DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe

Wash your hands with your very own homemade foaming hand soap! Made with just a few natural ingredients and using this simple recipe, you’ll have clean, moisturized hands in no time.

Creating your own DIY foaming hand soap is a great way to begin your journey of natural wellness, simple living, and a handmade home! I love making it because its cheap, simple, and can be customized in scent and moisturizing power. As a nurse, I’m constantly using antibacterial products that are ridding my body of not only harmful bacteria, but also the good bacteria! The good news is that this homemade soap is not going to disrupt your gut health or weaken your immune system like the overuse antibacterial soaps and sanitizers can.

Why use Homemade Hand Soap Instead of Regular Soap?

The world is growing more and more aware of the harmful effect chemical-laden products have on our bodies. While they’re still being used here in the US, several of these ingredients are banned in other countries due to their potential for disrupting our health. Some of the effects include hormone disruption, respiratory issues, gut health imbalances, and skin irritation. When I first learned of this, I immediately started researching how I can make the switch to more natural products that still get the job done. This foaming hand soap is the first product I tried, and I haven’t purchased hand soap since!

Another benefit is how economical making this soap is. When I first purchased the bottle of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, I was a bit skeptical about how affordable homemade hand soap was going to be. When you break it down, each bottle of homemade foaming hand soap costs about $1, and even less if you aren’t using essential oils! Plus, the castile soap, moisturizing oils, and essential oils are ingredients used in many other homemade products, so you’ll get to use them for more than just this recipe!

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DIY Foaming Hand Soap Ingredients

• Water
• Liquid Castile Soap (I use Dr. Bronner’s)
• A moisturizing oil (Vitamin E Oil, vegetable glycerin, or olive oil)
• Essential Oils (optional)
• Foaming Hand Soap Dispenser

Instructions

• Fill 1/4 of your soap dispenser with liquid castile soap
• Add 10 drops of your favorite essential oil
• Add in 2 tablespoons of your moisturizing oil
• Fill the rest of the jar with water

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Yup, you’re done! It really is that simple to make. Let’s chat a little more about the variations and additional tips for your DIY foaming hand soap below.

Tips for Making DIY Foaming Hand Soap

Essential Oils: These are included to add a nice scent to the soap. Some essential oils also have antibacterial properties such as lavender (my favorite choice for bathroom soaps) and melaleuca (great for kitchen soaps). Lemongrass, eucalyptus, and orange are some of my other favorites! If you’re sensitive to smell and prefer unscented products, then Dr. Bronner’s unscented castile soap is a good option for you. You can certainly leave essentials oils out of your foaming hand soap to avoid skin or respiratory irritation.

Moisturize: Vitamin E oil, vegetable glycerin, and/or olive oil are added to help keep your hands moisturized. I’ve seen other recipes that use different types of oils, but I’ve found the most success with these three. Plus, they add a bit of thickness to the soap and help create more of a lather. You can change how much oil is added to your homemade soap depending on your skin type and how much moisturizing power you need.

Foaming Dispenser: You can reuse an empty foaming soap dispenser, or you can buy a glass foaming dispenser like I did. Whichever you choose, the key is to ensure that your dispenser is, in fact, a foaming soap dispenser. Believe it or not, the dispenser is what creates the foamy texture, not the soap ingredients! The soap will be very watery and won’t lather well if you attempt to use this recipe with a regular soap pump.

Preservation: While Vitamin E oil and vegetable glycerin have properties that help preserve the soap, there’s not enough of these ingredients added for a long shelf life. This single jar of soap will last just under 2 months in my household before we run out. I recommend using distilled water & better preservation methods to prevent bacterial growth if you intend to make large batches of soap.

Natural Separation: Separation of the ingredients is a natural process! Simply give the jar a little shake to incorporate the ingredients again.

If you’re interested in DIYing, then be sure to head on over to the Homemade category of this site for more ideas!

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