How to Make Foaming Hand Soap

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I’ve always liked pump hand soap over bar soap. But I’ve never been comfortable with the harsh chemicals in most pump hand soaps. So I’ve just used bar soap. Until foaming hand soap came along! Let me show you how to make foaming hand soap for super cheap!

Since I haven’t liked the sketchy ingredients of liquid hand soap, I have either used homemade bar soap or Kirk’s Castile bar soap at all the sinks in my house.

Jump to Recipe

Then I got married and discovered that people *ahem – my husband* have strong opinions about hand soap!

For my husband, bar soap is acceptable sometimes, but at hand washing time only liquid soap is the best.

So for a few years I just bought the junk stuff off the store shelf.

Until I learned that I can make my own foaming hand soap for the same price! And the ingredient list is way safer.

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Uses for Foaming Hand Soap

The obvious use is for washing hands.

Duh.

But I love using this foaming hand soap for baths. My toddler is 2 1/2 and I only use this soap to bathe him and wash his hair.

It’s gentle, safe and I can alter the recipe to make it more moisturizing for him. For foaming soap I bathe my toddler with, I just add a teaspoon of almond oil or liquid coconut oil to the bottle.

Put a bottle of this in each shower and use it yourself, too! (I happen to not like shower gels, etc. so I stick to a bar of soap in the shower.) But for you normal people who don’t like bar soap in the shower, use this foaming hand soap as your body wash!

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap

Supplies

• Castile Soap
• Water/Distilled Water
• Foaming Pump Container
• Essential Oil (optional)
• Almond Oil (optional)

The only down side of making foaming hand soap is you may have to order some supplies online and wait for them to come.

But water is easy! Boil tap water and let it cool – boiling kills any extra bacteria. I have used boiled water in the past, but I have a small family so we don’t go through soap that fast and it eventually clouded up in the jar.

Out of vanity’s sake, I just buy a gallon of distilled water at the store and use that for making foaming hand soap.

I have to order my soap base from Amazon and I order my oils from Young Living. I always buy the unscented Dr. Bronner’s soap because I like adding lemon or cinnamon to my kitchen dispenser, cedar or tea tree to my laundry sink dispenser and whatever I feel like to my bathroom dispensers.

To save yourself some time just order the pre-scented soaps!

I have tried not adding any essential oils to a bottle of foaming hand soap but it smells dingy and my husband wasn’t impressed.

Ingredients last forever so you can order in bulk and store it until you need to make more foaming hand soap.

When I first started making my own foaming hand soap, I bought a bottle of foaming hand soap from the store when it was on sale and just reused the bottle. I can’t go wrong for $.89, right?

After I knew our family liked it and I would continue making it, I ordered a couple (more costly than $.89) adorable pump tops that screw onto Mason jars.

Because they are glass I keep the Mason jar containers at hand sinks. I still use the plastic foaming bottle in the bathtub for safety.

Read More: Everyday Uses for Essential Oils

Print Recipe

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap

1. If you are using tap water (preferably non chlorinated), bring the water to a boil and let cool to room temperature.

2. In your empty foaming container, add Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap. Here is the recommended dilution chart from Dr. Bronner’s company itself. I have messed around with different ratios and am pretty happy with 1:4 dilution.

This means that in my pint sized Mason jars I add 1/2 a cup of soap. The great thing about using a Mason jar is that there are usually measurement markings on it. No extra dishes is always a good thing!

3. If you are adding your own essential oil, add it now so it mixes and binds with the soap. Essential oils don’t mix well with water. In my pint jar I add 15 to 20 drops of lemon. Experiment with your preferences and scent strength. Lavender and orange are a wonderful scent combination, as well! Mix well.

4. If you are using this soap in the bath or shower, add the moisturizing almond or liquid coconut oil now so it binds with the soap. Mix well.

5. Fill the container with cooled boiled water or distilled water and mix again.

6. Put the pump top on and enjoy!