By Erin Odom, Contributing Writer
Over the course of the past couple years, I've enjoyed learning how to make homemade products--like homemade liquid dish soap, homemade deodorant and various homemade food products, like bread crumbs and cream of chicken soup.
Today I'm giving you a recipe for a safe antibacterial foaming hand soap.
Besides being void of the harmful triclosan found in conventional, store-bought antibacterial soaps, this soap recipe is easy, frugal and 100% natural!
The antibacterial ingredient in this soap is thieves essential oil. Thieves oil is a natural antibiotic and disinfectant (source).
Legend has it that hundreds of years ago, robbers (or thieves) used the oil blend of cinnamon, eucalyptus, lemon, rosemary and clove to rub over their bodies to protect against the plague in Europe.
The only brand I have ever used is Young Living Essential Oils, which is supposed to be very high quality. But the first time my family used it, we actually tried making our own.We first used it by making our own thieves disinfecting room spray when we suffered from nearly 4 weeks of the norovirus last spring.
Without further ado, here's a super easy tutorial for homemade antibacterial foaming hand soap!
Homemade Antibacterial Hand Soap
Supplies Needed:
- 3/4 cup distilled/purified water
- 1/4 cup liquid castile soap
- 5 drops thieves oil
- foaming soap pump
- foaming soap bottle OR old canning jar
Where to buy foaming pumps? I found a few: this one goes on top of pint-sized mason jars, this one has a glass/metal container and looks slightly classier, and this is the cheapest one I saw.
Directions:
- Combine water and soap.
- Pour soap mixture into bottle/jar with foaming soap pump.
- Add 5 drops essential oil to soap, mixing gently.
- Enjoy your antibacterial foaming hand soap!
You can really reuse any foaming soap dispenser for this tutorial, but my family has enjoyed using this tutorial to make attractive soap bottles out of old canning jars. We made a peppermint version of this soap to give as Christmas gifts last year!
This tutorial can really be changed and used with any variety of essential oils to alter the scent. The thieves oil, though, makes it a great soap to use during the fall and winter months when illness runs rampant--but you don't want to break out harmful antibacterial soaps!
Want more information about how to use essential oils for your home and health? My friend Mary at The Encouraging Home has a free eBook guide to essential oils on her site.
Hi Erin, I love Jesus too.
I stumbled across your website looking for a natural alternative to bought antibacterial soaps. Thank you for this recipe. Not sure what I an buy here in Australia yet. Can use any essential oil in place of the thieves oil?
Blessings in Jesus' name
Alison
Hi, great post! I have a question, is this strong enough to protect me and my family when handling raw chicken in the kitchen? I have been looking for something that is strong enough to keep the germs at bay when handling raw meat, but without chemicals and nasty stuff. Thank you!
Does anyone else have an issue with getitng the soap to fully dissolve? My bottles are clear and there is always a layer of soap at the bottom that no measure of shaking or stirring will fix. This also causes my soap to be thinner, with less foaming. Any ideas?
Try warming up the water first. It dissolves great then!
My son has an autoimmune reaction to pretty much any virus that causes his hands to break out with some pretty heavy duty eczema, making hand washing with most store bought soaps a battle. We found a brand that didn't irritate him too much, but it's getting harder and harder to find in our area. Is this soap fairly gentle? I'm getting desperate for something to use when the sniffles are running rampant around here.
I would make it with the baby mild castile soap and leave out the thieves.
This is so great!! I am learning so much from your site. I just found it, and I have to say it is good to know I am not alone. My family thinks I have gone crazy because I am trying so hard to NOT use harmful chemcials. Thank You!
What. A. Fabulous. Post. I ordered stuff for body butter ASAP, pinned the foaming hand soap, bought the book & will be blogging about my adventures as such! I do some things like scrubs already, but am thrilled to replace my Bath & Body Works stuff.
Sorry, I just found the answer to my question by reading all the comments ;)
I like the white lid and pump on the mason jar in your pic. Is there a source for that?
Love this idea and I have a way cheaper source for the pumps! When I met my husband he was a potter and we shopped for his ceramic supplies at a company called Aftosa. There's a minimum $20 order but the foaming pumps are only $7.65 each and the plain soap pumps are get this 44¢! I think I'm going to make these as Christmas gifts!
Oops I forgot to give you the link: http://search.store.yahoo.net/yhst-13391808682274/cgi-bin/nsearch?query=soap+pump&x=23&y=18&vwcatalog=yhst-13391808682274&.autodone=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.yahoo.com%2Fyhst-13391808682274
This is the only hand soap we use but I've yet to buy thieves oil. I'll be ordering some for sure! Thanks, Erin!
