# coffee grounds in soap



## SgtSluggo (Jul 18, 2017)

I have this idea for a coffee soap that would be a swirl where there are only coffee grounds in one of the colors.  What I am trying to find out is, do coffee grounds add color to soap or just specks?  Do I need to do a double extraction on my coffee grounds to keep them from bleeding color into the soap?  How fine/coarse of a ground do you recommend.  

Sorry for all the questions, this may be a horrible idea but I wanted to try something that I didn't just find somewhere else.


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## Cindy2428 (Jul 19, 2017)

Coffee grounds are great exfoliants and add something special to coffee soaps since generally most FOs used have vanillin in them and they turn various shades of brown. I would advise you to experiment with different grinds of soap and less is definitely more.

You don't need to infuse the grinds - they need to be dry to reduce the risk of mold. 

The grounds will color the soap as specks/dots. Google coffee soaps and you will get lots of inspiration.


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## shunt2011 (Jul 19, 2017)

I like using coffee grounds in soap.  I've only used them after making strong coffee and then added the the grounds afterwards.  Never had an issue with mold, maybe I've been lucky.  Plus they aren't as hard.   I grind them really fine in my coffee grinder before making coffee with them.


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## earlene (Jul 19, 2017)

I starting making soap specifically for coffee soap for my husband.  He gives me feedback with every change I make, letting me know what he likes and what he doesn't as well as concerns he may have about the possible staining of the shower stall.  In fact the possible staining was his first concern.  He was afraid I'd hate having to clean the shower stall.  But it doesn't stain.

Anyway, the finer the grind of coffee, the better.  It can be rough on the skin otherwise.  Some body parts don't so much like scratchy exfoliants.  But he does like the exfoliant action as well as the mere idea of coffee in his soap.  

I have made coffee soap with spent grounds (dried in the oven to remove all wetness prior to adding to the soap) as well as with unused grounds.  For unused grounds, I use de-caf because my husband won't drink de-caf and every hotel room in the country seems to always put at least one or two packets of de-caf in the room if they provide a coffee pot.  

As far as it coloring the soap or bleeding color, well it does a bit, but not as much as one would think, especially if you use spent dried grounds.  For color, I used tea or liquid coffee in place of water in the lye solution.  Or if I want really darker brown coffee soap, I use cocoa powder.  I have made light colored coffee soap (with tea water) all the way to chocolate brown colored coffee soap (with cocoa powder).

Also, I recommend using only a tablespoon or two of coffee grounds per batch to start.  You don't really need a lot to create a nice coffee soap.  

And btw, if you want it to smell like coffee you will need a nice fragrance oil to obtain a soap that smells like coffee.  But make sure to check if it is a discoloring FO and adjust your plans for that.  For example, don't add the discoloring FO to the portion that you want to be lighter in color.

Here is a link to an informative article about using coffee grounds in soap: https://www.soapqueen.com/tag/coffee-grounds/


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## dixiedragon (Jul 19, 2017)

This sounds like a neat idea! I don't have an answer for you - I dump a fresh packet of ground coffee into the hot lye water, so my coffee soap is definitely brown!


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