Coffee soap

[squyars]

So I thought I would try my hand at coffee soap. Used a very basic OO, coco oil and PO, then used double strength coffee instead of water. I know I read this someplace else, but pew, that stuff stunk when I started adding the lye. I pressed on, brought it to a light trace, then added coffee grounds, vanilla eo and heavy cream at trace. The sink dissipated, and I poured some lovely brown with black-flecked soap. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

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[SpanishlivinginUK]

Could you do this without the cream?? It sounds amazing! I bet the coffee grounds look lovely too


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[Crazy8]

I have done two batches of coffee soap successfully. Perhaps I may be able to help here. Before you make this, freeze the brewed coffee. That is why it stunk. probably got some bubble action too huh? You do want to double brew. Could even try triple or quadruple if you so wished. Anyways, you want to make ice cubes from the brewed coffee. Once they are frozen, then add lye to it small amounts at a time and stir. The lye will melt the cubes and not "fry" your coffee.

I have not heard of the cream thing, at least not at trace, so I cant comment much on that. You did add the grounds in right though.

An FYI. I can tell you that the coffee grounds are VERY abrasive. I would not use on delicate skin or sensitive areas. If you or someone you know has thick skin, it might be OK. I will be cutting my up smaller now to use as hand soap. Would work great for dirty grimy hands.

Tip: I have noticed that most of the time when ever replacing any liquid to be in place of the water, 9 times out of 10 (if not all the time) should be frozen before hand to avoid the lye from ruining that liquid, Whether it be tea, milk of sorts, coffee, etc. May not be a bad practice to do anyways, if its not water that is. This way just seems like a "safe" rout.

 

[squyars]

Yeah,I thought about freezing the coffee AS I was adding the lye and it started to stink. Definitely will try that next time. The cream was an afterthought. I had some, thinking it might cut down some of the harsh smell, and lighten the bar as well. I like the look of the bar, but I agree that it will probably be used for cleaning up grimy hands.

Any thoughts on replacing water with beer or hard cider to make a beer soap? I have read posts that talk about making it, but wonder if I should freeze the beer as well. What do you think?

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[Crazy8]

I have not made beer soap, and Im not sure I plan too. But based on the things I have come across, the beer must be flat. Either let it sit out for 24 hours or I think you can bring it to a simmer and let it cool. As far as beer soap goes, that's all I know. Beer must be completely flat, and again freeze into cubes. Hard cider I would say the same thing. If its carbed then make sure its flat and then freeze into cubes. I have often thought about doing this with my home made root beer that I make and seeing how that would turn out in a soap. I could just take it right out of the boiling pot to cool and freeze and not even let it carb.

 

[PinkCupcake]

I use fine-ground espresso grounds in my coffee soap. It's not as abrasive as regular coffee.

 

[Crazy8]

I may have to try that. That does make sense though.

 

[judymoody]

Increasingly, I am begininng to believe that freezing does not make a difference. There was a post recently (I think about goat's milk) that suggested it's the chemical reaction with the lye that is the main issue, not the temperature of the liquid. As was mentioned there, if you bring milk to a boil, it doesn't turn bright orange and smell like ammonia.

However, freezing will help you to avoid a volcano when you add your lye.

For beer and cider, I boil it briefly to get rid of the alcohol, let it cool to room temperature, and then add my lye a little at a time. It can froth so use a tall container like a pitcher.

 

[PinkCupcake]

I didn't freeze my coffee, although I put it in the fridge til it was cool. Even coffee that has been brought to a boil would make a good soap, it just would be very bitter to drink. But yeah, the coffee & lye mixture does stink! The finished soap shouldn't, though.

 

[Crazy8]

My finished soap barely had any fragrance to it. Not that this will always be the result, but yeah I was kind of hoping it would. Oh well, still a great soap.

 

[DeeAnna]

Judy -- I think it was Sistrum who suggested to just add the lye really slowly to the water phase, rather than freezing the liquid. It might be that making "ice cubes" out of the water-phase liquid is having the unintentional effect slowing down the rate at which the lye reacts with the milk/beer/coffee/whatever -- maybe that is the key, not the freezing of the liquid. ???

