# Tonights Coffee soap~



## RocknRoll (Feb 20, 2013)

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


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## 2lilboots (Feb 20, 2013)

Looks yummy.  I can almost smell your soap here at my place....lol!


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## hlee (Feb 20, 2013)

Looks delicious.


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## Shannon_m (Feb 20, 2013)

Yum!! Want to share that recipe?? Lol


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## RocknRoll (Feb 20, 2013)

Shannon_m said:


> Yum!! Want to share that recipe?? Lol


 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


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## melstan775 (Feb 20, 2013)

Coffee and cream, amazing!  Did you substitute cream for water in the lye or did you add it at trace?


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## Shannon_m (Feb 20, 2013)

Yay! Thanks... I just might try that =)


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## RocknRoll (Feb 20, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> Coffee and cream, amazing!  Did you substitute cream for water in the lye or did you add it at trace?


 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).


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## melstan775 (Feb 20, 2013)

Excellent.  Can I ask how you did that as far as making your recipe? I'm so unclear on how to add to milk to oils. Do you need to account for it or is it considered an additive like exfolients are?


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## RocknRoll (Feb 20, 2013)

You have to account for it as far as discounting it from the total weight of your water amount. Let me ask first, do you soap at room temperature?


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## melstan775 (Feb 20, 2013)

Yes I soap at room temperature


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## RocknRoll (Feb 20, 2013)

Good! then just add the milk ( 50% of your total water weight) to the room temp oils, emulsify with the stick blender then after you have added in your scent and other additives then add your lye (with the remaining 50% water) last. Thats what I do and it works everytime beautifully :razz:

In other words if your recipe calls for 10 oz water... use 5 oz as cream/milk added to oils and the other 5 oz to use with mixing your lye. Make sure both oils and lye are at room temp to reduce burning the milk :shock:


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## melstan775 (Feb 21, 2013)

Awesome thanks! Now I totally want to try this, but since I didn't think ahead to freeze my goatmilk, I won't, not tonight anyway!   I am off to soap now though. Was going to, then wasn't because it got late, now am back to doing it because house is empty! If I use half an ounce of fragerence ppo, that's enough right?

Actually, I don't need to make it cold huh?  Well, I will skip it tonight anyway because I am trying fragerence and color instead.  Not too much this time. :-D


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## RocknRoll (Feb 21, 2013)

I use 5 to 6 teaspoons to 28 oz of oils. So ya, that should be fine. Depends on your smeller and how string you want it. You dont need to freeze your goats milk. I never do!


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## RocknRoll (Feb 21, 2013)

**** 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


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## Badger (Feb 21, 2013)

Sounds like what I would be doing, R&R!


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## RocknRoll (Feb 21, 2013)

I can never leave my soap just be. I hear of people "putting it to bed" and walking away. Not me lol. I sit there and stare as if I'm waiting for the very moment it starts to gell.... pop back onto the forum to see whats new... back to the soap, have a snack...back to the soap. These new molds arnt helping either because now its like I have x-ray vision and i wanna see whats goin on!

...now all I need is see through towels. :think:


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## melstan775 (Feb 21, 2013)

Take a picture anyway. :-D


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## RocknRoll (Feb 21, 2013)

Here is the gelled coffee soap... not as perfect as before with the blemish but thats the way it goes sometimes! :yawn:


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## melstan775 (Feb 21, 2013)

It looks lovely anyway. You coulda pushed the top back down, but oh well. homemade soap SHOULD have character!  I love your acrylic mold, do you find it holds up well? I have heard they crack easy.


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## RocknRoll (Feb 21, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> It looks lovely anyway. You coulda pushed the top back down, but oh well. homemade soap SHOULD have character!  I love your acrylic mold, do you find it holds up well? I have heard they crack easy.


 ha, you shoulda seen it before! the whole right side was caved in and i had to push on the other side to mush it back level. That clump wouldnt budge without me ruining it worse. All and all it looks good for what it went through! 