Great and easy. I was introduced to Thieves by Young Living a few years ago. I have never looked back. I'd like to try this recipe but will have to find our where I can purchase the Castile soap in Australia.
I had another reader ask me about getting castile soap in NZ today. I'm so sorry I didn't realize you had trouble finding it in that part of the world. :( I know I've seen some homemade castile soap recipes on the web, but I've never tried any. Maybe someone else will have an idea?
A reader below says she uses dish soap!
Try online at "Aussie Soap Supplies" or a local health food type shop. If you're in Melbourne, I know Naturally on High (High St, Thornbury) sells it.
HTH,
Cate
You can get Castile from many Aussie online stores. Newdirections.com sell it at a good price and also health food shops sell it. It's pretty cheap about $9 for 500ml.
I really liked the pump you used. I looked at all three of you links and none of them were similar. Please let me know where you got yours.
We purchased ours here: http://www.bottlesandfoamers.com/cart/. Enjoy! :)
I look on craigslist and ask on freecycle for used/empty foaming soap dispensers. i would prefer glass but I'm cheap.
My foaming soap recipe isn't antibacterial...I use 10-12 squirts of liquid Castile soap and fill the rest of the container with water (not too much, you need to leave room for the pump).
We LOVE craigslist!!
Could u not buy some handsoap from the store, wash it our VERY well & reuse?? Anyone tried this?
Oh sure, you could absolutely do that. Reusing is great. :)
I have done this! :)
U have been making a similar recipe for the last 4 years and I live it. As far as a foam pump goes I recommend buying Method brand foam pump soap from target and reuse it. I would say they last about 1 year or more.
Silly auto fix... I have... Love it....
Oh I have some funny autocorrect stories! Haha! Thanks for the Method tip!
I also have the same question is why do you suggest using it- is it for times of illness or all the time? Doesn't our bodies need to deal with some germs to help our immune systems? I don't understand.
I think it would especially be useful during times of illness, but some people seem to squeamish about not using antibacterial soap at all--and this will give them a natural, healthy, harmless version to try.
I have been doing this for quite some time now, although I just use our dish soap (7th Gen. or whatever we have at the time), squirt it into the bottom of the foaming pump container until bottom is covered, add Thieves and fill the rest of the way with water. Works extremely well and saves a whole lot of money!
Oh the dish soap is a great idea! I had a reader comment above saying she couldn't get Castile where she lives...
I couldn't find the lid you used to fit on a mason jar on the website you linked. Can you post a more specific link?
We actually purchase our lids in the canning section of Wal-mart! You can also use a regular canning lid--but we like the plastic one to prevent rust.
Did you make the pump in your picture with a plastic wide-mouth lid & the pump from One Step Ahead? Did you simply cut a hole for it & glue it?
We purchased the lid in the canning section of Wal-Mart and cut a hole in it. There are a lot of places where you can purchase the pumps, but we get ours from here: http://www.bottlesandfoamers.com/cart/.
I have friends who just re-use their friends' old Bath and Body pumps. ;)
Could you use tea tree oil instead of thieves oil? I have some tea tree oil on hand but wasn't sure how many drops to use. I want the antibacterial quality but my boys have super sensitive skin (and tea tree oil is kinda potent!).
I've been using Erin's recipe (I think it was on her blog a while ago) for several months. I use tea tree and peppermint oils instead. I just put a few drops of each into the bottle. They are both potent, but it's not much when mixed with so much water and soap.
I'm glad you like the recipe! :)
Yes--you can absolutely use tea tree--about 5-6 drops. Tea tree and lavender smell so great together! And like Karen said, we LOVE using peppermint during the holiday season!
What a fantastic soap recipe! Thank you!
You are so welcome! It's all we use around here!
Store-bought antibacterial soap is so bad for you, so I too loved the idea of making a natural version. I make mine with Dr. Bronners + tea tree oil.
http://rootsandshootsblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/homemade-face-wash/
I agree! :)
Love, Love LOVE this post! I have been thinking about doing this!! Love the idea of peppermint for Christmas!!
Thanks, Jessica! :) They make great Christmas gifts!
This sounds like a great recipe but I have one question: Do I want my family to use antibacterial soap all the time, even if it is from EO's?
That's a great question. We personally only use it during times of sickness and use the same recipe with other oils the rest of the year. However, some people who are newer to natural living may want to use it more often while they are transitioning their mindset out of the "we must wash with antibacterial soap." It's nice to have an option that's safe, healthy and natural.