In any case, I tried a little different tack when I made a coffee based soap. I used very finely ground coffee, and passed it through a fine mesh strainer to catch any stray larger granules. The fine coffee powder I ended up with is still fairly abrasive, but not as much as if I had used a regular grind coffee.

I made a regular soap using milk for the liquid and with a little bit of white sugar. I added the ground coffee to half of the batter, poured that half into the mold, and poured the no-coffee batter over the top. The coffee layer is very dark, even with milk as the liquid. (I also added a cocoa pencil line to sharpen the contrast between the dark coffee layer and the creamy regular soap layer.)

The result is my "coffee break" soap. If the person wants to use the coffee half to scrub off oil or dirt, she can. Or she can use the non-coffee half if no scrubbies are needed. It actually is fun to use a soap like this -- kind of like two bars of soap in one.

 

[evilnurse]

Can't wait to see pictures

 

[gratia]

Eve frozen it will still have a stench. I make coffee soap on a regular basis with frozen coffee and in my experience yuck smell.

 

[DeeAnna]

Here's a pic of my soap, FWIW. I'd love to see the one Squyars made! The soap is scented with tea tree and lavender EOs. The tea tree is not overpowering or overly medicinal -- with the lavender to sweeten it, the result is a spicy herbal scent. I used the two EOs in this soap not only for the fragrance but also to be a mild antiseptic for those little cuts and dings I get from gardening or fixing things.

I textured the top of the coffee layer before I dusted it with cocoa powder and poured the plain batter over it all. I like how the pencil line undulates.

For those who are interested, I've added a pic of my photo setup -- simple, easy, cheap. If I was going to get a little fancier, I would find a medium colored fabric (or something like that) to set my soap on. The white posterboard does not give enough contrast underneath the cream colored parts of the soap. But for a quick 'n dirty pic, the white is acceptable.

 

[paillo]

Vanilla EO? Or was it an FO?

 

[Crazy8]

Beautiful picture and awesome simple photo setup. I am much inspired by both. That is just awesome.

 

[squyars]

Those are amazing! I only started making soap five days ago, so sadly mine are not going to look as beautiful. I plan to cut them tonight or tomorrow, and will try to upload a pic of them. Thanks for sharing your photo idea. Perhaps someday if I move beyond the beginner learning stage.

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[DeeAnna]

I bet your soap will look lovely! Please post a pic if you can....

Edit: I also have to add that I'm much more confident of my photography skills than I am doing "fancy" work with my soap. I enjoy the chemistry and engineering parts of soap making, but I feel rather overwhelmed with the artistic side of the craft. This coffee break soap is quite adventurous for me.

When I cut my soap batches, I'm amazed that the soap actually looks reasonably nice ... I never really expect it to turn out pretty. But it usually looks fairly nice at first and gets even nicer looking as time goes on. I'm fascinated by the changes in appearance as the soap cures -- the colors shift a bit, the texture evens out ever so slightly, the bars become more translucent. Pretty cool.

 

[Yooper]

Yeah,I thought about freezing the coffee AS I was adding the lye and it started to stink. Definitely will try that next time. The cream was an afterthought. I had some, thinking it might cut down some of the harsh smell, and lighten the bar as well. I like the look of the bar, but I agree that it will probably be used for cleaning up grimy hands.

Any thoughts on replacing water with beer or hard cider to make a beer soap? I have read posts that talk about making it, but wonder if I should freeze the beer as well. What do you think?

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I use beer or wine to make soap. It's fine, but you want to de-carbonate it. I just pour the beer into a saucepot and bring it to a boil. That condenses it, decarbonates it, and also boils off the alcohol. I've done it with flat beer, without boiling as well, at it worked out fine.

I've never frozen the beer. Stout makes a coffee-colored soap, while light beers make a tan-ish soap.

I did a tallow oatmeal stout bar that was awesome a while back! I ground up the flaked oats in the coffee grinder to make it non abrasive.

 

[DeeAnna]

Or you can use baby oatmeal if you want a very fine powder that isn't abrasive.