Easy DIY Liquid Hand Soap
*This post was updated August 2022.
I started making my own liquid hand soap back in November and wish I had done it sooner. Store-bought hand soaps create so much plastic waste, are commonly tested on animals, and most have harmful artificial fragrances in them. They also really don’t last very long and can become an expense you can decrease by making your own.
Some notes on the three (yes, only three!) ingredients used in this liquid hand soap recipe:
- Castille Soap – I get this in bulk at my local PCC. I bring in an old (clean) plastic peanut butter container, ask the cashier to weigh it for me, then fill it up. My PCC has about ten different scents to choose from – mint and lavender are the winners so far. It costs me less than three dollars to fill up my 16 oz. container.
- Vitamin E Oil – I get this at Trader Joe’s, and the one bottle I bought back in November still isn’t gone. Vitamin E oil moisturizes and nourishes the skin.
- Tea Tree Essential Oil – I get this at T.J. Maxx, but you can get it lots of places (Amazon has a larger size bottle). I only recently had to purchase a second one. Tea tree oil provides an additional anti-bacterial component.
Since November, I have made an estimated 8-10 bottles of hand soap with two and a half containers of castille soap, one bottle of Vitamin E oil, and just over one bottle of tea tree oil.
Ingredients
1/2 cup distilled (I use filtered) water
1/2 cup castille soap
1 TBSP Vitamin E Oil
10 drops tea tree essential oil
Directions
- In a medium-sized glass pitcher, pour the water and then the castille soap. This order is important in reducing the bubbles from the soap.
- Add in the vitamin E oil and tea tree essential oil. Gently stir to combine without causing the soap to foam.
- Pour your homemade soap into a dispenser and save the remaining ingredients for when you run out. No need to run to the store!
2022 Edit: I have found that this recipe works best in a foaming soap dispenser. I still use this recipe to make my own homemade liquid hand soap!