I started making my own foaming hand soap early in my switch to a more natural lifestyle. With concerns over antibacterial soap and potty-training little ones who found the need to wash their hands/arms/the counter with soap a thousand times a day, I needed a healthy and frugal option.

Now that the kids are older (and not quite as messy), we still go through plenty of hand wash! Thankfully, there’s a homemade and incredibly simple option that works just as well. It also costs hardly anything to make per bottle, and it’s made with clean ingredients.

Simple DIY Foaming Hand Soap

The recipe itself is literally so simple that at one point, my then six year old was in charge of refilling the homemade foaming hand soap containers. I keep the few simple ingredients on hand, and we never have to buy hand soap or worry about running out. Surprisingly, this foamy natural soap also makes a decent shaving cream and body wash in the shower…

Before you begin, you’ll need a foaming hand soap bottle. I originally ordered this pretty foaming hand soap dispenser online. You can also just reuse the pump bottle of your favorite foaming hand soap.

Why Use Foaming Hand Soap?

Years ago, I got addicted to soap making, and we were always fully stocked with different bar soaps. Now that life is busier in different ways, I rely more on natural liquid soap and foaming hand soap to suds up. The foaming pump creates a nice lather but overall uses less soap than regular liquid hand soap.

This is great for little kids who think it’s fun to keep pumping the soap container over and over! And of course it’s much healthier (and cheaper!) than popular versions at places like Bath and Body Works.

Ingredients Used in Homemade Soap

The basic recipe is soap, oil, and distilled water. You can keep it unscented or add a few drops of essential oils. These not only help it smell nice but also add natural antimicrobial properties to tackle unwanted germs, without using synthetic antibacterial chemicals. I use Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, which comes in an unscented version as well as peppermint, lavender, citrus, and other essential oil scented versions.

I use olive oil in this recipe since it’s deeply moisturizing, but jojoba, sweet almond, or any liquid carrier oil will work. Just avoid using something solid like coconut oil. For extra glide, you can also add 1/2 tsp of glycerin.

Because this recipe uses water and does not have a preservative, it should be used within about a week. If you don’t go through it that quickly, you can cut the recipe in half. In our house, that’s not a problem though! The base recipe is 1 part soap to 12 parts water, so you can scale it up or down.

Here’s the (super simple) tutorial for how to make your own homemade foaming hand soap!

Caution About Essential Oils

A 1/2 teaspoon of essential oils is still less than a 1% dilution, which is well below the general maximum amount for a wash-off product. However, more irritating oils like cinnamon, clove, oregano, and lemongrass should be used in a much smaller amount or avoided. Oils that have natural antimicrobial properties but are gentler on skin include lavender, orange, lemon, and tea tree essential oil.

If you’re using soap that already has essential oils in it, then you wouldn’t need to add more.

Do you make your own soap already? If not… will you start now? Share below!