I find the mold to be holding up good. I baby it so i cant foresee it cracking unless im careless with it. But then again, ya never know. I'll keep ya posted!


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## melstan775 (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks. Do you spray or oil it in lieu of a liner?


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## RocknRoll (Feb 21, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> Thanks. Do you spray or oil it in lieu of a liner?


 no i dont do anything except for line the very bottom. its just easier to get the soap off that way. The bottom piece comes right off then i just have to peel the wax paper.


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## SpiralTouch (Feb 26, 2013)

Awesome! So the bottom layer is that dark brown from only coffee grounds/fragrance? No brewed coffee? Mine didn't turn out so dark, I really want to get that nice deep brown. Great job


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## RocknRoll (Feb 26, 2013)

SpiralTouch said:


> Awesome! So the bottom layer is that dark brown from only coffee grounds/fragrance? No brewed coffee? Mine didn't turn out so dark, I really want to get that nice deep brown. Great job


 Thanks! I added fragrance to the bottom layer. I didnt actually use brewed coffee but I did add 1 table spoon of coffee grounds. I also gelled the soap and watched it turn this rich brown right before my eyes. I believe gelling it is what made it this color.


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## SpiralTouch (Feb 26, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> Thanks! I added fragrance to the bottom layer. I didnt actually use brewed coffee but I did add 1 table spoon of coffee grounds. I also gelled the soap and watched it turn this rich brown right before my eyes. I believe gelling it is what made it this color.



Ah that makes sense then because I don't gel my soaps! What did you do special to gel it

I'm always afraid to lose the creamy white color if I gel.. But yours looks perfect


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## RocknRoll (Feb 26, 2013)

SpiralTouch said:


> Ah that makes sense then because I don't gel my soaps! What did you do special to gel it
> 
> I'm always afraid to lose the creamy white color if I gel.. But yours looks perfect


 I added TD to the top layer so thats the reason why it stayed white plus i omitted any fragrance from it too to keep it a creamy color. 

All I do is keep it on a small portable oil radiator for a couple hours on low and it gells that way. I have used a heat pad on low for about an hour and a half to two hours and that works too  Some people put it in the oven on a low temp but i havent tried that.


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## SpiralTouch (Feb 26, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> I added TD to the top layer so thats the reason why it stayed white plus i omitted any fragrance from it too to keep it a creamy color.
> 
> All I do is keep it on a small portable oil radiator for a couple hours on low and it gells that way. I have used a heat pad on low for about an hour and a half to two hours and that works too  Some people put it in the oven on a low temp but i havent tried that.



Can I ask how much TD ? Added at trace?


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## RocknRoll (Feb 26, 2013)

SpiralTouch said:


> Can I ask how much TD ? Added at trace?


 At trace I set aside 12 ounces of soap batter. To that I added 1 teaspoon of TD (premixed with a smidget of water) and mixed well


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## SpiralTouch (Feb 26, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> At trace I set aside 12 ounces of soap batter. To that I added 1 teaspoon of TD (premixed with a smidget of water) and mixed well



Thanks so much for answering everything. I just read through all the previous comments and read you soap at room temp. I have never done this before but really want to try now since this soap looks perfect.

Does it take a long time to trace? I feel like trace happens almost immediately when I soap at 100-110 degrees


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## RocknRoll (Feb 26, 2013)

SpiralTouch said:


> Thanks so much for answering everything. I just read through all the previous comments and read you soap at room temp. I have never done this before but really want to try now since this soap looks perfect.
> 
> Does it take a long time to trace? I feel like trace happens almost immediately when I soap at 100-110 degrees


 It takes me about a minute of intermintent stick blending to come to trace. Thats fine for me. If I want to slow it down all I do is omitt the stick blender. I love, love, LOVE soaping at room temp and no one could ever convince me to use thermometers again! Not that doing it any other way is wrong by any means, I just by nature always take the path of least resistance. Room temp gives me more leeway in my opinion. If im in the middle of soaping and something comes up... I can simply walk away and pick up where I left off ( unless the lye has been added ). None of my additives, whether it be beer, honey, milks, ROOT BEER have ever given me any scortching problems what so ever. Theres really nothing to it. I just googled it one day and found all the info i needed.


