If you’re going to wake up and smell the coffee, you might as well go all out and incorporate the coffee into every aspect of your morning. I know you’ve got the drinkable coffee bit handled (and if you don’t I’m afraid I can’t be of much help), so I’m going to introduce you to latté soap/shampoo. Now you can have coffee in the shower without worrying about watering it down or getting scalding coffee burns in awkward places.
Because I wanted milk and coffee swirls, this soap got tricky. This is because the coffee and the milk would usually be the bases of the soaps, not add-ins. They’re what you mix the lye into. So I could make two separate batches of soap, and combine them in the mould. Or, I could not. What a pain in the butt.
Whole milk powder and white kaolin clay.
So, a quick work-around was in need, and it appeared in the form of powdered milk and instant coffee, because I could add powders after dividing the final, traced batch into halves. Then I could swirl everything together, and it would be wonderful!
Instant coffee and course rhassoul clay, for the coffee part.
I also added clay, for it’s general awesomeness. I mixed white white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) into the milk half of the soap, and brown rhassoul into the coffee half. The general rule of thumb when adding clay to soap is 1 tbsp per 500g of oils, so you’ll need to split that amount between the two kinds of clay.
Latté Shampoo
30% olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
20% castor oil (USA / Canada)
25% refined coconut oil (USA / Canada)
15% beef tallow or lard (why?)
10% unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)Per 1kg (2.2lbs) oils:
- 1 tbsp white white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
- 2 tbsp whole milk powder, blitzed in a coffee grinder
- 1 tbsp brown rhassoul clay
- 2 tbsp instant coffee, blitzed in a coffee grinder
- 30g | 1.1oz coffee essential oil
- 30g | 1.1oz benzoin essential oil or vanilla essential oil
Follow my basic soap making instructions. You’ll want a fairly light trace, something just a bit thicker than coffee (though I found this recipe thickened quite quickly—if it decides you’re not getting a thin trace, just be sure to do some good swirling in the mould with your spatula). Add the essential oils to the entire batch and then divide it in two. To one, add the milk powder and white kaolin clay (USA / Canada), and to the other add the rhassoul and the coffee powder.
Swirl together in your prepared mould, let set for 24 hours, slice, and age. Voila!
Do you sell this soap?
I don’t—but maybe someday! Thanks for the interest, though 🙂
Hey
Again amazed from your recipes and explanations 😉 really happy
Did this recipe yesterday and i figured out that i did a huge mistake by using accidently cocoa beans in the grinder instead of coffee ones. Yeah i know i was laughing too ..
Should i throw the batch away or can i still use it as a soap/shampoo bars?
It’ll still be fine, just more chocolate-y than cofee-y 🙂
Cool! Thank you:)
Can not wait to try this one!
It’s awesome! If you want to amp up the scent you can look into coffee and vanilla EOs 🙂
I would love too smell this it looks like it would smell delightfully. You are very talented.
This is an awesome way to wake up in the morning, especially because I’m not a coffee drinker 🙂
All of your beautiful soaps are making me want to make soap again. When we built our home we had to move into a 1 bedroom apt during construction with a dog, cat and an infant. So, most of my hobby stuff got put in storage, when we moved into the house somehow my recipe book and some supplies got lost in transit. That plus having lye and a lil one around made me very nervous…. four yrs ago even got rid of my soap making equipment & molds that didnt get misplaced. Hmmmm I told my hubby and he laughed. 🙂
Yeah, soaping is definitely a hobby that requires some extra space for both the making and the storage, which can be tricky in a small place (there’s a reason I didn’t make soap when I lived in a dorm, haha). I’m lucky enough to live in a house that used to be suited, so there’s an abandoned half-kitchen in the basement. It’s basically just a few cabinets, a sink, and a bit of counter space, but it’s a great place to store ingredients and hide my messes 😛
Ok, I did it. I made my first batch of soap. I took my time, was careful and as far as I can tell, it was successful:). I started with this recipe but not realizing I didn’t really have enough coffee EO. Oh well. Thanks for the very detailed, easy to follow instructions! Very excited to cut it tomorrow (and likely try another batch of something else) !
Exciting! I remember the day I made my first batch of soap… I spent the entire evening carefully monitoring my entire body to ensure I wasn’t developing a fatal chemical burn from the lye, lol. That paranoia has since dissipated 😛 I’m so thrilled everything worked out for you, yay for homemade soap!
Love your blog. What percent super fat would you recommend for the shampoo bars? I am having fun trying out your recipes and looking forward to the shampoo bars!
I generally go with 6–7% for shampoo bars, depending on the season/how dry my hair is. Thanks for reading and have fun soaping!
Thanks so much for the recipe, one question, if I do not have lard, which other oil can I use?
Thank you
I’ve written all about this here 🙂 That should get you sorted!
How long does it need to age?
3 weeks minimum, and the longer, the better 🙂
This is going to have to be my next batch… YUM!!!
You’ve mentioned how many bars you get from one batch before (I assume a 500g batch?) but I’m wondering what size those bars are? My mold holds about 3 lbs of soap and the last batch I made gave me 10 large bars, but that wasn’t shampoo. I imagine you probably make them smaller so it’s easier to work through your hair?
My bars are generally about 1.75×3.5″, and maybe 1/2–3/4″ thick, and I usually get about 12 bars per 500g oils. The size I cut them to has less to do with their purpose than my preference for smaller bars of soap. I also figure that a bar starts to dissolve as soon as it gets wet, so if I’m working with smaller bars, perhaps the entire batch lasts longer? It also gives me more bars so I always have lots on hand to gift to people 😉
Hi,
I’ve read your article about subbing carrier oils, because I’m allergic to coconut and everyone knows coconut oil is in EVERYTHING when it comes to DIY skin/hair care.
I think I’m good to go when it comes to subbing for skin care, but I’m wondering if this would also work for shampoo bars. I’m unable to find any coconut-free store bought shampoos, so making it myself is something I’d love to give a try.
Any information would be awesome!
Babassu oil is the best swap I know of for coconut oil, both in and out of soap 🙂 I haven’t tried it in soap, but my research says it performs fairly closely to coconut oil. Definitely worth a try!
Is there a substitute oil to use instead of lard?
Hey Jesus! Read this 🙂
what is the PH level for his soap
Given it is a true soap, it it likely to be somewhere in the 9–10 range.
can you use soap base to make shampoo bars i don’t have much space to make the whole soap area but i can get the soap base easily, please do let me know thanks much
I’ve written an FAQ on this 🙂
Hi Marie,
I am really like your DIY projects… and I have a quick question.
1. can i use castile soap by any chance when making soap bar? if yes I am a requestioning video… and also one more I am having in my home shea butter, beeswax, castile soap.
I really wanna use something useful for my skincare… could you please help me by using this beeswax properly…
lots of thanks marie…
Hey! Sadly, no—that would kind of be like trying to use cake to make a cake. You’ve already got a finished product on your hands!
You can learn more about the ingredients you do have in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia at https://www.humblebeeandme.com/diy-encyclopedia. Simply look up the ingredients in question to learn about why they are used in formulas, what they do, usage rates, and more. Happy making!