Tuesday, November 1, 2011

homemade liquid hand soap


For years now I've used an all natural goats milk body soap but have struggled to find an all natural goats milk liquid hand wash that I like just as much. I've tried using organic liquid hand washes but they were ridiculously expensive ($9.95+ for 200ml) and I just couldn't justify that expense. 

I knew there had to be a way to make my own, so I scoured the web and came across a few recipes that seemed relatively easy. Unfortunately, none of the recipes worked quite as well as the maker had promised - they were either too runny or too solid to be passed off as a liquid hand wash. But with a few changes, I've made a mix which resembles and works just as well as any commercial liquid hand wash. Here's what I did:

10 cups water
1 bar of soap ( a better quality bar will yield the best results)
1 metric tablespoon of vegetable glycerine (found at the supermarket near the calamine lotion or at your local health food store)
optional - your favourite essential oil if using a fragrance free bar soap

Grate the soap using the fine side of your cheese grater and set aside. In a medium/large pot, add 10 cups of water, 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerine and 1 cup (tightly packed) of the grated soap. Cook on medium to low heat until the soap dissolves, remembering not to let the water boil otherwise the finished product will be watery. Once the soap has dissolved, remove from the heat and allow the mix to cool completely. At this step, you may add your favourite essential oil if you have used a fragrance free bar soap. 
  
If the finished product is too watery and does not resemble liquid hand soap, you have probably overheated the mix. But don't despair... add a teaspoon of table soap and check on the mix in 10-15 minutes. If the mix is still runny after this time, add another teaspoon of table salt.

After a quick whisk, what you should end up with is a silky liquid hand soap... just funnel the mix into your soap dispenser and you're done! You can pour the remaining mix into an airtight bottle, remembering to leave some room for you to shake each time you need to refill your soap dispenser. 

The bar soap I use lathers beautifully due to the goats milk, so I get a great lather with this liquid hand soap but some soaps wont have the same result. But don't worry... the sudsy lather isn't what makes soap the great cleaner that it is!

Using my all natural bar soap, it costs me about $6 to make 2 litres of liquid hand soap. If you're using a regular bar of soap or the mini soaps you got during your last hotel stay, then it will cost you less than $2 for 2 litres of the stuff! A great saving for only 5-10 minutes of your time!

Have a try yourself and if you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me!

Michelle xx

No comments:

Post a Comment