Have you ever had something that every time you used it you said (or thought) to yourself “aww yeah, this is the stuff”?
That’s how I feel when I use this soap.
It’s mild, it’s soft, it’s invigorating, and it’s not your average soap bar.
It’s SO much more than that.
It’s all the comforts of your favorite cup of coffee in a bar of soap.
But that shouldn’t be intimidating. Far from it! This is one of the simplest, easiest homemade soap recipes you will ever make!
Here’s a few things you should know about my soap recipes:
I like to keep things simple, and for that reason, I tend to use very basic fats. Different fats have a different affect on your final bar. Some make it soft, some make it hard, others make a frothy lather, or a stable lather.
That said, the saponification process chemically changes the oil into something completely different. That was a tough pill for me to swallow when I first learned about the different affects the different oils had, and that I would need to add corn or soy oil to my soap bars to counteract the hardness of the coconut oil in them.
Up until that point, I had been avoiding industrial cooking oils (soy, corn, canola) like a plague.
But soaping up with a saponified oil is far different from ingesting the raw oil, and so, my family benefits from a far softer bar of soap.
So having mentioned the soy, and coconut oils, the other main oil I use is olive oil.
An important thing to note about using coconut and olive oils in soap making, is that you don’t actually need to use the highest quality, most expensive oil on the market. Actually, the second pressing olive oil makes a higher quality bar than extra virgin, as does expeller pressed coconut oil. (You can read all about the best oils for soap making in the book The Soapmaker’s Companion)
The other two ingredients in this soap recipe are pretty obvious – you need coffee, to make it coffee soap, and lye to make, well, to make it soap.
So here goes!
Homemade Coffee Scrub Soap Recipe
Ingredients:
- 6 oz of hot spring/purified water
- 1 teaspoon coffee grounds
- 2 oz lye
- 5 oz coconut oil
- 5 oz olive oil
- 6 oz soybean oil (also known as vegetable oil)
Instructions:
- Tip: you will want a digital read out food scale for the most accurate results as using liquid measuring cups results in varying results)
- Mix coffee ground in water to make coffee and allow to cool
- Mix lye and coffee together until lye beads or crystals have dissolved
- Allow to cool again to between 120-130º (a great tool for instantly measuring your soaping temperatures is an infrared instant read thermometer)
- Combine oils and heat to about 120º as well
- When all your ingredients are relatively close in temperature, it’s time to mix them together!
- You can either mix vigorously with a spoon for as long as 45 minutes, or use a stick blender to pulse and stir – which should take about 5-6 minutes
- Either way, store until your soap mixture reaches a trace (you can read more about soap tracing here)
- Pour into molds, and cover
- Set your soap away in a safe place for a few days to let it set up and harden.
- After that, you can unfold your soap, and cut it into bars if you used a loaf type mold
- Put your soap back away in a safe place, and continue to let it cure for three weeks.
- That’s it! After three weeks, you soap is ready to use.
- Note: This is a cold process soap making method. You can read instructions here on how to make hot process soap, which can be used right away here (you can use these ingredients in place of the ones called for).
- Enjoy!
Recipes everyone can make!
Nourish your body with ingredients you already have in your kitchen!
Anna says
How much water to make the coffee?
Elise says
You’ll put the coffee grounds in the 6oz of water.
Jazmine says
I have a question can I switch the oils and will it turn out the same ? or do I have to use those specific oils for it to turn out the same way ?
Elise says
You may want to use a lye calulator (http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp) to be sure. Different types of oils affect the hardness of your bar (i.e. coconut oil = harder bar, olive oil = softer), so it’s helpful to have a formula.
Bernice Lawson says
How much does this recipe make? I have a 5 lb loaf mold.
Jamie says
I made this soap the other day and used a lye calculator so I ended up adding 2.20 lye instead of the 2 oz.
I lined the top with coffee grounds.
It’s been sitting in the mold for 3 days and honestly it feels so soft I’m afraid I did it incorrectly.
Laura Lopez says
Is there a good substitute for soybean oil?
Jane says
This was the recipe that made me want to try soap making for real with lye! It wasn’t my first batch because I didn’t have all the oils. It was probably my second and came to trace perfectly! I wanted to comment to help other newbies. I put extra coffee grounds in and it is too scratchy, stick with the recipe. I also tried smaller silicone individual molds and it was very sticky to unmold. Maybe try freezing them to unmold next time. Definitely there will be a next time! So mild and great creamy lather. Very nice soap. I tried another batch adding less grounds and coffee EO but the scent still isn’t strong. Maybe fragrance oil next time. I want the coffee smell to be as great as the soap is. Thank you for the recipe!
Elise says
So glad you liked the recipe!
Just a note: if you use scent oil, that can cause your soap to seize up very quickly, so make sure you add it last second and pour it into the molds.
Jamie says
Heating the oils in the microwave?
Elise says
yes, you can melt the oils in the microwave or over the stove. Whichever you prefer.
Jamie says
If you put it into individual molds , what do you suggest covering with ? Wax paper ok ?
Elise says
I would cover the molds with a towel for insulation.
Emily Tisdale says
I am highly allergic to coconut…can a different oil be substituted?
Elise says
You can use this lye calculator to calculate the volume of your replacement oil.
Laura says
Can you make this recipe with fresh goat’s milk?
Thanks!
Elise says
Yes, definitely! I like to make sure my fresh milk is icy so it turns less brown when I add the lye.
Jessica says
When using goats milk do you sub out the water for the milk?