How to Make Liquid Soap from Scratch
Today’s post is going to help you kick (or nurture?) your addiction to pumpkin spice with a lovely homemade hand wash recipe that has a lovely natural pumpkin spice scent! You’ll find that this homemade hand wash recipe smells more authentic than the sugary pumpkin spice we know and love. And it’s super healthy for your skin!
Essential oils can be super healing for you, both inside and out! But don’t worry if you’ve never used them before. I’ve got a secret ingredient that will make your pumpkin spice hand soap smell like fall heaven! But first, let’s get into what makes this homemade hand wash all natural in the first place.
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What’s Wrong with Conventional Hand Soap?
Where do I even begin? Hand soap is something that we use and come into contact with several times a day, especially now during 2020 and beyond. You would think that it does a great job of getting rid of germs on your hands, and that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, there’s much more to it than that.
It’s certainly true that conventional hand soap kills germs and gets the job done, but it also forces you to come into contact with questionable chemicals that have been proven to cause illness and hormonal imbalance. Here are some of the most common ingredients found in traditional hand soap:
- Triclosan—An antibacterial agent that is much too strong to come into contact with humans. It’s so strong, in fact, that it’s been proven to create stronger strains of bacteria and sickness!
- Sulfates—A common ingredient you’ll find in just about anything soap-based. Sulfates are very harsh on the skin and hair, and can cause irritation to the mouth, nose and lungs. People with sensitive skin should take care to stay away.
- Parabens—Found in just about any and every beauty and personal care product, parabens are absorbed quickly into your bloodstream and mimic the hormone estrogen, which can cause hormonal imbalance that can lead to birth defects and infertility.
- Fragrance—A sneaky loophole companies use so they don’t have to reveal what makes their products smell so good. That one word “fragrance” can consists of hundreds of questionable ingredients that the company legally isn’t obligated to disclose.
- 1,4 Dioxane—A carcinogen (or cancer-causing ingredient) that you’ll never find on an ingredient list, but ingredients with names that include PEG, “eth,” and polysorbate will release this toxic ingredient slowly into the product over time.
If you’re wondering whether or not these ingredients with such bad research behind them should be allowed in your hand soap, the answer is no! But there are little to no regulations that force a company to not use certain ingredients, so here are we are.
This pumpkin spice homemade hand soap recipe I’m about to show you is super simple with only a few ingredients that get my seal of approval! And if you’re not into pumpkin spice, or simply want to use different essential oils, go ahead by all means. This is a basic recipe that you can customize year-round! But what makes this homemade hand wash smell like pumpkin spice?
About the Secret Ingredient | Homemade Hand Wash with Essential Oils
I’ll admit I never really understood the pumpkin spice craze. Mostly because I’m not a coffee drinker.But I love Fall and everything that goes with it, so why not indulge myself a little? I may not drink pumpkin spice everything in the fall, but I could smell like it!
The recipe I’m using today is pretty standard among all homemade liquid soap recipes. And it’s so easy to make!But there is one important part that makes it an amazing DIY pumpkin spice hand wash.I give you the secret ingredient,Pumpkin Spice Latte essential oilfromRocky Mountain Oils!
You can customize just about any kind of liquid soap recipe with essential oils for aromatherapy and skin care, and this essential oil blend will make your hands smell like a fall dream!I received Rocky Mountain Oil’s holiday blends kit a little while ago, and I’ve been testing it out for you!
The first blend to be featured isPumpkin Spice Latte, a blend of orange, clove, and coffee oils.No, this blend doesn’t have any actual pumpkin oils in it. But when you think about it, that pumpkin spice smell is actually a combination of sugar and fake flavors. So this is as natural as pumpkin spice can get. You can check out this decadent peppermint mocha sugar scrub from the kit that makes a great gift!
But I’m actually okay with that.The smell of this blend is very warm and welcoming, and it vaguely reminds me of the cinnamon brooms we see in supermarkets this time of year. I love to diffuse it in the evening! Rocky Mountain Oils makes so many fun and helpful blends. You can check out myRocky Mountain Oils reviewto learn more.
So I figured, what DIY would be good for this scent? You can already drink it all you want, and smell it in a candle, so why not try a DIY pumpkin spice hand wash? I’ve since made a pumpkin spice sugar scrub recipe that is to die for! It makes my skin feel so soft and smooth after a shower.
Safe and Moisturizing Soap Ingredients
As for the rest of the ingredients in this recipe, each one is super important. It may seem a bit strange and random to someone who’s never made their own soap before, but I promise it will make sense in a minute.It’s one of the best-kept secrets on how to make hand wash!
