DIY foaming hand soap is simple and cheap to make – and your kids might just even wash their hands more diligently because they enjoy all of the little bubbles so much.
To reduce your family’s exposure to plastic, and to the harsh chemicals it contains, you can buy nominally priced glass foaming soap dispensers or turn Mason jars into attractive and durable dispensers using a plastic free pump.
Why Should You Make All-Natural Foaming Hand Soap?
The primary reason I started making foaming hand soap for my family was to continue my goal of removing as many toxic chemicals from my home as possible.
Store-bought foaming hand soap contains a plethora of harsh chemical compounds as well as endocrine disruptors. Until last year I would have had no idea what endocrine disruptors actually were, or how they can lead to the development of neuroendocrine cancer.
All of that changed when Missy Dodrill, a dear friend and cousin-in-law, was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. It is a hormonal cancer, surgery is not an option. Only chemotherapy and radiation can be used to treat this once rare cancer. Missy fought hard and subjected herself to grueling treatments, but less than a single year after being diagnosed, she was gone.
The chemo and radiation can help slow the growth of this aggressive type of cancer. But, when you are no longer able to undergo anymore chemo or radiation, there is only an experimental immunology therapy that can be tried.
Ingredients
Liquid castile soap is the most common base ingredient in both DIY all-natural foaming hand soap, and DIY all-natural liquid dish soap. It is a great base ingredient, and a tall $7 to $15 bottle will go a very long way.
Castile Soap
Castile soap is a vegetable-based soap that got its name from the region of Spain where it was first developed. It’s an all-natural biodegradable soap that does not contain animal fats. Castile soap is available in both liquid and bar form, and was traditionally made from olive oil.
Liquid castile soap deeply penetrates skin pores with natural antibacterial compounds. It can help clear up acne prone skin, and clear up oily skin issues without drying it out.
If you’re homesteading in a rural area like I am, it would probably require an hour drive to find any at a store. Liquid castile soap is available on Amazon for a nominal price.
Don’t want to wait until an online order arrives to make your all-natural foaming hand soap? There may be some common liquid castile soap alternatives readily available around your homestead.
Coconut Oil
This natural oil has been used to make soap and other beauty products in the Philippines for hundreds of years. It has recently become far more popular as a natural soap base ingredient in the United States.
All-natural foaming soap made with coconut oil can double as a dry skin liniment, and as a shaving lotion.
Goat Milk
Soaps made out of goat’s milk use the nutrient-rich and healing natural compounds in the liquid derived from milking goats instead of the healing power of olive oil found in traditional castile soap.
Goat’s milk is rich in both vitamins A and D, has a high animal fat content that can help repair damaged skin.
Canola Oil
This type of oil also helps to moisturize the skin. Canola oil based soap may also help reduce pain associated with dry and irritated skin.
Supplies
If you do not have a BPA free plastic foaming hand soap container to re-use, or simply want to avoid plastic use altogether, you can buy inexpensively priced glass foaming hand soap containers with non-plastic tops or simply but a stainless steel or other non-plastic top that is designed to fit Mason jars and connect the two to create an attractive soap container.
All-Natural Foaming Hand Soap Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 tablespoons liquid castile soap or coconut oil, goat’s milk, or
canola oil - ½ to 1 teaspoon almond oil or olive oil, or vitamin E
- 12 ounces water well water, distilled, filtered, or boiled recommended
- 8 ounces essential oils for scent and extra cleaning power – I typically use lemon or sometimes thieves oil
Instructions
- Pour the water into the foaming soap dispenser so that it is around three quarters of the way full.
- Pour in the coconut oil, goat’s milk, liquid castile soap, or goat’s milk.
- Add in the carrier oil or vitamin E.
- Put the lid firmly on the foaming soap dispenser and shake vigorously to combine these ingredients.
- Remove the lid from the foaming soap dispenser.
- Add in the essential oil drops.
- Replace the lid firmly back on the foaming soap dispenser and shake vigorously again before placing it on the side of the sink for use.
Notes
If the foaming all-natural liquid soap is too runny for your liking, slowly add in a pinch or two more of the carrier oil or vitamin E.
If the soap is too thick and is clogging up the pump in the dispenser top, simply pour out a little bit of the recipe mixture and add in a bit more water.
Tara lives on a 56 acres farm in the Appalachian Mountains, where she faces homesteading and farming challenges every single day, raising chickens, goats, horses, and tons of vegetables. She’s an expert in all sorts of homesteading skills such as hide tanning, doll making, tree tapping, and many more.
Hi, I am in Canada and we recently purchased a large chunk of land in the country. Our plan is to raise goats. I have been looking for a good recipe for goat milk foaming hand soap. I don’t want it just for us, I would like to sell it. It would be even better to find a santizing goat milk foaming hand soap that would still have a great scent. I am finding lots of recipes for goat milk liquid hand soap but not the foaming. It is starting to look very difficult for me to find one. Help!
Debbie from Canada