Making coffee soap: Can I just substitute coffee for the water?

[SoapMakerDeluxe]

...and pour the lye into the coffee when it's time?

I'm going for something like this recipe here:

http://soapdelinews.com/2015/06/homemade-coffee-soap-recipe.html

It says, however, to add lye to water separately, and add coffee to the oils separately. It all sounds complicated. Is all of that really necessary or can I just add lye to coffee?

 

[Saponomancer]

You absolutely can use coffee as your lye water. Its not going to leave your soap smelling like coffee, but it will make it a nice brownish colour. Just make sure its actually cold before you add the lye, or it'll volcano.

 

[Arimara]

You can use instant coffee if you'd like. Add a spoonful or two into your water before adding your lye and you will have a nice coffee soap in no time.

 

[cmzaha]

I use instant espresso in my coffee soap

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

The lye water will really stink at first, but the soap won't. Just a heads up

 

[Susie]

^^^All of the above. I frequently use coffee for the "water" to mix with my lye. I just save that little bit left over in the pot every morning in a freezer bag in the freezer. (One bag, I just keep adding.) Then when I want to make soap, I just grab that and let it melt the night before.

 

[SoapMakerDeluxe]

Thanks all for the tips! I'll take these to heart.
One more question: I've seen reference to keeping the coffee cold. Does this have to be the case? Or can it just be room temperature?

 

[BlackDog]

One more question: I've seen reference to keeping the coffee cold. Does this have to be the case? Or can it just be room temperature?

I've done both with good results.

 

[Susie]

Room temperature is fine. I only freeze mine because it may be several months before I want to use it.

 

[IrishLass]

The lye water will really stink at first, but the soap won't. Just a heads up

I quadruple ditto all that the good Gent said above^^^.

Oh boy- do I ever remember well the first time I ever made coffee soap....yikes!!! As I was mixing the lye into my room temp double-strength espresso, one would've thought a pack of old, stinky, mangy, heavily-panting dogs (each suffering from severe cases of bad doggy halitosis), had invaded my home. Thankfully- just like the good Gent said, though- the soap turned out smelling perfectly fine.

Maybe that's why the recipe the OP is using called for mixing the lye with water and adding the coffee to the oils separately--they wanted to avoid the (temporary) stinky doggie breath stench that comes from mixing the lye in coffee. Well, at least that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it. lol


IrishLass

 

[dixiedragon]

I actually just throw ground coffee directly in my lye water. That assumes you want coffee grounds for scrubbiness.

 

[SoapMakerDeluxe]

Thanks all. Here is a picture of the (successful) Espresso soap that is now curing thanks to the help I get from this forum:

 

[jules92207]

^^ ooohhh that's pretty!

 

[Susie]

Thank you for pics! It helps feed our addiction when we aren't actually making soap ourselves.

 

[penelopejane]

I've made coffee soap but it was really pale.
How much coffee do I add ppo to make it really, really dark? Or is it adding lye to the coffee water that scorches it and makes it dark? I also tried to add cocoa and that didn't work either.

 

[JuliaNegusuk]

I work in grams, but I add 15grams of coffee grounds (strong French coffee) to 172g of water and get quite a good dark brown. The grounds do stay in though. I also get a whiff of coffee scent. That's with 690 grams of oils and 86g of SH. It is quite a high super fat as loads of coconut oil plus sea sat and pumice too.

 

[penelopejane]

I work in grams, but I add 15grams of coffee grounds (strong French coffee) to 172g of water and get quite a good dark brown. The grounds do stay in though. I also get a whiff of coffee scent. That's with 690 grams of oils and 86g of SH. It is quite a high super fat as loads of coconut oil plus sea sat and pumice too.

Thank you. Is your soap darker than the brown soap in post 12?

What is SH?

 

[NsMar42111]

I think the smell is more like the OTHER end of the dog, but phew it does stink!

I'm in the "instant coffee" group. Oh, and your lye water will be a weird orangey color. Surprise!

 

[Susie]

Dark roast coffee substituted for water makes a cafe au lait color. I do not put grounds in. I further whiten some of the batter to make a swirl and a thin layer on top that I use a skewer to make a swirl pattern in the white to show some of the dark below. It is a pretty soap. Does not smell like coffee without a FO, though.

 

[penelopejane]

Dark roast coffee substituted for water makes a cafe au lait color. I do not put grounds in. I further whiten some of the batter to make a swirl and a thin layer on top that I use a skewer to make a swirl pattern in the white to show some of the dark below. It is a pretty soap. Does not smell like coffee without a FO, though.

Thanks Susie. That's about the colour I've got so far.

I'm trying to get black espresso coffee colour in my soap. I can get it with a discolouring FO but that tends to bleed in an unattractive way!