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I accomplished February’s DIY project right around the end of last month. I made homemade hand soap. One gallon, all for around $5.00. That’s hard to beat, especially when the hand soap is made with organic soap.
I used Dr. Bonner’s Peppermint Bar soap made with organic oils. I purchased it from Traders Joes for less than $3.50.
This recipe was SO easy to pull off. You essentially shred a bar of soap, put it in a large pot, add one gallon of water plus 2 Tablespoons of glycerin and cook. While it cooks, you can enjoy the fragrant aroma coming from your kitchen. Our’s smelled like peppermint. Mmmm….
When the soap dissolves, you simply turn off the heat, then wait about 10 hours until the consistency changes to that of liquid hand soap. Here’s what our soap looked like right after I put it on the stove.
After reading the comments on the website where I found the recipe and seeing how my hand soap wasn’t looking like soap in the first few hours, I wondered if this little DIY project was going to turn out well.
But it did turn out well. Very well. I ended up with a whole gallon of high quality liquid hand soap that doesn’t have the chemicals and dyes you might find in other hand soaps. I think the reason is that I started with a high quality bar of soap. This really seems to make a difference, so if you were thinking about making hand soap for your family, too, I’d definitely be sure to make it with a high quality bar of soap. 
Here’s the recipe:
DIY Homemade Liquid Hand Soap
Ingredients
- 1 High Quality Bar of Soap (Preferably Dr. Bonner's)
- 1 Gallon Water
- 2 Tbs. + 1-2 Tsp. Glycerin
Cooking Directions
- Grate bar of soap and put it into a large pan on the stove
- Add water and glycerin and cook on medium heat
- Stir ingredients and cook until soap completely dissolves
- Once the soap dissolves, turn off heat and allow hand soap to cool on stove and set to the consistency of hand soap (about 10 hours)
- Transfer to containers - you may need a funnel for this part
- Enjoy!
Here’s a video tutorial I created for how to make homemade hand soap:
This month’s DIY project is homemade face wash! Looking forward to it!
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Well I may have to try this recipe. I have in the past made my own bar soap but I have not tried to make liquid
hand soap. I had a book but it was very complicated in its instructions, this looks like it would definitely be doable. Thanks for posting the recipe.
You are welcome, Shelly! This recipe was very easy. The hardest part was the waiting for it to set.
So cool, sandra! I just may have to try this!
You should, Patty! It was super easy.
Looks like it made a lot, What did you end up storing it in?
Hi Gina!
It did make a whole gallon. We ended up storing it in a container my husband purchased from Menards, I think. We could have used a clean milk jug, but hubby wanted to use the container instead. The container comes with a lid that keeps it tightly sealed.
This sounds so awesome! I will definitely have to try it out, especially since we are almost out of hand soap
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe 
Thanks, Erin!
It was SO easy. And it’s hard to beat a whole gallon of hand soap using only 3 ingredients.
This sounds so awesome! I will definitely have to try it out, especially since we are almost out of hand soap. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe
Thanks for linking up to Thrifty Thursday! My mother in law was trying to figure this out, so I can send it to her too!
Thanks, Shelly!
I hope your mother-in-law enjoys the recipe.
Hi – justy wondering where you got your labels for your soap.
Hi Connie,
Thanks for stopping by! I actually just recycled an old soap container in the picture for my first batch of soap. I now use reusable hand soap dispensers that my family can simply refill over and over again. We got the reusable/refillable soap dispensers on clearance at Target.
I found that using the dispensers also helps the soap to dispense less runny.
I’m looking forward to making another batch soon and thinking about creating a video to show how I make it.
Can’t wait to try this, but I have a silly question – where do you buy glyicerin at??
Hi Janette! That is totally not a silly question.
I had the same question when I first wanted to make homemade soap. I’ve bought glycerin both at craft stores like Michael’s and at Hobby Lobby. Others say they’ve found it at the grocery store, but I haven’t been able to locate it there. Glycerin is pretty inexpensive, but it you buy it at Michael’s or another craft store, be sure to check that store’s ads for coupons.
1 Gallon of hand soap for under $5 is great; however, I do question it being very sanitary. You are taking one bar of soap, and diluting it with 1 gallon of water. Is this where the Glycerin comes in? How can I know my hands will be clean after washing them?
Can you suggest a good bar soap for this that is unscented? I make fragrance hand soaps by order and this would be great to replenish my gallon jug but i would want it unscented until i add to each smaller bottle…any suggestions?