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How to Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap (+ Best Essential Oils for Hand Washing)

58 · Jul 14, 2022 · Stephanie Gerber ·

I’ve always been a compulsive hand-washer, even before hand washing was really, shall we say, cool. With a husband who’s equally obsessed with cleanliness, it seemed like were always running out of soap. Not only is it expensive to stock every sink in the house, but those cheap plastic bottles create a ton of trash, which I always felt guilty about. I know it sounds ridiculous, but learning to make our own foaming hand soap almost felt like winning the lottery. (Almost.)

The beauty of DIY hand soap is that you can ditch all the chemicals, colors and crazy scents. Plus, one bottle of all-natural castile soap fills an almost endless supply soap dispensers, meaning you’ll never run out again.

How to Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap

How to make your own foaming hand soap

You know you’ve officially gone DIY when you find yourself giddily making your own hand soap on a Saturday afternoon. Just 2 tablespoons of castile soap is enough to make 16 ounces of foaming hand soap! Plus it keeps heaps of trash out of the landfill and chemicals out of your home. It’s a win-win-win.

While I used to save leftover plastic foaming soap bottles that I’d then refill over and over, I recently invested in a few glass dispensers that I keep stashed next to every sink. I bought ’em for the looks but I love that they last forever and you can run them through the dishwasher. Alternatively, you can also just purchase some foaming soap pump lids and convert old mason jars into soap dispensers.

Why Castile?

As for the soap, I recommend using liquid castile soap. Castile is a plant-based, biodegradable, natural soap that can be used as a base for DIY beauty and household products, as well as on its own as a powerful cleaner.

Because it’s incredibly concentrated, you only need a couple tablespoons to make an entire bottle of foaming hand soap. Dr. Bronner’s is one the more popular brands, but there are plenty of equally green, less-expensive brands to choose from.

How to Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap

Best Essential Oils for Hand Soap

If you like your hand soap scented, you can add essential oils. I recommend using oils that’ll help boost the antibacterial power of your soap, like lavender, tea tree and lemon. But you’re free to use whichever oils you like.

Our recipe calls for 27 drops of essential oil, which is a 3% dilution. Along with lemongrass and ginger, here are a few of our favorite scent combinations:

Floral finish: 10 drops of rose and 17 drops of lemon

Minty clean: 13 drops of tea tree and 14 drops of peppermint

French lavender: 27 drops of lavender

Orange blossom: 12 drops sweet orange and 15 drops vanilla essential oil

Fresh scent: 10 drops of eucalyptus and 17 drops of lemon

Ingredients for making foaming hand soap

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons liquid Castile soap
  • 27 drops essential oil
  • Water
  • 12 ounce foaming soap dispenser

Instructions

Pour Castile soap into bottle. If adding essential oils, add them now too.

Slowly add water into bottle, making sure to leave room for the foaming pump.

Screw on the lid and gently shake the bottle to mix everything together.

To use, just pump one or two times into hands and wash for 20 seconds. Then rinse with warm water.

How to Make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap

Foaming Hand Soap FAQ

Can I make foaming hand soap with dish soap?

Any liquid soap should technically work for this. If you run out of castile soap, you can use dish soap, body wash or even traditional gel hand soap. But these types of soap aren’t always as gentle, or as natural, as castile soap, and they may dry out skin.

How can I make moisturizing hand soap?

If you suffer from dry skin, go ahead and add a tablespoon of oil to your foaming hand soap. I like sweet almond, jojoba or sesame oil because they’re light and shouldn’t leave your skin feeling terribly greasy. But use whichever oil you like.

Just remember to shake your bottle of hand soap prior to each use.

Do I need to add preservatives to homemade hand soap?

We go through soap pretty quickly at my house, so I’ve never had an issue with it going bad or growing mold. But this soap is mostly water and mold can become an issue if it’s not used quickly enough. If you’d like to add a preservative, I recommend a natural one, such as grapefruit seed extract.

Will foaming hand soap work in a non-foaming dispenser?

Without a foaming dispenser, your hand soap will be more liquid, than foam. While it will still work to get rid of dirt and grime, it won’t give you the dense foam we all know and love.

Can I add alcohol or some other antibacterial agent to my hand soap?

I wouldn’t recommend it since alcohol is especially drying, especially if you have sensitive skin. But I do recommend adding essential oils for an antibacterial boost. Cinnamon, eucalyptus and tea tree are my personal favorites.

Looking for more ways to use that bottle of castile soap? Here are 6 green cleaning recipes that use castile soap.

Photos by Ana Stanciu

Print Recipe

DIY Foaming Hand Soap

With just two ingredients, making your own foaming hand soap couldn't be cheaper -- or easier.
Prep Time2 minutes mins
Total Time2 minutes mins
Course: Green Cleaning
Servings: 12 ounces
Author: Hello Glow

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
  • 10 drops essential oil optional
  • Water
  • 12 ounce foaming soap dispenser
  • 1 tbsp honey (optional)
  • 1 tbsp almond oil (optional)

Instructions

  • Pour castile soap into bottle. (If you choose to, add essential oils, honey and almond oil at this time as well.)
  • Slowly add water into bottle, making sure to leave room for the foaming pump.
  • Add lid, shake, and you are good to go!
  • When ready to use, just pump one to two times into hands and rinse with warm water.

