Vanilla flavored coffee in mp soap

[jarofdreams]

Hello, I just finished my (hopefully) last batch of mp for the holidays and realized I may have been hasty in choosing ingredients. I found recipes for adding coffee grounds to mp soap, and I got a bag of World Market Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ground Coffee: 12 oz. World Market® Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ground Coffee

The description for the coffee says "we added a hint of flavor subtle enough to allow the coffee's character to shine through," and the ingredients say "Coffee, Natural & Artificial Flavors." It probably has vanilla extract in it, and possibly other unknown flavors. There shouldn't be any alcohol in it from the vanilla extract, since this is a dry product, and it melted and poured perfectly. But I'm not sure how the additives will affect the final product or if they'll will be a concern for sensitive skin. The recipes for coffee mp soap don't specify any specific type of coffee.

I'll definitely try it on myself and update this thread with how it goes, but I wanted to see if anyone here has any wisdom in advance. It smelled really good when I was making it! I added peru balsam essential oil too. I'm expecting it to be fine, but if not I guess it'll be good for making dresser drawers smell good.

 

[AliOop]

How much coffee did you add? And how fine were the grounds? Coffee grounds are pretty scrubby, so it's less about the type of coffee, than the fineness of the grind, and the amount used PPO.

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

I've only ever used USED coffee grounds in my MP soap. In many of the gardener's soap recipes on here, people use very FINE coffee grounds. They grind them up even smaller and even sift it through a sieve.

 

[jarofdreams]

@AliOop @CreativeWeirdo Ohh, this is why you should always consult soapmakingforum.com before following recipes from the wild wild web. I wanted to use fresh coffee grounds to get more color, but I do take a less-is-more approach to additives, so there is only the thinnest of layers of coffee grounds. It feels rough when lathering in the hands, but the grounds are sparse enough to not be rough when washing your skin with your hands, unless you apply the bar directly to your skin.

I might tell the recipients to trim off the layer of grounds if it's too rough for them. Or it could be used as a foot scrub. It smells so good, and my hands are not reacting negatively to the ingredients. Next time I will grind the grounds smaller though for sure!

 

[AliOop]

That sounds like a good plan. Or you can tell them it is a double-sided bar: one is scrubby (for feet, or gardener/mechanic hands), and the other is for regular washing.

I actually put coffee grounds (fresh or used) in one of my salt soaps. It's wonderful for removing odors after chopping garlic, onions, etc.