By Katie Vance
Having trouble getting onion and garlic smell off your hands? This odor-eliminating coffee ground soap recipe does that and smells just like a cup of coffee!
Coffee Soap
I have been looking for a good kitchen soap that doesn’t dry but also helps scrub my hands. After brainstorming things that might work, I settled on coffee… because well, coffee!
Actually, coffee is rumored to get rid of unpleasant odors, so I decided to put that myth to the test. Unsurprisingly, it does work! Probably because coffee has such a wonderful, distinct aroma.
The Coffee Grounds
We grind our coffee beans daily, so we always have a bag of organic coffee beans around. When I use coffee in DIYs, I prefer it slightly more coarse. It’s easier to achieve this with a mortar and pestle than a coffee grinder, but for this soap, I did end up using the “coarse” grind function on mine. It was a little finer than I would have liked, so if you can crush your coffee beans with a mortar and pestle, I would recommend it.
The coffee grounds not only help the soap smell like coffee, but they also work to exfoliate hands and scrub away odors. They mix well in the soap and tend to settle to the top making one side of the soap better for exfoliating.
The Soap Base
The melt and pour soap base I used has a slight smell, so I wanted to enhance this coffee aroma with coffee essential oil. This oil is both warming and invigorating and smells exactly like a freshly brewed cup of coffee. I’ve tried to diffuse it, but the aroma gets somewhat lost. However, it works really well in scrubs and soaps.
To help moisturize my hands, I used a goat’s milk melt and pour soap base. It has a great lather and is very soothing. I used the same soap to make these beautiful holiday hand soaps.
The Coffee Soap Molds
To make this coffee soap recipe, I used mason jar lids that I covered with some coconut oil. Of course, silicone molds work best, but I wanted round soaps and I didn’t have another mold. The mason jar lids did leak a bit of soap out, but I placed them on paper towels so the mess was contained easily.
If you have trouble getting the soap out of the molds, place them in the freezer for a bit. Then try again!
Coffee Ground Soap Recipe
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Active Time
- 30 minutes
- Curing Time
- 18 hours
- Total Time
- 18 hours 35 minutes
- Servings
- 2 4.5 ounce bars
- Estimated Cost
- $17
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 ounces melt and pour soap base
- 1/4 cup coarse ground coffee
- Several whole coffee beans
- 60 drops coffee essential oil
- coconut oil (for mason jar lids/rings)
- soap molds (I used mason jar lid)
Instructions
-
Cut soap into small pieces and place in a glass pyrex measuring cup
-
Place glass measuring cup in a small saucepan of water on low heat
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Allow soap to melt gently, stirring gently every so often
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Take soap off the heat once fully melted and measure in coarsely ground coffee
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Allow to cool slightly, then measure in 60 drops of essential oil.
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Stir well to combine
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Coat mason jar lids/rings in a thin layer of coconut oil and set on a paper towel or kitchen towel
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Place whole coffee beans in lids
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Pour soap mixture into mason jar lids/rings (or soap molds if using)
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Allow it to cool until hardened
-
Push mason jar lids from the rings
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Allow soap to dry for 12-24 hours
Made this recipe?
Mention @diynatural or tag it #diynatural!
I love using this soap in my kitchen, but it can also be used in the shower. This soap also makes a great gift for the gardener in your life! It is wonderful for scrubbing any type of dirty hands.
If you like this easy soap recipe, you should also check out these Herbal Mint Melt and Pour Soaps or these Luffa Soaps.
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