Coffee & Lime Exfoliating Mini Soap Bars

Making your own soaps can be really fun & also rewarding when you can come up with a combination you really love; especially if it has great perks along with it like this recipe does.

The coffee grounds work wonderfully to exfoliate as you use the soap, & with the glycerine and jojoba, it also leaves you feeling very moisturized at the same time. Coffee, along with the lime essential oil also helps to break down cellulite, so they make for a powerful combination together, and the soap smells good enough to eat!

You can make these in a larger size bar, and just cut it to the size you want, or use the silicone molds like I did, making them more mini-sized so you can give them as gifts in a jar or cute bag. They look super cute in a soap dish on the counter too when they’re made into great little shapes.

What you will need:

½ lb. glycerine soap base
Coffee grounds (or if you prefer the beans, they would work too, but won’t exfoliate quite the same way)
1 cup brewed coffee, the stronger the better
1 tsp. jojoba oil
15- 20 drops pure lime essential oil
Silicone molds (mine came from Ikea and are very inexpensive but work great!)

Directions:

First, brew the coffee so it’s all ready to go and have your molds set up and ready to be poured into.

Next, chop up your glycerine soap base. It’s very soft to slice up and just slice into cubes. Place the cubes in a microwave safe glass measuring cup or mixing bowl, and microwave in 30 second increments. Stirring in between each time.

The soap has a tendency to set right back up, so this normally takes about 3 to 4 times to get it really liquefied.

Now, add in your brewed coffee and stir together. You may end up with a chunk or two of the soap base setting back up again in the middle of this process and if so, just pop it back into the microwave again.

Next, add your jojoba oil and lime oil and stir well. If it is totally liquid, you are ready to pour into the molds.

Pour the mix not quite to the top of the molds, leaving room to add the coffee grounds on top.

You will sprinkle the grounds across each one, leaving no spaces. Most of the grounds will stay put on the top but some will float down into the soap and that’s a good thing either way.

Now, let them set up for at least 3 hours to get all the way hardened.

If you are using the soap larger, to slice into bars, it is recommended that you put in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it easier to slice.

If you are using the molds, flip them over and gently press down and they should pop out fairly easily for you. Let them sit and dry up awhile on the reverse side as well, just to get the extra moisture out.

Once they feel good and dry, go ahead and add into a jar or bags for gifts!

What do you think? Will you try these for yourselves? They make such a great gift, but they’re so nice you’ll want to keep them all!

Katie Reed

Katie Reed is a passionate writer and mother of four vivacious boys from Salt Lake City, Utah. Drawing from her own journey through TTC, pregnancy, and the joys of raising children, she offers a wealth of insight into the world of motherhood. Beyond her heartfelt tales, Katie delights her readers with family-friendly recipes, engaging crafts, and a curated library of printables for both kids and adults. When she’s not penning her experiences, you’ll find her crafting memories with her husband and sons—Dexter, Daniel, Chester, and Wilder.