One of the most important ingredients is castile soap. I absolutely loveDr. Bronner’s castile soap because it’s cheap, free of harsh chemicals, and you can get it just about anywhere! Plus, it’s much easier than making your own bar soap, which I have yet to try because it seems more complicated than it needs to be. But that could just be my own ignorance.
Homemade Hand Wash with Honey
Honey is probably the strangest ingredient on this list, simply because it’s not something you wouldn’t think to put on your body. But this is super important that you put it in this DIY hand soap so that your skin will feel moisturized afterward. Castile soap tends to try out skin a tad, and I go into more detail why andhow to use castile soap the right way in beauty products.
And not only is honey moisturizing, but it’s also a great antibacterial agent! So you’ll get some extra germ-fighting power. Just make sure that you pick out someraw, unfiltered honeyto keep all that germ-fighting stuff in there.
Lastly, I’ve included sweet almond oil in this recipe for some extra moisture. The fatty acids in the almond oil contribute to healthy skin, and the smell isn’t overpowering to the point of blocking out that pumpkin spice scent you love. Your hands won’t feel oily afterward either, because it’s very lightweight and absorbs easily.
Rocky Mountain Oils sells a good selection of carrier oils in addition to essential oils! Carrier oils are crucial in DIY’s with essential oils, so that it can dilute their potency and make them safe to use. I go into more detail onessential oil safetyif you want to learn more. You can check outSweet Almond Oil from Rocky Mountain Oils here.
Don’t Forget the Soap Dispenser!
And don’t be afraid to have fun with this, especially if this is a gift! You can go to your local thrift store to hunt for something cute, or buy a new one online. I personallylove this onebecause it’s clear glass, so you’ll know when it’s time to give it a shake to re-mix everything. And how cute is the little label?!
How to Make Liquid Hand Wash Commercially | Pumpkin Spice Edition!
For this luxurious and moisturizing homemade hand wash, you will need:
- 1 cup unscented Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap
- 1/3 cup raw, unfiltered honey
- 1/4 cup sweet almond oil
- 25-30 dropsPumpkin Spice Latte Essential Oil Blend
- Clean, empty soap dispenser
- Funnel
Just combine all of your ingredients using the funnel and give your soap dispenser a good shake!I recommend adding the castile soap last, because it may bubble up if you add everything to the soap too quickly. You don’t want a huge bubbly mess when you pour everything in!
And if your honey is starting to crystalize, or it’s just on the hard side, give it a quick zap in the microwave to loosen it up.My honey was pretty solid, but after about 20 seconds in the microwave it turned into a nice liquid that mixed well.
Pro Tip:Make sure that you get unscented castile soap from Dr. Bronner’s! I was feeling lazy when I made this soap and used some leftover tea tree castile soap instead of the unscented kind. There wasn’t much of a pumpkin spice smell to the soap with the overpowering smell of tea tree. I thought it would make the soap more of a germ killer, but it defeated the purpose of the pumpkin spice.
How to Make Foaming Hand Soap
If you want to make this DIY super special and make it foaming soap instead of regular soap, just get a different dispenser! This foaming soap dispenser on Amazon will make your homemade hand wash even better than before. Or if you’re just about to run out of foaming hand soap, you can use an old foaming soap dispenser.
No need to do anything different with the recipe. Just follow the directions like normal and put all ingredients into your foaming soap dispenser and give it a good shake before using. Your house guests will be asking you where you got your fancy foaming pumpkin spice hand soap before you know it!
Final Thoughts on this Homemade Hand Wash
And that’s it! Just make sure to give your soap dispenser a good shake every once in a while, because the ingredients can separate. That’s what comes with natural products sometimes!If you’re having a hard time getting in the fall spirit, or don’t generally like fall, you need to give this soap a try. You can also use it as a body wash to leave your skin supple and smelling fantastic.
I use it as a hand soap in my bathroom and I love it! My husband loves the smell of it too. And that says a lot, considering he doesn’t like most of my aromatherapy mixtures I diffuse. It’s definitely a kind of scent that the whole family will love.
Now I have soft hands that smell like fall, and when I run out, I’ll probably make some more with another one of Rocky Mountain Oils’ holiday scents. Essential oils are meant for more than just calming down! While I certainly use them to help with my anxiety, you can have fun with them too.Rocky Mountain Oilstaught me how to have fun with essential oils and I’m loving it!
Do you love pumpkin spice? Let me know in the comments below!
Relate to DIY Pumpkin Spice Hand and Body Wash:
- How to Make Effective Hand Sanitizer in Under 5 Minutes!
- DIY Bath Oil Recipe for a Luxurious Spa Night In
- How to Make Your Own Body Wash for Sensitive Skin
- Super Simple Bath Soak Recipe for Sore Muscles
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