Wash your hands without toxins with this DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe. Only three ingredients castile soap, lemon essential oil and water.
Get my free essential oils class HERE.
We live in a germ obsessed generation, where bacteria is definitively seen as the enemy. This is the reason we take harsh soaps and scrub our bodies daily whether we are dirty or not.
Lately doctors, scientist and laypeople are becoming more aware of the microbiome, and the damage we are doing to it with our overly hygienic culture. We are hitting the bacteria with excessive amounts of antibiotics and antibacterial products. Superbugs are emerging. Turns out things like chemical laden soaps could actually be doing more harm than good.
Read more about the problems of antibacterial soap HERE.
I wrote about the importance of gut health in some of my fermenting posts, but did you know we are actually made up of more bacteria than human cells?
Makes sense that it would be important to nourish and protect these “good guys” in our gut.
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This is why I like to make so many products in my home. It is important to keep the gut destroying chemicals and toxins out.
DIY All Natural Whipped Body Butter
All Natural Organic Cocoa DIY Lip Balm
DIY All Natural Lavender Cocoa Sunscreen
Cleaning Products with Essential Oils
Another product that is super simple to make is foaming hand soap. I use this same recipe for dish soap and to clean my counters and sink as well.
When my white IKEA farmhouse sink starts looking a little grimy, I just put a little of this soap on it and let it sit for a while. The lemon works its magic and then I wipe away all the stains.
It can also be used as a body wash and even a shampoo for small kiddos.
DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe Ingredients
Water
Other supplies
I bought these recently from Amazon and I am very happy with the amount of foam they dispense. I was using some method dispensers that I saved. They worked great at first, but stopped foaming over time.
A word on the ingredients
Castile soap is a super pure product made only of saponified oils. Traditional castile soap is olive oil based, but Dr. Bronner’s adds other vegetable oils including coconut. It does not contain chemicals, like triclosan, that are gut damaging and endocrine disrupting.
Lemon essential oil has natural antibacterial and antifungal properties. It is also a very powerful cleanser and has a fresh scent. Best of all, it is the cheapest essential oil on the market. I buy only Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade oils from DoTerra, and a whole bottle is still only 10 bucks.
DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe
Fill a foaming hand soap container 1/4 of the way with Castile soap. Add 10-20 drops lemon essential oil. Fill the rest of the way with water.
Boom. That’s it.
Now, of course, you can customize this recipe for other scents. Try adding wild orange for a bright and zesty scent. Use lavender in a wash for baby. Add OnGuard or Thieves during flu season for added immune support. Melaleuca combined with lemon would make an excellent cleaning solution.
I usually keep it simple and just add lemon.
Either way, it is so super simple and versatile!
Want to learn more about essential oils and how to incorporate them into your natural home?
Get my free essential oils class HERE.
DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe Video
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Easiest DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- Unscented Castile Soap
- Lemon Essential Oils
- Water
- Foaming Hand Soap Dispenser
Instructions
- Fill a foaming hand soap container 1/4 of the way with Castile soap. Add 10-20 drops lemon essential oil. Fill the rest of the way with water.
- That's it!
Notes
- Castile soap is a super pure product made only of saponified oils. Traditional castile soap is olive oil based, but Dr. Bronnerโs adds other vegetable oils including coconut. It does not contain chemicals, like triclosan, that are gut damaging and endocrine disrupting.
- Lemon essential oil has natural antibacterial and antifungal properties. It is also a very powerful cleanser and has a fresh scent. Best of all, it is the cheapest essential oil on the market. I buy only Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade oils from DoTerra, and a whole bottle is still only 10 bucks.
- Now, of course, you can customize this recipe for other scents. Try adding wild orange for a bright and zesty scent. Use lavender in a wash for baby. Add OnGuard or Thieves during flu season for added immune support. Melaleuca combined with lemon would make an excellent cleaning solution.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Does the soap dispenser have to be a foam one? Would a regular pump work as well?
