Easy All-Natural Homemade Foaming Hand Soap - Bren Did

Learn to make easy all-natural foaming hand soap in five different ways. It's the easiest non-toxic DIY you'll ever attempt. To make foaming hand soap you need just two simple ingredients: 1. liquid soap or detergent and 2. water. Combine the two in an empty foaming hand soap container and you’ll never run out of foaming hand soap again!

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This easy guide to DIY homemade foaming hand soap will teach you to make foaming hand soap from soap, detergent, body wash, or even shampoo. Plus learn how and when to add additional ingredients to moisturize hands and add scent.

Can You Love Soap?

Cause I love foaming hand soap! It is an easy to use, convenient product that doesn't leave globs of liquid soap all over the sink… and I love any product that results in less time cleaning bathrooms!

Plus foaming hand soap is easier on the environment and more cost-effective than regular liquid soap. Except…

The Downside to Foaming Hand Soap

There is also a lot DISLIKE about most foaming hand soaps:

• Dangerous ingredients – Many store-bought versions contain unhealthy ingredients such as artificial fragrance, artificial color, triclosan, and a host of other additives that can act as allergens, endocrine disruptors, or carcinogens. These substances may cause allergies to develop in young children, early-onset puberty, and/or cellular level changes. My love of bubbles is not worth a malfunctioning immune system or breast cancer!

• Cost – Another problem with foaming hand soap is the cost! An all-natural, non-toxic version of foaming hand soap can cost more than $5 for an 8-ounce bottle that contains mostly water.

• Plastic waste – Foaming hand soap is often sold in single-use plastic bottles. I don't like adding to the amount of plastic waste produced in the world, but the bottles can be used again and again by buying a refill bag or making your own soap solution.

Luckily all-natural foaming hand soap is the easiest non-DIY project you’ll ever attempt!

To make foaming hand soap you need just two simple ingredients: 1. liquid soap or detergent and 2. Water. Combine the two in an empty foaming hand soap container and PREST… foaming hand soap!

DIY Foaming Hand Soap Ingredients

Foaming hand soap can be made from any liquid soap or detergent found in your home. It just needs to be diluted with water! Of course, different detergents/liquid soaps will clean your hands in different ways so you might have to try a few versions before you find one you love.

1. Liquid Soap or Detergent

The first necessary ingredient in foaming hand soap is liquid soap or detergent. In the US we call commonly call all hand washes "soap" the same way we call all facial tissues "Kleenex." In reality, some hand washes contain soap and some contain detergent. Both soap and detergent will work in this recipe because both remove soils and bacteria when aided by friction and water.

• Common soap examples: Liquid Castile soap, a liquid vegetable oil soap that can be used in homemade foaming soap recipes.

• Common detergent examples: liquid hand wash, body wash, liquid dish detergent (for hand washing dishes), and shampoo are all detergents that can be used in foaming hand soap recipes.

• Note: Select a natural soap or detergent if you want to make all-natural foaming hand soap. Any liquid soap or detergent will work in this recipe but some contain better ingredients.

2. Water

The second necessary ingredient in foaming hand soap is water. In fact, water is what turns liquid soap into foaming hand soap!

• Use distilled, filtered, or boiled (then cooled) water to make sure there is no bacteria present. Your foaming hand soap will last longer, and you'll be sure your hands are getting clean.

Optional Foaming Hand Soap Ingredients

You can customize your foaming hand soap by adding one or more of these 3 optional ingredients:

1. Moisturizing Oil

Moisturizing oils are sometimes used in foaming hand soap recipes to soften the skin since soap and/or detergent can be drying. Especially when hands are washed frequently.

• How to add moisturizing oils to foaming hand soap: If you'd like to add oil to your soap start with one teaspoon of argan oil jojoba oil, avocado oil, sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, etc.

• A note on moisturizing oils: You may find that adding moisturizing oil decreases the cleaning power of your soap. You can skip this ingredient and simply rub a drop or two of the oil into your hands once you are done washing.

2. Essential Oils

Essential oils (EOS) are sometimes used in DIY foaming hand soap recipes to add scent and/or to increase the antibacterial power of the soap (some essential oils have been shown to have antifungal/ antibacterial properties).

• How to add essential oils to foaming hand soap: If you'd like to add oil to your soap start with one teaspoon of moisturizing oil and add 1-15 drops of essential oils. Follow this chart for proper dilution by oil type.

• Notes on essential oils: The addition of EOS is completely optional and does not change the effectiveness of the foaming hand soap. Science shows that proper handwashing with plain soap and water is just as effective at preventing illness.

• If you are adding EOS to your foaming hand soap you must dilute them with a carrier oil first. Essential oils are not water-soluble so you cannot simply add them to a solution of water and soap. This rule applies to ALL brands of EOS.

• EOS can cause adverse reactions in children, adults, and pets including allergic reactions, skin irritation or rash, and neurological impartment. Health experts recommend limiting the use of many EOS on surfaces that contact food and in homes with sensitive individuals (children under 5, pregnant women, people with respiratory issues, and certain pets).

3. Vegetable Glycerin

Vegetable glycerin is sometimes used in all-natural foaming hand soap recipes to help moisturize the skin, soothe skin irritation, and/or thicken the final product.

• How to add glycerin to foaming hand soap: If you'd like to add glycerin to your soap start with 1 tablespoon of vegetable glycerin.

• A note on glycerin: You may find that adding glycerin leaves hands feeling a bit sticky. You can skip this ingredient and moisturize your hands once you are done washing.

