Tonights Coffee soap~

[Trxflyer]

I was nervous at first because I didnt know what to expect and i didnt want to waste my ingredients if it didnt go right. I made my first batch and have been doing it the same ever since! There ARE a couple methods of doing it however...Some say to just use the freshly mixed HOT lye solution to melt the harder oils first but i found this doesnt work for me because i use cocoa butter a lot and it didnt produce enough heat to melt completely. So i pre melt my cocoa butter first (in a small crock pot) , then add my coconut, shea, palm. once warmed i add in olive and castor etc... add room temp lye last and presto! You can even make your lye solution the night before, set aside (in a safe place) and premelt and mix all your oils/butters (they will stay at room temp but wont resolidify unless its in a super cold location). The next morning you just add your lye to your oils and your making soap within a matter of minutes!

So if I'm understanding your description properly, your oils are actually warmer than room temp, its just your lye water is room temp? I've noticed that every batch of soap I make, I seem to go lower and lower with the temps liking the handling of the mixture and the outcomes better each time. I may just give the room temp method a try.........................

R&R - The two times I have tried soaping at cool temps (under 90*) I have had issues with stearic acid streaks in the soap from the palm.

How are you preventing that from happening? (In both cases palm was roughly 30% of the total oil volume.)

I was wondering the same thing. Stearic acid below 90 has been the bain to my low temp batches, my palm % is usually 25%-30% as well.

 

[DWinMadison]

here it is:

4 oz castor
7 oz coconut oil
6 oz olive oil
5 oz palm oil
2 oz cocoa butter
2 oz shea butter

I use 9 oz liquid (half water/ half cream)
3.611 oz lye.
3 tsp coffee FO
2 tsp vanilla select FO

1 TBS finely ground and sifted coffee grounds to bottom layer.
Notes: no scent added to the top layer and to the top layer (12 oz) I added 1 tsp titanium dioxide

Based on your photo, but cream looks like half & half. Is that correct?

 

[DWinMadison]

I was going through my inventory and noticed that I needed to make more coffee soap for the local espresso stand! This is what I made tonight. It's scented with coffee and vanilla. I only added the scent to the dark layer with the coffee grounds so it wouldnt turn the top brown. I also used 50% real cream in this batch. Coffee & cream anyone? lol...off to the next batch, thinking rootbeer float

Beautiful. Did you get all that rich coffee color just from the ground coffee? Had the coffee been brewed, or were the grounds dry/unbrewed? Did you use actual coffee liquid from brewing at all in your soap?

 

[cliff]

Dissolving lye

I added the cream (4.5 oz) in with my room temp oils and emulsified it with the stick blender, then added the lye water (4.5 oz).

Do you have problems getting the lye to dissolve completely in the water at such a concentrated solution (3.6 oz of lye in 4.5 oz of water)? I read somewhere before that there can be issues in lye concentrations over 50%; of course, I haven't tried it, so I'm curious.:-?

 

[Momonga]

**** the luck. I just peeked under the towel I had for insulation and was going to take a picture while it was gelling for you guys and the make shift lid i had on fell and marred the top of the loaf Grrrrrrrrrr... i hate it when that happens!!!! I do way too much peeking :-x

I'm a peeker too - I even bought special UV safety glasses so I can peek into my kiln at process temps. So I was going to say I really like that mold, which allows for a sneak preview! I'll have to look for one of those.

I am anxiously awaiting your response on the stearic acid thing, as I intend to do my soaping at room temperature too - especially now that you tell me I don't have to freeze my milk! What a pain in the rump.

 

[DWinMadison]

Thought I posted these questions earlier, but don't see them....BEAUTIFUL soap BTW...

1) From your pic it looks like your cream was half & half. Is that correct?
2) Did all that rich color come JUST from coffee?
3) Did you use dry, unbrewed ground coffee or coffee (as in the liquid substance)?
4) Can I have a double shot of soap please?

