After looking at many different recipes, I chose to sort of "feel my way through" and make a few modifications. The original recipe I used as my guideline is HERE.
Below you'll find my step by step instructions along with a few photos.
1. Finely grate a bar of your favorite soap. I used Kirk's Castile Soap, and I actually used my food processor to grate it until it was almost like powder. Place the grated soap in your blender.
2. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the blender and use a medium-high setting for a few minutes until all the soap is dissolved.
3. Add 1 tsp. glycerin (and optionally, you can add 1 TBSP of honey...I did not do this). Blend again. Then let set in the blender for about 15-20 minutes. 4. Add water to the 6 cup mark on your blender. Blend well again. *At this point, the recipe says to pour into storage containers. For whatever reason, my soap was a really thick gel at this point...so I poured it into a really large mixing bowl (not sure of the size but it's at least a gallon) and added water to get it to the consistency I felt was good for a liquid hand soap. I then used a stick blender to get it thoroughly mixed. If you don't have a stick blender, you can easily just mix it with your hands. You can tell by the photo below that this recipe made enough to fill this BIG bowl.
I love using this soap...and may very well try to use it as a dishwashing soap, too. It's very *soapy* and very *lathery*. :) Just what I like in a liquid hand soap. If you're curious about the cost for making this, here's a breakdown:- Kirk's Castile Soap - $0.69 (Yes, I could have used a much cheaper bar of soap, but this is what I wanted to use.)
- Glycerin - the entire bottle cost $1.87. I used just 1 teaspoon so actually, it probably costs under $0.10.
Basically, more than a gallon of liquid hand soap cost $0.79...and if I had chosen a different soap, could've cost even less than that. Just because something is *cheap* doesn't necessarily make it a bargain if it doesn't work well. This, however, is cheap AND it works great! :) Now THAT is frugality. :)
19 comments:
Very nice! I appreciate the explanation - they always make me feel like "I can do that, too!" And I always love to see what fellow "tweakers" do to things - I never can just follow directions exactly. :>)
I love this and the directions were so easy to follow. I'm thinking it might be nice to add a few drops of essential oil also. I recently tried my hand at face wash using castile soap, and had great results. Lots of recipes on the internet. Thanks for sharing!
Now this sounds like a fun project! I just have to wait until I use up that gallon of liquid hand soap I bought from Costco! Or when I finish up the dish washing soap under the kitchen sink! Which ever comes first! :~P
Blessings!
My sister and I did just a basic recipe..think yours will be next..
deby
Sounds so easy, I have got to try this, you are so creative ! Thanks for sharing this great idea, have a blessed holiday dear Lori !
Lori, you're the definition of frugal - and FUN projects :)
That was interesting!
I'll have to try this, so much fun and looks so easy :)
Just wanted to come by and say hi, I'm back from vacation and trying to catch up on all my favorite blogs :)
Hugs,
Sandra
How interesting! thanks for sharing.
Neat idea, Lori! And nice to know that glycerin is so cheap. I often see recipes like this and think to myself, "Well I don't have that ingredient, so it wouldn't make sense for me to try and make that." With your price breakdown (and the fact that you didn't have to go to some obscure out-of-the-way store to find the glycerin) it makes me think that this is one experiment it makes sense to try. Thanks!
I would really like to make this soap but I am having a hard time finding liquid glycerin. I have been to several stores and called several others and the only place that carries it is very expensive. (>$1.25 per oz) Any ideas?
Jen, I would check with a local drugstore. I've seen it there also. Glycerin is also used as an emollient...like for really dry skin. Mine came in just a small brown plastic bottle and I found it in my local grocery store. I sure hope you can find it. Wish I could be more helpful.
I had been saving soap fragments for a while (I never can use up a bar of soap completely and just hate to throw away what is leftover) and was happy to find your recipe. I had a bit of a challenge finding glycerin but it was well worth the search. I found it at a local craft store and used a coupon so it was very affordable:) I just made the soap and it is a good consistency and lathers well. Thanks for the great recipe! It was very easy to make.
Jen, I'm so glad you found the glycerin! Yay! I have really enjoyed using it too.
PS - I save soap slivers too. :) Then I use them in making my homemade laundry detergent. :)
Hi, I found your blog by following links. :) I had a vague idea of how to make liquid soap, but this is a great tutorial. I dislike the boughten ones, but liquid soap sure is handy as well as less messy than bars. Thanks.
Thanks for this tutorial, this will be very helpful to me. What are the best storage methods for homemade liquid soaps, and where would I get a proper storage bottle.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I had tried a different hand soap and it was too watery. This one is nice and creamy.
Have you ever had it gel up after a week or two. I have tried this recipie a few times and that is what keeps happening to me.
Hi everyone. was glad to find this recipe but for some reason, after i added the boiling water and blended and then let set, the water keeps separating. Could it be cause I haven't blended long enough? thanks.
For those of you looking for liquid glycerin, try and find someone making biodiesel in your area. These biodiesel makers are known as, "homebrewers". Many are in a co-op. The main waste product of making biodiesel is glycerin. It is ALWAYS brown in color and ALWAYS free to me! I have a buddy that makes biodiesel every week so he has GALLONS of free glycerin for me.
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