This DIY liquid hand soap foams beautifully and smells amazing. Going with our Mary’s Rose Garden series, we used rose essential oil to scent the soap, but you can easily use any other essential oil. Making soap for the first time can seem quite intimidating, so make sure to read our list of tips before you start. And don’t forget to download our free printable labels to decorate the soap and to give as a pretty homemade gift!
For more beauty DIYs also take a look at our lavender bath salt tutorial or try to make a delicious brown sugar body scrub.
The Mary’s Rose Garden series
This DIY is part of our Mary’s Rose Garden series. Have a look at the links below to for more rose inspired projects:
- Learn all about our Mary’s Rose Garden print
- There are always flowers for those who want to see them – Printable Quote
- Strawberry Rose Meltaways & Printable Hexagon Boxes
- DIY Crepe Paper Roses
Before you start: A few tips for making DIY liquid hand soap
1) Consistency of the soap
How thick or thin the liquid soap will depend on the type of bar soap you use. The measurements in our recipe are a good starting, but you might have to reduce or increase the quantities of the grated bar soap and water to get the desired consistency.
2) Create variations
You can create many variations of DIY liquid hand soap based on this recipe. You can, for example, use other essential oils, such as lavender or citrus, and replace the coconut oil with olive, grape seed or jojoba oil.
3) Using glycerin
– The liquid glycerin helps to protect your hands from drying out. Since it’s not essential for the recipe, it can be omitted if you prefer.
4) Shelf life of DIY liquid hand soap
Keep in mind that this soap is free of preservatives and therefore needs to be used quickly to avoid the risk of bacteria or moulding.
DIY Liquid Hand Soap Recipe
I love beauty products that smell like my favorite florals. When choosing a essential oil, make sure it is suitable for use in cosmetic and body products. Whipping the soap after cooling will create a thicker texture and a pretty opaque look.
Materials
- 1/2 natural bar soap (60 – 70 g / 2 – 2.5 oz), ideally unscented and uncolored (We used Dr Bronner’s Organic Almond Soap Bar)
- I l (4.5 cups) distilled water
- 20 ml liquid vegetable glycerin (optional, we used Naissance Vegetable Glycerin)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 15 – 25 drops rose essential oil (We used Naissance Rose Absolute Oil)
- a few drops pink soap colorant or liquid pink food coloring (optional)
- printable labels (download below)
- vinyl sheet stickers
Tools
- measuring cups and spoons
- grater
- saucepan
- whisk
- handheld mixer with the whisk attachment
- funnel
- pump dispenser
Instructions
- Melt the soap. Using a grater, shred half of the bar soap into a small saucepan. Add the water and glycerin. Warm over medium high heat and occasionally stir with a whisk until the soap has completely dissolved. Let cool for 1 hour, then add the coconut oil, rose essential oil and colorant. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and whisk occasionally. The soap will thicken while cooling which can take 12 to 24 hours.
Tip: If you want a thicker soap, melt more grated soap bar (30 g of soap + 250 ml distilled water) and add to the mixture. In case the soap seems too thick, thin the soap down with more distilled water. - Whip the soap. Using a hand-held mixer, beat the soap on the highest setting until perfectly combined and creamy. Pour the liquid soap into dispensers. Apply the printable labels and use as normal
Tip: Whisking helps to make the soap creamier and opaque. If you prefer a more liquid and translucent soap, simply skip this step.
A tip for printing the labels
We recommend printing the labels on self-adhesive vinyl sheets. Vinyl sheets are water-resistant and will ensure the label stays pretty, and the colours don’t come off when exposed to water or humidity. Vinyl sheets can be found in printing shops or online.
They are available for inkjet as well as for laser printers and can be used in the same way as regular printing paper. We used Photo Paper Direct’s A4 Inkjet Creative Vinyl Stickers Matt to print our labels.
Free Printable Soap Labels
Click on the button to download your free printable labels to decorate the DIY liquid hand soap!
