Chef's Coffee Soap

This is designed to be used in the kitchen, the coffee grounds are great at absorbing odours and the rosemary and patchouli essential oils give it a wonderful smell that appeals to both men and women.

UPDATE!!!
This soap smells amazing and the exfoliating coffee grounds are great for removing stubborn dirt. My husband used this soap after boxing with some really stinky gloves on. Usually the smell won't go away even if you wash your hands several times with regular hand soap, but his hands were left smelling great after just one wash. He also liked the smell as it isn't feminine at all.

Please read the safety information and make sure you are confident in handling sodium hydroxide before you attempt this recipe.

Ingredients

225g Olive oil
100g Lard
125g Coconut oil
50g Rapeseed oil
190g strong freshly brewed coffee cooled to room temperature (I used espresso)
68.55g Sodium hydroxide
2 tbsp. Coffee grounds
10g Rosemary essential oil
10g Patchouli essential oil
A soap mold (I used a plastic box lined with cling film)

Method

Start by weighting out all of your ingredients so they are ready when you need them.

Slowly mix the brewed coffee with the sodium hydroxide little by little until it is completely dissolved and set aside to cool.

 



Heat the oils on a low heat until they have completely dissolved, once more set aside to cool.

When the sodium hydroxide mixture and the oils have both cooled to 35C you can mix them together. This may require cooling one of them at a faster rate in cold water to get them to the same temperature.

Mix with a hand blender until the mixture thickens and reaches 'trace'. This is the stage where you can see a mark left behind on the surface for a couple of seconds after you have removed the blender. My mixture reached trace after about six minutes of blending. You can see from the picture what this should look like.

 

Now add the essential oils and coffee grounds and blend for a few seconds to make sure everything is mixed thoroughly.

 

 

Pour the mixture into your mold, I used a plastic box lined with cling film to help release the soap. Cover and insulate to keep heat in while the chemical reaction is occurring. Leave for at least 15 hours before removing from the mold and slicing into pieces. Leave in a cool dry place to cure for six weeks.