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Making Coffee Soap

by Lura Lee

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This two-page tutorial shows you how to make coffee soap, which is a delightful gift to add to a coffee gift basket, and it's one way to recycle some used coffee grounds. It's not too hard, but making soap from scratch isn't child's play, either. Hard soap requires lye, which is a poisonous, caustic substance. The other drawback is that it's several weeks before you can use the soap. The neat part about this soap is that it is not too feminine; it's a unisex bar of soap that is mild -- perfect for the kitchen. The addition of coffee grounds at the trace stage can turn this bar of soap into a heavy-duty soap, good for scrubbing your hands after working in the back yard.

Coffee Soap

Supplies

  • Pam cooking spray
  • 8 oz soybean oil
  • 8 oz coconut oil (on sale in your nearest health food store)
  • 8 oz olive oil (do not use extra-virgin, use the low-grade, cheap stuff)
  • 2.25 oz lye
  • 7 oz of double-strength coffee. (The coffee doesn't have to taste good, so you can reuse grounds, or mix different types)
  • 2 tablespoons extra coffee grounds in case you want to add them later
  • 1 oz Coffee Fragrance Oil for soap and candles **Optional** (You can buy coffee-scented oil over the internet)
  • 2 medium-sized enamel or stainless steel pots (never use aluminum)
  • Soap molds (store bought molds, shoe box lined with freezer paper, a small pan, small plastic containers, or a capped pvc pipe)
  • Cooking thermometer
  • Blender
  • Saran wrap
  • Old Blanket or insulated pouch
  • Yellow kitchen gloves
  • Safety glasses
  • A long sleeve shirt

Prepare the stuff

Start off with at least 14 oz of distilled or filtered water (try not to use tap water as the minerals may affect the soap chemistry). Make the coffee by any method (vac pot or drip coffee works well.) When the coffee is done, place it in the refrigerator to chill. Expect some water evaporation. Grease the mold(s) by spraying Pam cooking spray liberally over the entire surface.

Sharp Dresser

Change into your lye working clothes: put on a long-sleeve shirt, safety glasses, and yellow gloves. Lye is very dangerous stuff and should only be handled with caution, in a very well ventilated location. Keep your long-sleeve shirt on, and the gloves and safety glasses handy until the soap mixture is in the molds. Getting this mixture on the skin irratates the skin and can cause a burning sensation, along with welts on the skin. If this happens, follow the instructions for handling emergencies provided on the container of lye.

Lye Protection

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