Using real coffee in soap...

[vwerin]

Would that alone be enough for a coffee fragrance? I notice some recipes adding additional coffee FO...what's your experience/advice?

 

[dillsandwitch]

any fragrance the coffee has will be eaten by the lye monster. If you want a coffee fragrances soap I would use a coffee FO. Adding coffee to soap helps give it a nice brown colour and adding grounds is great for a scrubby soap. But please make sure it is a really fine ground as it can be very scratchy if its not a fine ground. Ask me how I know this....

 

[cinnamaldehyde]

Agree... the chemical reaction will get rid of most of the coffee scent. Using coffee as a liquid does lend a nice colour to the soap, though.

I like BrambleBerry's Espresso FO as a scent. I've found some other espresso/coffee scents to be rather chemical-ly smelling.

 

[Arimara]

any fragrance the coffee has will be eaten by the lye monster. If you want a coffee fragrances soap I would use a coffee FO. Adding coffee to soap helps give it a nice brown colour and adding grounds is great for a scrubby soap. But please make sure it is a really fine ground as it can be very scratchy if its not a fine ground. Ask me how I know this....

Just Adding: Another bonus of coffee soap is that it kills leftover odors from cutting onions and the like. It's the best kitchen soap to use after cooking. Also, you can get away with using instant coffee too and save the really good stuff for drinking. But that's probably just me being me.

 

[dibbles]

I second BB Espresso. And VERY finely ground coffee. I know how Dillsandwitch knows this!

 

[BlackDog]

Third vote for BB Espresso! It's terrific. My husband, who is a coffee hound, loves it too.

 

[vwerin]

aw too bad, I was really hoping the coffee alone would be enough. Thanks so much for the responses. I only get find grounds anyways, so it all works!

 

[jules92207]

If you weren't already convinced I like Espresso from BrambleBerry too. I just unearthed a whole batch I had boxed away probably a good year, or two ago, thinking the bar was too soft and it still smells nice.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

And when you add the lye to coffee you'll be glad that the smell doesn't stay! It will smell terrible to start with

 

[Arimara]

And when you add the lye to coffee you'll be glad that the smell doesn't stay! It will smell terrible to start with

That's especially true of beer. Oy yoy yoy, what a stink.

 

[Susie]

I save leftover coffee if I know I am going to be soaping soon. I pour it into a Ziploc bag that I lay flat in the freezer. If I know it is not enough, I add more over the next days.

 

[penelopejane]

If you weren't already convinced I like Espresso from BrambleBerry too. I just unearthed a whole batch I had boxed away probably a good year, or two ago, thinking the bar was too soft and it still smells nice.

Was it the recipe that made it soft or adding the ground coffee or liquid coffee?

 

[Susie]

It had to be the recipe. I have used coffee to color soap a long time, as well as using ground coffee for an exfoliant, and I have never had soft soap from any of it.

 

[penelopejane]

It had to be the recipe. I have used coffee to color soap a long time, as well as using ground coffee for an exfoliant, and I have never had soft soap from any of it.

Great, thank you.
How much coffee grounds would you use as an exfoliant? I don't want to end up with a soap the colour of a brownie, if possible.

 

[jules92207]

Was it the recipe that made it soft or adding the ground coffee or liquid coffee?

Yes, definitely my recipe. I was a fairly new soaper still. I've made plenty of other soaps with coffee without an issue. ☺