Coffee and Peppermint Goat’s Milk Scrub Soap: Super Grease Fighter

Let me start by saying that this isn’t a pretty soap. It might have been pretty if I’d done a little layering and sliced it, but I made this soap to be more functional than beautiful. If you’re looking for a soap to get auto grease off your husband’s hands, then this is the soap for you.

Last night Jake came home with some sort of industrial grease on his hands, and this stuff didn’t want to come off. My orange paprika soap usually does the job, and I was baffled when it didn’t take it off. Jake was the one that thought to use my kitchen scrub. Not only did it take it off, but it did it fast. Now, I wasn’t going to post my ugly soap, but since my husband loved it so much, I thought you might like it too!

You must use caution when working with lye. Wear goggles and long gloves, don’t breath in the fumes, and make absolutely sure there are no children or pets in your work area. If you’ve never made cold process soap before, please read up on it before attempting this or any project. 

Ingredients:

8.8 oz canola oil

6.6 oz coconut oil

6.6 oz olive oil

3.06 oz sodium hydroxide (lye) 5% Superfat

7.26 oz frozen goat’s milk (slushy is good)

.48 oz peppermint essential oil

cocoa powder (I start with about a tsp, and then add more if I want it darker)

ground coffee (start with a tablespoon, and then add more if you want it grittier)

2 lb loaf mold or small individual molds

stick blender

safety gear

Though this recipe has been calculated carefully, it’s always a good idea to double check any recipe with a lye calculator. 

To make the soap:

1. Line your mold with freezer paper (you don’t need to do this if you’re using silicone).

2. Put on your gloves and goggles.

3. Fill your kitchen sink with ice, nest a heat safe bowl (not aluminum) in the ice and add your frozen goat’s milk. Carefully, and slowly, sprinkle some of the lye over the goat’s milk. Stir well, and then sprinkle some more. Keep stirring and sprinkling until you’ve added all the lye. Stir very, very well until you are absolutely sure the lye has dissolved. Set the mixture in a safe place to cool.

4. In a separate, large, non-aluminum bowl, melt the coconut oil. Stir in the olive and and canola oils. Let the oils cool.

5. Very carefully add your cooled lye mixture to your oils, and blend with a stick blender until it reaches light trace. This will look like thin pudding.

6. Sprinkle cocoa powder over the soap and then blend well. Once the cocoa powder is blended in, add the peppermint oil and blend again. Finally, blend in the coffee.

7. Carefully pour into your mold.

8. Wait 3 days, and then you may slice your soap.

9. Set your soap in a well ventilated area and cure for 6 weeks, turning your soap every so often to ensure even drying.

Enjoy!

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