really strong cold brew coffee in soap

[kumudini]

I know this is like a thousandth repetition on the coffee theme, but I have been wanting to try a coffee soap for some time. I would like a faint coffee smell to it. since I don't have coffee EO ( which I might totally buy later on), I thought I would 'sacrifice' the regular folgers coffee that's been sitting in the cabinet for well over a year, as I only drink instant. Anyways, I dumped about half a pound of that in a sauce pan and covered with water. I am going to let it sit for a couple of days and then squeeze out every last drop of coffee. My question is, has anyone tried this in CP soap. Any guesses as to what color or scent I am going to end up with? Is it safe to use or should I dilute it?

 

[shunt2011]

You will likely end up with a shade of brown. As for scent, nothing generally carries over. I've not tried just soaking the ground but I have brewed triple strength and used the liquid and some of the grounds in my soap. I didn't notice any scent left over. The lye pretty much destroys the possibility.

 

[KristaMarie]

It's absolutely safe! The color will depend on how strong the brew is, but the scent is unlikely to stay regardless. You may get a teeny tiny scent from it; I can't tell if the scent in mine is just in my head...haha

 

[kumudini]

thanks for the reply Shari. So whats a triple strength brew? About 50 grams per cup of water or brewed coffee over new grounds couple more times? My coffee strength might end up somewhere close to that as I put 3-4 cups water over the half pound of grounds. So, it should be safe enough??

 

[shunt2011]

thanks for the reply Shari. So whats a triple strength brew? About 50 grams per cup of water or brewed coffee over new grounds couple more times? My coffee strength might end up somewhere close to that as I put 3-4 cups water over the half pound of grounds. So, it should be safe enough??

No, I just add 3x the amount of coffee/espresso and then make a regular water amount for a pot. Run it through the coffee maker. I have run it twice once but I didn't notice anything difference.

 

[Luckyone80]

I've made coffee scented soap a couple of times, see pics. If you just use coffee and no FO then you won't get any scent and the color will be a shade of brown. In my coffee soap, the bottom layer is uncolored and the top layer is lightened with TD. I scent mine with espresso/coffee and almond FO and it smells amazing and I'm not a coffee drinker at all.

 

[kumudini]

Good to know. I thought of a cold brew as the heat brings out bitter and may contribute to off smells in soap. since I already soaked, I am just going to go ahead and soap with it. As I master batched all of my lye at 50%, I will replace the additional water with this coffee and put it in the oils directly. will report here how it turns out.

 

[kumudini]

I've made coffee scented soap a couple of times, see pics. If you just use coffee and no FO then you won't get any scent and the color will be a shade of brown. In my coffee soap, the bottom layer is uncolored and the top layer is lightened with TD. I scent mine with espresso/coffee and almond FO and it smells amazing and I'm not a coffee drinker at all.

that's a beautiful soap. I have a sample FO that smells like Hazelnut coffee, which I am not a great fan of. May be I can scent a bar or two and see how I like it.
And, is that a coffee line? very nicely done.

 

[IrishLass]

Just don't be alarmed if your entire house smells like really bad doggy breath when you mix the lye with your brewed coffee. That's what has happened to me every time that I've made coffee soap. Thankfully, it goes completely away.

IrishLass

 

[kumudini]

I never got too close to a dog, don't know how their breath smells but hope the stink goes away quickly. also I will be adding coffee to my oils before lye, so may be it wont be as bad, just hoping.....

 

[Luckyone80]

And, is that a coffee line? very nicely done.

Thanks! Yes I did a pencil line with cocoa powder, not the straightest but good.

 

[SplendorSoaps]

As others have reported, coffee really won't change the scent of your CP soap. Sometimes I get a whiff of nutiness, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part. Coffee does make a really lovely color in your soap, though.

Just to mention it, I've had some real hits and misses with coffee FOs (haven't tried coffee EO, since it's ridiculously expensive). One FO that did not work at all was NG's Fresh Brewed Coffee. It fades and is a total waste of money in CP. I really like WSP's Coffee Beans FO. It holds the scent for months, and is the best coffee FO I've tried.

 

[BlackDog]

Luckyone80 that soap is fricking gorgeous. Well done!

OP, BB has a nice espresso FO if you're looking for a true coffee scent. I mixed it with a bit of their Turkish Mocha FO in a coffee batch I did about a month ago (using a 50% brewed coffee sub for my water). It smells divine.

 

[FerrisWheel]

I did this not long ago. Binned the whole batch. Smelt like ***.

Excuse my french.

 

[janzo]

Was thinking, all this talk about coffee if anyone would be interested in photos of coffee trees as I live on a coffee farm! Don't drink the stuff though, oh the irony....1200ha of coffee and I don't drink a drop!

 

[TwystedPryncess]

@janzo I would LOVE some photos of coffee trees! Oh, the envy! I am such a coffee addict, me and boyfriend both. (Dentist hates me. Just saying.) We would be in hog heaven where you are!

I'm teaching myself pencil lines right now--that's the technique I have decided to focus on, and cocoa would probably be a much less expensive alternative than the jar of gold mica I have here. Duh.

I have some of BB's Turkish Mocha left to sample soap as well as a sample of NG Jamaican Vanilla Cafe (I've really got to clean out all my samples--I've got like 35 of them).

I'm thinking pencil lines and maybe some whipped-cream like piped tops and a stick of cinnamon for decoration, use coffee for the water, coffee grounds for exfoliants. I have the BB Earthtones Metallic Micas sampler pack so I am sure I can come up with something in the way of colors.

Okay, think those will be the next ones I do. Ya'll talked me into it....

 

[janzo]

Twysted pryncess how can you post that soap on the ugly thread, it is lovely and it does not warrant a slot there. I would be very happy if that was mine. Just saying. Xx

 

[makes_scents]

Here is my example of coffee colored soap - made last night

 

[TwystedPryncess]

@janzo it was pretty in its own way, I will definitely agree. I will be reattempting it, but with straight cocoa lines and no little butts on top. (The unintentional heart butts landed it there, but we all got a good howl at them)

 

[kdaniels8811]

I am very lazy and make tons of coffee soap - this is how I do it. I mix my lye water and dump the coffee in it to brew, let it cool and make soap. Yes, it stinks for a while but makes a great gardener/mechanic soap. The coffee grounds exfoliate and there is a bit of a coffee scent to the bars. When I remember, I add a bit of vanilla for scent but it is really not needed. This makes a brown soap with dark brown flecks. I use about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of coffee grounds to 5 pounds of soap.

I used to brew the coffee, cool it down, and use it for lye water the next day. My son saw me doing this and said why don't you just dump the grounds in the lye water? Duh! Head smack! It works great and saves a step and sure speeds up my coffee soap making time. This is a really good seller for me. Takes paint and pine tar off your skin without stripping it, hands stay nice and soft.