First batches of soaps

[Deborah Long]

@Hendejm Amazing! My soaps still don't look that good after a few months! LOL What are the speckles throughout the soaps? One looked like poppy seeds?

 

[Hendejm]

@Hendejm Amazing! My soaps still don't look that good after a few months! LOL What are the speckles throughout the soaps? One looked like poppy seeds?

Thank you! It’s coffee grounds.

 

[Misschief]

It seemed to me that your name was fairly generic and would be hard to 'own'. I was wondering if people actually owned soap names. Trademarks are inexpensive, if local; but get spendy if they are in many places. Sometimes an industry has it's own practices: for instance, I hybridize iris and there is an iris registry. Since I am new to this, I was wondering how people went about naming soaps and, of course, how not to ruffle features. Your soaps really are special. And I also love the packaging.

To get my name (Mission Meadows Soapery), I had to go through our provincial government for a name search. Once it came back as approved, I had to register my business name. Now, no one else can use it as I'm registered.

 

[Deborah Long]

@Hendejm So, okay, coffee grounds... So today, I made my usual quad latte (thank the husband for buying me that expensive Breville last year!) and put the softened-by-water ground in a paper bowl to dry. Since I wanted to make my favorite coffee soap today, I put the grounds in the microwave to dry them (didn't want to put wet grounds that could possibly bleed color or promote DOS into lovely soap) and they exploded quite soonly in said microwave! lol
After cleaning up the mess - which was easier said than done - I thought I'd ask you how you dry your grounds!

I'm pretty sure I'm not making soap today! lol

 

[Hendejm]

After cleaning up the mess - which was easier said than done - I thought I'd ask you how you dry your grounds!

Oh no!!! Hopefully it wasn’t too bad of a mess! I dry them in the oven - turning and shaking several times. Just when I think they are done- I leave them for 15more minutes. ( total about 1 hr or so at 200F). I also make sure to use the finest grind possible so they aren’t too abrasive. Hope that helps!

 

[Hendejm]

Adding - a little goes a long way. About 1/2 tbls per pound. I learned the hard way! I though if a little is good then a lot must be really good - NOT.

 

[Misschief]

I use freshly ground coffee, very finely ground. And yes, a little goes a long way!

 

[Deborah Long]

@Hendejm - Nahhh - It wasn't bad at all... Just funny, really!

@Misschief - so I thought that used grounds would be just a tad softer. Does freshly ground add to the scent?

 

[Misschief]

@Hendejm - Nahhh - It wasn't bad at all... Just funny, really!

@Misschief - so I thought that used grounds would be just a tad softer. Does freshly ground add to the scent?

Can't say that I've noticed in the one soap that has coffee grounds. That said, it's quite strongly scented with an orange and spice blend so I'm not surprised I can't smell any coffee in it.

 

[Hendejm]

I don’t smell any coffee in any of my soaps that have them. My gardener soap is unscented and has coffee grounds and it doesn’t smell like anything.

 

[cmzaha]

I always use used coffee grounds that are still somewhat wet. They have never bled color although at times they can get a halo around them but never had DOS from the wet grounds.

 

[penelopejane]

All forms of coffee add something different. Try all these in both the batter and water in different batches:
Instant coffee
Dried used coffee grounds
Wet used coffee grounds
unused coffee grounds

I’ve never had DOS in a coffee soap.

 

[Deborah Long]

Wow, thanks for the coffee/soap education! You ALL are sooo helpful and I am ever so grateful!

 

[Misschief]

I’ve never had DOS in a coffee soap.

Likewise, and my soap with coffee in it is the soap I've been making almost since the first day I started to seriously make soap. I always have some laying around.

 

[Deborah Long]

Okay, so I made these with damp used grounds. I'm assuming this log has a halo (or several, actually)?

 

[Hendejm]

Looks good. Hard to tell...but it looked like it gelled completely. What’s that brown lump? Grounds that didn’t blend?

 

[Deborah Long]

@Hendejm Spot on! The FO I use causes my soap to thicken quickly and I have to work fast, so I didn't get everything blended exactly perfectly. Okay, since I've made this for me. I might try using my mortar and pestle to break up clumps or just wait until it's perfectly dry next time...
Yes, I got full gel.

 

[Hendejm]

That’s great! I am going to use your issue of clumping to justify why I use dried grounds I didn’t have reason...now I do!

 

[Deborah Long]

@Hendejm Right? Blame me, the hubby does! LOL

 

[Hendejm]

@Hendejm Right? Blame me, the hubby does! LOL

Hahah! I know that feeling!