vanguard Soap, our soap-making roots go back to 1943, when our family business began producing all-vegetable washing powders from natural soybean and cottonseed oils. Since then, we’ve continued to refine and expand our private label soap base manufacturing capabilities—balancing traditional methods with modern performance standards.

What is a Soap Base?

A soap base is the foundational formula used to create finished soap products. It typically contains a blend of oils or fats, water, and an alkali—such as sodium hydroxide for bar soap or potassium hydroxide for liquid soap—that react through a process called saponification to form soap.

Soap bases provide the core cleansing and textural properties of a final product. Once a base is created, it can be customized with fragrances, colors, exfoliants, botanicals, or active ingredients to suit specific performance, aesthetic, or marketing needs.

At Vanguard Soap, we specialize in private label soap base manufacturing, giving brands full control over the formulation from the very beginning. Whether you’re creating a sulfate-free body bar, an organic facial cleanser, or a glycerin-rich hand wash, we help you develop a base that aligns with your brand’s identity and product goals.

Types of Soap Bases Vanguard Produces

We produce both bar and liquid soap bases, including:

  • Traditional toilet soap bases (solid sodium soaps in noodle or pellet form)

  • Liquid soap bases for hand soaps, body washes, and facial cleansers (potassium-based)

  • Organic and natural bases with certified ingredients

  • Low-glycerin or high-glycerin bases for different moisturizing levels

  • Bases with sustainable oils or natural preservatives

We supply these bases to other manufacturers and use them internally to create high-quality finished products for private label clients.

Dropper dispensing natural oil used in private label soap base formulation

How are Soap Bases Made?

Soap is formed by reacting natural fats and oils with an alkali at high temperatures—a process known as saponification. For example:

  • Coconut oil + sodium hydroxide = sodium cocoate (solid soap base)

  • Coconut oil + potassium hydroxide = potassium cocoate (liquid soap base)

This controlled reaction breaks down the fatty acids in the oils, combining them with the alkali to form soap molecules—which are naturally cleansing and emulsifying. The resulting base can then be customized with a variety of ingredients to achieve desired performance traits like lathering, moisturizing, or mildness.

At Vanguard Soap, we take this process further by using our in-house kettle system to produce consistent, scalable batches of custom and private label soap bases. By managing the soap base creation from scratch, we ensure exceptional control over ingredient sourcing, purity, and final product characteristics.

Why In-House Soap Base Manufacturing Matters

Because we produce our own bases—using the traditional kettle process—we offer unmatched:

  • Cost advantages over manufacturers who only package finished soap

  • Formulation control to deliver consistent, targeted performance

  • Customization flexibility to match foaming, cleansing, and skin-feel goals

For instance, we can create a luxury base using olive oil, shea butter, coconut oil, and kokum butter that delivers a soft after-feel with enhanced emollience.

Infographic illustrating the traditional kettle process for custom soap base manufacturing, showing steps from mixing oils and alkali to producing finished soap

Ready to launch your next line of private label soap bases? Contact our team to explore your options, or learn more about USDA-certified organic production.

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Representative Base Offerings

Tallow/Coco Bases

  • ValPure© 85/15 TC Plus 85% tallow and 15% coconut oil, with increased glycerin
  • ValPure© 85/15 TC 85% tallow and 15% coconut oil, with 1% glycerin
  • ValPure© 80/20 TC Plus 80% tallow and 20% coconut oil, with increased glycerin
  • ValPure© 80/20 TC 80% tallow and 20% coconut oil, with 1% glycerin

Vegetable Bases

  • ValPure© 75/25 PC Plus 75% palm oil and 25% coconut oil, with increased glycerin
  • ValPure© 80/20 P/PKO Plus 80% palm oil and 20% palm kernel oil, with increased glycerin

NOP Certified Organic Bases

  • ValPure© Organic 50/50 PC Plus 50% organic palm oil and 50% organic coconut oil, with increased glycerin
  • ValPure© Organic 75/25 P/PKO Plus 75% organic palm oil and 25% organic palm kernel oil, with increased glycerin