Make it Yourself Monday: Eco-Friendly Liquid Hand Soap

For a long, long time, I bought hand soap on an almost weekly basis, usually either a store brand (if I was feeling cheap), or a more expensive brand from a specialty store.  

Then I started reading the ingredients. The soaps my family and I had been using contained multiple unpronounceable ingredients. For example, virtually all conventional hand soaps (and most other conventional body cleansers) contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, a known neurotoxin (For more information, visit the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep website).

Like many changes in our household, the decision to use a more natural hand soap was born out of concern for toxic ingredients, but also out of the need to find a less expensive alternative. 

Instead of costly and chemical-laden traditional hand soap, I use a combination of Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap and plain water.  

All you need to make your own liquid handsoap is a reusable foaming pump like this one from Amazon, and a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s -- any type.

Fill up the foaming pump bottle nearly full with plain tap water. Add 1 tbsp of Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap. That’s it! 

Since there is only .5 oz in each tablespoon, and Dr. Bronner’s is $.40/oz at Amazon right now, you are only paying $.40 for each bottle of hand soap you make.  Considering an average store-bought dispenser of hand soap costs between $2 and $6, that is quite a savings, especially if your family is like mine and does a LOT of hand washing.

I’ll be honest -- there are plenty of other recipes floating around cyberspace for making your own liquid hand soap. I like my Dr. Bronner’s mixture because I think it’s the easiest. When I run out, all I have to do is fill up the container with water, add a tbsp of soap, and screw the top back on.  I can’t see myself making anything that involves boiling soap scrapings. I never thought I would talk on the internet about Mama Cloth either, though, so never say never!