It has to be a foam one. It just shoots out all liquidy in the regular dispensers.
hi! love this! it’s in the middle of summer (by the time i found this post) and i’m already thinking ahead of cute, simple, practical, and cheap Christmas gift ideas… and Im going to make soap for my girlfriends. quick question…. if we make this the way you showed us (great video, btw!) and not add the little bit of olive oil as some have suggested…. do you have to shake this before each use? or do the eo’s stay pretty blended and dispersed?
I don’t shake it a ton. They kind of incorporate in with the soap. But I loove the idea of diluting them in a little olive oil. Also, what a great Christmas gift idea!
Hi, I have made the soap and like it but I have read that making homemade products that include water without a preservative can encourage bacteria growth. Do you use any natural preservatives for yours ever?
I would think the lemon would counteract that, but I’m not totally sure.
You can use distilled water to prevent bacteria. ๐
About how long is the shelf life? I’m thinking about making these for my motorhome too but we won’t use the soap quickly.
Is this the same recipe that you referenced in your minimalist essentials for baby checklist video? I am very interested in how to bathe baby (due in 2 months!) without full tub wash and irritating babyโs skin. Any advice is welcome! Thx!
Silly meโI just watched the video and clearly see how to make the foaming soap to clean baby! Do you just wet a washcloth, soap it up, and wipe down baby? No need to wash it off? Thx again.
Love it! I am on again and off again with homemade DIY household essentials but your post has reignited my desire to keep the yuck chemicals to a minimum! And DoTerra, yes, great stuff! A friend gifted me with some for my birthday and it’s wonderful!
So glad to reignite that desire! ๐ Get those toxins outta there!
Hi Lisa,
Can I use this same hand soap to hand wash dishes? I usually hand wash certain dishes and pots.
Thank you and New Years’ blessings to you and your family ๐
Laurie
Yep! This is what I use exclusively for washing dishes. I hand wash all mine also. ๐
I have never heard Castile pronounced that way, LOL! (Only “cas-teel”) I love Dr. Bronner’s soaps. Anyway, thanks for all of your great recipes and tutorials! I can’t wait to try that kimchi recipe you posted. I am hoping to try it over Christmas break. God Bless, Tina
haha That’s probably because I have only ever seen it in print and never heard it said out loud. I never even considered that I may be saying it wrong. LOL
A friend uses Evening primrose oil on eczema in day
and a fish oil capsule broken open at night
she also takes both internally.
saw a big change in first few weeks
Hope this helps someone good luck
Thinking of trying this! Both of my kiddos have terrible eczema on their hands. Any idea how this does on eczema? We have always used Method or Mrs. Meyers soap but they still have break outs.
I haven’t tried this on eczema. I’m guessing you have a pretty good shot at it not irritating their skin since the ingredients are so pure. Even Mrs. Meyer’s has a lot of extra things in it. It’s hard t say what is actually making it flare up. Lavender essential oil is very soothing for eczema, so maybe try putting lavender in instead of lemon.
My daughter used to have eczema on her wrists. I stopped giving her dairy milk and it went away.
Yes. Same thing for my nephew. Eczema is definitely gut related.
Thank you so much for the advice! We are going to try dairy free and see how it goes. My daughter has terrible eczema on her wrists so it worth a shot to try!
When I first started experimenting with essential oils just a little over a year and a half ago, this was the first thing I started making on a regular basis. OnGuard is my favorite scent to use in this soap. I read somewhere that adding about a teaspoon of oil to the mixture, be it olive, MCT coconut oil, or something similar, would extend the life of the foaming pump. I’ve had the same dispensers from the beginning. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Also, since adding the oil, it helps to give it a little shake before each use for the first week or so to mix the oil. After that, it doesn’t seem to separate.
I forgot to point out in this post that it does separate and need to be shaken up. I will definitely have to try the oil thing!
Oh wow! I never heard that, but sounds like a great tip because they definitely lose their foaminess over time. Also, I love OnGuard too!! ๐