Foaming hand soap is a luxurious means to clean your hands. If you’re looking for an easy yet effective DIY foaming hand soap recipe, you’re in the right place! I’m going to show you how you can make one of the best moisturizing hand soaps at home with just 5 ingredients.
For fans of the Young Living Thieves® Foaming Hand Soap, you’ll be thrilled to know that I’ve kept this recipe as close to the original as possible. If you’ve been wanting to make your own Thieves® foaming hand soap so you can avoid the steep price tag, please do try this recipe! I really believe you’ll be thrilled with it. 🧡
This hand soap recipe contains only natural ingredients: no chemicals, fillers, or other contaminants will touch your hands or get flushed down your drain. Whether you live downtown New York, or on an acreage in the middle of Minnesota, this recipe works equally well for anyone looking for alternative, natural, and inexpensive foaming hand soap.
This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure policy here.
Plus – you can add your own crafty touch by selecting different containers for your soap – and dress them up so well that they make a perfect gift. I’ll show you my favorite tricks here, too!
Making all-natural foaming soap is one of the simplest, non-toxic DIY projects you will ever attempt. Let’s dive right in:
How to Make Foaming Hand Soap
Making your own foaming hand soap isn’t complicated. Even if you’re a beginner, you can easily pick it up! Here’s how:
- Order or recycle a foaming hand soap container (with pump).
- Boil water to use instead of distilled water.
- Assemble other ingredients including essential oils.
- Blend everything together right inside the container.
- Shake well to combine; and before each use.
Foaming Hand Soap Recipe
You’ll need these 5 ingredients to make a luxurious DIY homemade foaming hand soap:
- Plastic soap dispensers (like these ones here)
- 2-3 Tbsp castile soap (liquid)
- 2 Tbsp Aloe vera gel
- 1 Tbsp Jojoba carrier oil or Vitamin E oil
- 12-15 drops Young Living Thieves® (or Alternative) essential oils blend such as Rocky Mountain Oils’ Immune Strength. If you have children in the house, I’ve successfully used Plant Therapy’s KidSafe® Germ Destroyer blend in this recipe.
- Distilled water
The essential oils in this homemade hand soap will separate when left standing – that’s completely ok!
In your soap dispenser, start adding the ingredients in order of mention, and use distilled water at the end to fill up the jar. If you don’t have distilled water, boil tap water in a pot and let it cool off before use.
Once everything is in the bottle, give it a good shake to combine ingredients, and that’s it. Start enjoying your perfect homemade hand soap.
NOTE: As there are no emulsifiers in this blend, the essential oils will separate out to the top of the soap when left standing. This doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with your mixture! It simply means that you’ve used all-natural ingredients that behave in a natural way. Simply shake the soap container before use and all will be well. If you really don’t like that process, you can try adding one of these natural emulsifiers here.
Ingredients Explained:
Castile Soap
Castile soap isn’t only a good soap for washing your entire body and hair as a portion of an organic skin care routine, you can also do the laundry with it plus, it can safely be used around children. Castile soap is also very popular among vegans and vegetarians since it’s plant-based. The castile soap in our foaming hand soap recipe will make the mixture seem cloudy. Get castile soap here.
Aloe Vera Gel
Aloe Vera is highly anti-inflammatory and contains antioxidants, enzymes; plus Vitamins A and C ¹. It helps moisturize the skin and prevents the deepening of wrinkles and fine lines.
Jojoba Oil
Jojoba is actually a liquid wax rather than an oil, and because it is so similar to human sebum, it is considered one of the main treatments for dry and mature skin. ITs waxy nature adds a protective layer that helps skin retain moisture. Readily absorbed, it can be used on all skin types ².
Vitamin E Oil
Vitamin E nourishes the skin and acts as an antioxidant to help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals ³. In this hand soap recipe, it is used to soften and smooth the skin as it helps increase the skin’s natural nutrient levels.
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Foaming Hand Soap Dispensers
Foaming soap dispensers operate instantly and efficiently; they work by simply mixing in a little quantity of air into the soap as it moves through the nozzle. Finding an appropriate foaming hand soap dispenser is also a remarkably effortless procedure. If you’re searching for a pretty foaming dispenser that will endure for a lengthy time, you will find tons of great options on Amazon! If you like mason jar crafts around your home, I can also recommend these Mason Jar foaming soap toppers, which give your homemade soap a luxurious and crafty feel.
Dress It Up!
With the trend towards more DIY gifts, you can definitely stun your giftees with this DIY mason jar version of the Young Living Thieves® Foaming Hand Soap. Follow the recipe above and mix all of your ingredients into a 3.5″ wide glass mason jar. Stay on the larger side of ingredient quantities as the soap may come out too watery otherwise. The mason jars hold more ounces of liquid than the plastic containers.
If you order these foaming hand soap mason jar toppers here, they come included with a set of 8 stickers that you can use for your gifts. Personally, I ordered that exact 2-pack of mason jar toppers, plus a 6-pack of the plastic containers (see product link above).
With the 8 labels included in the mason jar pack, I had enough pretty sticker labels to make a total of 8 amazing-looking gift soaps.
- You might also like: 5 Alternatives to the Young Living Thieves® Blend (Plus “Thieves” DIY Recipe!)
- Essential Oils Gift Guide
- Best Essential Oil Supplies for the Hobby Aromatherapist at Home
Why Homemade Hand Soap?
If you are wondering why you should be making homemade hand soap, or at least purchase a more natural, pure soap, I want to share with you a little information. As it can be challenging to find the most suitable soap products (which will cleanse your skin without damaging it), a DIY alternative is actually a very smart choice. Here’s why:
- Purchasing foaming hand soaps can get expensive. The price of each item you buy at the store includes costs for the container, production, and marketing of selling the branded item. Making your own foaming hand soap is an easy, frugal and healthful option for the soap needs of your household.
- With less chemicals and commercially produced soaps getting rinsed down the drain, less soap ends up in our natural surroundings.
- This homemade hand soap is really enjoyable and simple to make.
- If you’re skeptical whether or not it will clean your hands as well as commercially produced soap – I dare you to try it out! You’ll feel astonished on how moisturized and well taken care-of your hands feel after using this DIY foaming hand soap recipe! And it really does get the job of cleaning done equally as beautiful.
- In “regular” soap”, there are specific chemicals that could hurt an individual’s skin, especially dry or sensitive skin. It’s great to know you’re using something all-natural that has absolutely no chemicals in it.
If you do prefer a name brand hand soap, take a look at the website of the company and register for money saving offers and coupons if available.
Final Thoughts
I know that cleaning out chemicals in your house and replacing them with green alternatives may be an intimidating undertaking. But as long as you’re using toxic chemicals to clean your home, you’ll never have the amazing environment in your house that you truly want for you and your family members. Starting with replacing your hand soaps may be a small and easy first step.
If you’re interested in more natural cleaning, read these tips on how to clean with essential oils.
References
¹ Baylor College of Medicine: Using Aloe Vera has multiple benefits
² Neal’s Yard Remedies: Essential Oils: All-natural remedies and recipes for your mind, body, and home.
³ National Institutes of Health: Vitamin E Fact Sheet for Consumers
Dawn Stanislawski
I know this may sound like a silly question, but if I use a 12oz soap dispenser – should I use more of the ingredients? Also, do you have an idea of how much lecithin I would start with? Thank you!