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap with Castile Soap

Supplies

• 2 Tbsp. Liquid Castile soap (1 fluid ounce)
• ¾ C. Water (6 fluid ounces)
• Foaming hand soap dispenser (or reuse an old dispenser)

Directions

1. Add liquid Castile soap to foaming hand soap pump.
2. Add 6 ounces of water to the container (make sure you leave room for the pump or the bottle will overflow).
3. Stir or swirl gently to combine.

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap with Body Wash

Supplies

• 1 Tbsp. Liquid Body Wash (0.5 fluid ounce)
• ¾ C. Water (6 fluid ounces)
• Foaming hand soap dispenser (or reuse an old dispenser)

Directions

1. Add liquid body wash to foaming hand soap pump.
2. Add 6 ounces of water to the container (make sure you leave room for the pump or the bottle will overflow).
3. Stir or swirl gently to combine.

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap with Shampoo

Supplies

• 1 Tbsp. Shampoo (0.5 fluid ounce) – pick a simple shampoo not one that is medicated or color depositing
• ¾ C. Water (6 fluid ounces)
• Foaming hand soap dispenser (or reuse an old dispenser)

Directions

1. Add liquid Castile soap to foaming hand soap pump.
2. Add 6 ounces of water to the container (make sure you leave room for the pump or the bottle will overflow).
3. Stir or swirl gently to combine.

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap with Dish Detergent

Supplies

• 2 Tbsp. Natural Dish Detergent (1 fluid ounce) – the kind used for hand washing dishes in the sink
• ¾ C. Water (6 fluid ounces)
• Foaming hand soap dispenser (or reuse an old dispenser)

Directions

1. Add liquid Castile soap to foaming hand soap pump.
2. Add 6 ounces of water to the container (make sure you leave room for the pump or the bottle will overflow).
3. Stir or swirl gently to combine.

How to Make Foaming Hand Soap with Hand Soap

Supplies

• 2 Tbsp. Liquid Hand Soap (1 fluid ounce)
• ¾ C. Water (6 fluid ounces)
• Foaming hand soap dispenser (or reuse an old dispenser)

Directions

1. Add liquid Castile soap to foaming hand soap pump.
2. Add 6 ounces of water to the container (make sure you leave room for the pump or the bottle will overflow).
3. Stir or swirl gently to combine.

How Foaming Soap Works

All foaming hand soaps contain one active cleaning ingredient: soap or detergents. Both soap and detergents are surfactants: they lower the surface tension of water which makes it more able to bind with soils and oils.

Both detergents and soap molecules have a hydrophobic end that binds to the soil and a hydrophilic portion that binds to water, so when you rinse your hands, the soap or detergent is swept away by the water and it carries unwanted soils away with it.

Why does foaming soap foam?

Foaming hand soap is simply liquid soap or detergent diluted with water. As the mixture leaves the dispenser it is mixed with air to create a foamy lather.

You must use a foaming hand soap dispenser for foaming hand soap to work properly. When the diluted soap is placed in a regular soap dispenser you will simply get watery soap.

Foaming Hand Soap Q &A

What is Castile soap? Castile soap is vegetable oil-based soap that can be found in both bar and liquid forms. The name Castile comes from the region of Spain where this technique of soap making originated. Today Castile soap is made all over the world, often from coconut oil or olive oil.

How is Castile soap different from other soaps? In the United States, many soaps are made from animal fat. When you see the ingredient sodium tallowate or tallow acid on a soap label you know the soap is made from animal fat.

How can I make naturally scented hand foaming soap? There are two easy ways to scent your soap:

1. Buy scented Castile soap, it comes in a variety of scents including peppermint, lemongrass, pine, lavender, citrus, almond, eucalyptus, rose, tea tree, and orange. You can even combine scents to make your own blends.
2. Add a few drops of essential oil along in a carrier oil to your soap and water mixture. Please use caution when adding essential oils to foaming hand soap. Essential oils are not water-soluble and can separate from the mixture as it sits in your bathroom. These undiluted oils can damage the skin or cause an allergic reaction if they are dispensed onto bare hands.

How can I make moisturizing foaming hand soap? There are two easy ways to make moisturizing soap:

1. Buy liquid Castile soap that contains shea butter. It also comes in a variety of scents and is naturally moisturizing.
2. Add a teaspoon of moisturizing oil to your soap. Read more in the "Moisturizing oil section" above.

Can I make foaming body wash? Yes, follow the steps for foaming hand soap and put the dispenser in your shower or bathtub. Use plain Castile soap if you want to the foaming soap use it as shampoo, not a moisturizing shea butter version which is hard to rinse out of hair.

Can I use dishwasher detergent to make foaming hand soap? No, foaming hand soap can only be made with dish soap that is formulated for hand washing dishes in the sink. Dishwasher detergent is not meant to come into contact with human skin and does not contain the same lathering ingredients.

Can I use bar soap to make foaming dish soap? Yes. People have successful melted grated soap in hot water and then diluted the mixture to make foaming hand soap. While this works in a pinch, I have found it to be a bit gloppy in the long run.

Foaming Hand Soap Cost

Making your own all-natural foaming hand soap is much cheaper than buying natural foaming hand soap at the store. My favorite store-bought version costs about $3.00 for 8 fluid ounces.

• Liquid Castile soap costs approximately $16.00 for 32 ounces.
• My homemade foaming hand soap uses one ounce of Castile soap plus water to make 6 ounces for $0.50!

That's a cost savings of more than $2.00 and I can tell NO DIFFERENCE!

Soap and Detergent Buying Tip

Be sure to check your product labels when buying any natural body care product, even Castile Soap. Many products claim to be pure and natural but have synthetic chemicals or fragrances added. I like to check my products on the EWG Consumer Guides or on a Smartphone with the Think Dirty App.

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