Coffee Soap Recipe

This soap recipe adds coffee ground for exfoliation and brewed coffee for color to well-balanced, moisturizing bar soap. Easy to make and beautiful.

❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe

• The coffee grounds provide exfoliation, while the brewed coffee gives the soap a beautiful brown color.
• It’s super moisturizing. The coconut oil and shea butter make it rich and creamy, while the olive oil and palm oil ensure that your skin stays soft and smooth.
• It’s easy to make! The brewed coffee will behave just like water.

🧂 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You’ll find the full measurements and instructions in the printable recipe at the bottom of the page.

You’ll need the following for this exfoliating cold process soap:

• cooled brewed coffee
• lye
• coconut oil
• olive oil
• castor oil
• palm oil
• shea butter
• ground coffee
• fragrance and color (optional, but espresso, vanilla, or mint would work well)

I recommend Nurture Soap for the best selection of colorants and fragrances.

🥣 Equipment

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• stick blender
• digital scale
• goggles and gloves
• pyrex measuring cup
• old pot or saucepan
• soap mold

🍴Instructions

Step One: prepare lye

Using a digital scale, measure out the lye and coffee in separate containers. The coffee must be cooled to room temperature before adding the lye. Stir carefully until the lye is completely dissolved into the coffee. The liquid will shoot up in temperature and emit a burned-coffee scent. Place it aside to cool in a secure location out of the reach of kids or pets.

Step Two: Melt oils

Measure the oils individually, then mix them together in a large pot. Melt them over medium-low heat until fully melted. Set aside to cool.

Step three: Blend and pour

 Once the coffee solution and oils have both cooled to about 100-115 degrees, it’s time to blend. Get out your coffee grounds, soap molds, and any fragrance or color you’ll be adding. Pour the lye water into the pot with the oils and blend with your stick blender until you reach trace. Stir in coffee grounds once you’ve reached trace. If you’re using fragrance or color, mix them in by hand. Working quickly, pour into the soap mold.

Step FouR: Cure and cut

Allow the soap to cure in the mold for 24-48 hours before removing it. Cut into bars after slicing. Before using, let it sit for at least 3 weeks and store it in a well-ventilated area.

Storage instructions

Homemade soap is happiest in a cool, dark place with plenty of air circulation. I like to put it in a cardboard box with newspaper and tuck it on a closet shelf.

It will last basically forever if stored well.

🔍 FAQs

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert tips

• Make sure the coffee is cooled to room temperature before adding the lye
• If you want a coffee fragrance, be. sure to add a fragrance oil at trace
• The soap will be brown no matter what you do, but you can add a little titanium dioxide or black pigment to get darker or lighter swirls.

📘 Related Recipes

• Lemon Zest Soap is another fun recipe where you get to add food!
• And oatmeal soap has oats in the bar and on top.
• Not into working with lye? Try loofah soap for something easier.

📖 Here’s the recipe