Real Crunchy Step: Hand Soap

One thing my family goes through very quickly is hand soap. Although we do wash our hands an appropriate amount, the main reason we go through it so quickly is because my adorable, 3 year-old Aubree likes to use a ton of soap while washing her hands to create a sink full of bubbles. Then she wipes these bubbles on her arms, nose, the faucet, and any where else she can get to before I come in and stop her!

I usually stock up on the 7.5 oz Soft Soap brand liquid hand soaps when they are $1 each at Acme. Although this is not expensive, I was able to make a more natural hand soap for even less!

You will need:
1 gallon of distilled water
2 TBL of glycerin (found in the first aid section in stores, mine was called “glycerin skin protectant).
8 oz bar soap

I grated 8 oz of Ivory Soap (2.5 bars) into a 5 quart pot (often called a Dutch oven). I added the gallon of distilled water, and the 2 TBL of glycerin, and cooked on medium-high heat, stirring frequently until all the soap dissolves.





This took about 10-15 minutes to get all the soap dissolved. When dissolved, I took the pot off the burner to cool.

Then I waited…and waited…and wondered if it was working because it just looked like water…and waited more.





After about 4 hours it started to get cloudy.





Then it started to get thick and blob like. Then I couldn’t help myself and started to stir it here and there, even though I kept telling myself I might be messing it up. (Don’t worry, I didn’t mess it up!)





After about 11 hours it was thick enough, but still wasn’t smooth. I got out my hand blender and blended it until it was smooth. (You could also use a hand mixer). I found that the next day it was even a little more thick.





I poured it into the gallon jug the distilled water came in, and had enough left to almost fill an empty 7.5 oz soap dispenser. I tried it out and it worked great! It was even sudsy! Success!

Some tips: Soaps with moisturizers in them (like Dove) do not work as well with this recipe. If the soap is too thick, you can blend in some water until you reach the right consistency.

Cost Comparison: $0.99 for the distilled water, $0.97 for 2 TBL of glycerin (I spent $5.79 for the bottle), $1.46 for 2.5 bars of Ivory Soap, with a grand total of $3.42 for about 135 oz of hand soap (or 18 of the soft soaps). This saves me $0.81 per 7.5 oz soap dispenser.

I am kind of sad that I still have 4 Soft Soaps left.

Denise

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