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## SpiralTouch (Feb 27, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> It takes me about a minute of intermintent stick blending to come to trace. Thats fine for me. If I want to slow it down all I do is omitt the stick blender. I love, love, LOVE soaping at room temp and no one could ever convince me to use thermometers again! Not that doing it any other way is wrong by any means, I just by nature always take the path of least resistance. Room temp gives me more leeway in my opinion. If im in the middle of soaping and something comes up... I can simply walk away and pick up where I left off ( unless the lye has been added ). None of my additives, whether it be beer, honey, milks, ROOT BEER have ever given me any scortching problems what so ever. Theres really nothing to it. I just googled it one day and found all the info i needed.



Hmm it makes me wonder why anyone would do it any other way. I'm converted! Can't wait to make my first room temp batch and ditch the thermometer


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## melstan775 (Feb 27, 2013)

I've only made two cp batches and I went with Room Temp for lack of a thermometer. It was so easy, I don't see any reason to have the added expense of the thermometer.


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

SpiralTouch said:


> Hmm it makes me wonder why anyone would do it any other way. I'm converted! Can't wait to make my first room temp batch and ditch the thermometer


 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!


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

melstan775 said:


> I've only made two cp batches and I went with Room Temp for lack of a thermometer. It was so easy, I don't see any reason to have the added expense of the thermometer.


 I remember always having anxiety about making sure the temps were matching and whether or not my thermometer was working correctly :crazy: or wondering if i was soaping too hot for my recipe...

I also remember hoping no one would call me so i wouldnt be distracted and lose my window of oportune timimg of matching temps. lol, i worried way too much looking back.


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## dianne70 (Feb 27, 2013)

Question about coffee soap.....if you used brewed coffee as the liquid, do you think it would have a coffee scent once cured, if ground coffee beans were also added?  Just wondering as I would love to make a coffee soap, but don't have a coffee FO, and probably won't be buying any new FO's for a while.....


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## 2lilboots (Feb 27, 2013)

dianne70 said:


> Question about coffee soap.....if you used brewed coffee as the liquid, do you think it would have a coffee scent once cured, if ground coffee beans were also added?  Just wondering as I would love to make a coffee soap, but don't have a coffee FO, and probably won't be buying any new FO's for a while.....


 
I don't get a coffee scent from using brewed coffee in my soaps.  The ground coffee beans add just a tad bit of scent but nothing strong enough to really notice.  Add a vanilla or chocolate FO, that always goes great in a coffee soap.


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## Trxflyer (Feb 27, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> 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.........................


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## houseofwool (Feb 27, 2013)

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.)


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## lizflowers42 (Feb 27, 2013)

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


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## Trxflyer (Feb 27, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> 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!





TRXFLYER said:


> 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.........................





houseofwool said:


> 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.


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## DWinMadison (Feb 27, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> here it is:
> 
> 4 oz castor
> 7 oz coconut oil
> ...



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


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## DWinMadison (Feb 27, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> 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?


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## cliff (Feb 27, 2013)

*Dissolving lye*



Rock&Royalty said:


> 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.:-?


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## Momonga (Feb 27, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> **** 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.


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## DWinMadison (Feb 27, 2013)

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?


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

TRXFLYER said:


> 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:


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

cliff said:


> 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:


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

houseofwool said:


> 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.


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

lizflowers42 said:


> 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!


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## RocknRoll (Feb 27, 2013)

DWinMadison said:


> 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?
> ...


 
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!


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## DWinMadison (Feb 28, 2013)

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


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## RocknRoll (Feb 28, 2013)

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


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## Pilar (Mar 3, 2013)

Rock&Royalty said:


> here it is:
> 
> 4 oz castor
> 7 oz coconut oil
> ...


 
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


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