Low Waste DIY Foaming Hand Soap

Teaching myself to make castile soap is on my winter to-do list. Castile soap is a different recipe and soap-making process than our body soaps, but my soap-making experience gives me confidence to move forward with the new goal.

Our family regularly uses liquid castile soap in our refillable foaming soap dispensers. The castile soap provides smooth suds that feel nourishing instead of leaving the hands feeling dry. Whipping up your own foaming hand wash is simple, cost effective and a low waste method to fulfill one of those daily use household products.

Many brands offer liquid castile soap in large jugs and you can even liquify hard bars of castile soap at home if you are up for an additional step. Control the ingredients in your soap and whether it is unscented or scented; quickly change it up and make your own scented soaps by adding essential oil drops to unscented foaming hand wash.

Here’s a basic foaming hand soap recipe using liquid castile soap:

Fill a foaming soap dispenser about 1/3 full of liquid castile soap and then fill the rest of the bottle with water, leaving about 1” space at top. Shake thoroughly until well combined, about 1 minute.

Important notes: all of the soap needs to mix with the water or the soap will settle at the bottom of your dispenser (we have clear foaming hand soap dispensers and it is easy to see if the soap and water are mixed). Liquid castile soap is fairly concentrated, and some brands are ‘heavier’ than others. It is important to keep this in mind when making your own foaming handwash. If upon filling the soap dispenser, you feel like it is coming out too watered down simply add more soap and shake again. On the other hand, if it is having a hard time coming out of the dispenser, it is too thick and you will need to add more water and shake again.

-Michelle