Notes

Any liquid soap should technically work for this. If you run out of castile soap, you can use dish soap, body wash or even traditional gel hand soap. But these types of soap aren’t always as gentle, or as natural, as castile soap, and they may dry out skin.
To boost the antibacterial power of your soap, try adding cinnamon, clove, oregano, lavender, tea tree or thyme essential oils.
58

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Reader Interactions

Comments

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    liked the page; can’t wait to make my own foaming soap!

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  44. Lauren E says

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  52. Lynne T. says

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    I’ve liked them on Facebook.

  53. beatriz says

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  59. Klydra P. says

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  60. Klydra P. says

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  69. Amy Bond says

    February 22, 2013 at 11:48 am

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  83. Catherine S says

    February 21, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    I do love the Method line. And I do recycle my foaming handwash containers in this way too. It’s amazing how little soap is necessary to make a fine foam.

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    February 21, 2013 at 5:31 pm

    I liked Method on facebook as Cassandra Eastman!

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    February 21, 2013 at 5:19 pm

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  86. J Baker says

    February 21, 2013 at 4:52 pm

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  87. MerrySherry says

    February 21, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    Because of you, I clicked like on Method’s FB page and hope I will get to try their foaming soap! Thank you!

  88. Kumiko says

    February 21, 2013 at 2:22 pm

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    This looks like a great product that could save me money. My kids would waste less soap. I liked their FB page.

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  100. Sylvia Zajis says

    February 21, 2013 at 3:30 am

    Liked Method on FB, thanks for the giveaway opportunity.

  101. Kathleen says

    February 21, 2013 at 3:20 am

    Thank you for this giveaway! I hope I get to try this…

  102. Margot C says

    February 21, 2013 at 3:16 am

    I already do this! (my husband thinks that I am a crank putting water in the liquid soap, now I can point to your post!)

    I liked Method on facebook already; I hope that counts.

  103. helen says

    February 21, 2013 at 12:27 am

    how fun!! i love foaming soap. this is a fab idea 🙂 thanks for sharing!

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    I like Method on FB,
    lisa lo

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    I would love to win! Love the Method bottles!!

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    February 20, 2013 at 10:02 pm

    I liked them on Facebook!

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    February 20, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    I liked Method on fb! Thanks for the giveaway!

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    I like Method on facebook.

  110. Melanie says

    February 20, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    Thanks for the chance to win!

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    February 20, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    I love Method products and I would love it if I won some.

  114. Joanna says

    February 20, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    I liked Method on Facebook and I loooove everything Method in real life! Hope I win. Thanks so much for hosting this super giveaway. Nifty trick by the way, i will definitely be trying this.

  115. rachel says

    February 20, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    I liked Method! Also, I adore them in real life. 🙂

  116. Kim L. says

    February 20, 2013 at 3:27 pm

    I love those bottles! I agree with you, the pump is much easier for kids to use and they use so much less! My son was putting about 3 pumps of regular liquid soap on his hands at a time. (and they still weren’t clean lol)

  117. Jessica says

    February 20, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    I liked Method!

  118. sara says

    February 20, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    I liked Method on Facebook. Those bottles are super fun! I have refilled Method dish soap bottles because I love their shape, but these are even better!

  119. Jeanne says

    February 20, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    Can’t wait to try this.

  120. Mandi says

    February 20, 2013 at 1:43 pm

    I like Method on Facebook and like their products a lot! Thanks for the contest!

  121. Jen @ Cuddles and Chaos says

    February 20, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    Oh. my. gosh! Why didn’t I think of using my Dr. Bronner’s for foaming soap?! This is amazing. Thank yooooou!

  122. Scott says

    February 20, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    With kids I am always in to saving money! Cleaner hand are always a good thing too.

  123. Michelle says

    February 20, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    I liked them on FB . Such a good idea. Now I just need the cute bottles.

  124. Lea Anna says

    February 20, 2013 at 12:42 pm

    What a good idea! I liked Method on Facebook.

  125. Susanna says

    February 20, 2013 at 12:01 pm

    This is a great idea, never thought about that, your bottles are much cuter than what I have too 🙂

  126. Rachel says

    February 20, 2013 at 11:35 am

    I love this! and I liked!

  127. erica says

    February 20, 2013 at 11:35 am

    i like method on FB. and i REALLY like their products. been using their soap and cleaning spray for about a year now. (and just tried the laundry detergent too!)

    <3

  128. Seriously Sassy Mama says

    February 20, 2013 at 10:24 am

    I liked them. Never thought of this idea. I will blame my let brain for my lack of creativity.

  129. Monica says

    February 20, 2013 at 11:15 am

    I have been doing this for some time now to save money.

  130. Sandy says

    February 20, 2013 at 11:14 am

    Thanks for the giveaway!!

  131. Sherry says

    February 20, 2013 at 10:46 am

    I haven’t tried Method yet but I’m looking forward to it. I love the bottle designs.
    I’ve been using this idea for awhile,I’m cheap and it’s great!

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