 

[RocknRoll]

So if I'm understanding your description properly, your oils are actually warmer than room temp, its just your lye water is room temp? I've noticed that every batch of soap I make, I seem to go lower and lower with the temps liking the handling of the mixture and the outcomes better each time. I may just give the room temp method a try.........................

I've done experimenting from having my oils slightly higher than room temp to actual room temp (with the lye being either at room temp or sometimes slightly cooler or warmer) ... neither makes a real difference. Its when you get into the higher temps 110 and above that the window for the unexpected broadens. Try it, theres less mishap that cold go wrong so taking the gamble of experimenting is worth it! this is of course only my humble opinion :angel:

 

[RocknRoll]

Do you have problems getting the lye to dissolve completely in the water at such a concentrated solution (3.6 oz of lye in 4.5 oz of water)? I read somewhere before that there can be issues in lye concentrations over 50%; of course, I haven't tried it, so I'm curious.:-?

Ya know, it hasnt really been a problem. I use a strainer to strain anything ( just in case ) and sometimes i will have a few undesolved or otherwise deformed looking lye in the strainer but no real amount that would make a significant difference. All the soap I have made using this method has been great so far. I guess the worst of it would be that my superfat percentage would be a little higher but its only at 6%.right now o i dont think i need to worry. At least I hope I dont! :shock:

 

[RocknRoll]

R&R - The two times I have tried soaping at cool temps (under 90*) I have had issues with stearic acid streaks in the soap from the palm.

How are you preventing that from happening? (In both cases palm was roughly 30% of the total oil volume.)

My palm is at 19.23 percent. Thats a good question. Did you melt your palm oil and mix it before you used it? I bought a 5 gallon bucket full of the stuff and just started to dig right in. I noticed that there was a difference in texture with the stuff on top. It was on this forum that i found out that i needed to melt down that entire batch of palm oil and mix it into a homogonized slurry. Now i have no problems with stearic streaks or stearic bumbs.

 

[RocknRoll]

I've said it before, but I want to live in your bathroom. I bet your entire house smells incredible!

lol thats what people say as soon as they walk into my house!

 

[RocknRoll]

Thought I posted these questions earlier, but don't see them....BEAUTIFUL soap BTW...

1) From your pic it looks like your cream was half & half. Is that correct?
2) Did all that rich color come JUST from coffee?
3) Did you use dry, unbrewed ground coffee or coffee (as in the liquid substance)?
4) Can I have a double shot of soap please?

1) the cream was added in with my oils first before adding the lye so the entire batch has cream throughout.
2) the coffee grounds were the only thing I added besides the fragrance oil. Im sure the fragrance oil had something to do with darkening the soap.
3) I used 1 tbsp of unused, dry finely ground coffee grounds from beans. I didnt use any actual brewed coffee. I didnt want to have to mix it with my lye.
4) sure!

 

[DWinMadison]

For clarification, was it full cream or half and half, and do you think it would matter?

 

[RocknRoll]

I have used either heavy cream or half and half. Both work well

 

[Pilar]

here it is:

4 oz castor
7 oz coconut oil
6 oz olive oil
5 oz palm oil
2 oz cocoa butter
2 oz shea butter

I use 9 oz liquid (half water/ half cream)
3.611 oz lye.
3 tsp coffee FO
2 tsp vanilla select FO

1 TBS finely ground and sifted coffee grounds to bottom layer.
Notes: no scent added to the top layer and to the top layer (12 oz) I added 1 tsp titanium dioxide

sorry for my english, I'm Spanish and I've read your post, I think a wonderful soap and my question is: hardness, bubby and cleasing not very high? Do you have already cut your soap and do you have pictures? how it looks? I see the superfat% is + / - 8% and 28% lye concentration, not? Another question is if the color is altered by the milk when you join with soda and if it would be better to dilute a Greek yogurt and colors and properties of milk would remain