Homemade hand soap

If you're like me, you're concerned about both the cost and the ingredients of some personal and household cleaning products. The ingredient list on shampoos, make-up and lotions are way long with odd sounding, harmful chemicals. Not good.

The thought that everything that I put on my skin is actually absorbed into my body makes me a bit nervous. Same thing with the products we use to clean our homes. My eyes water at the mention of Pine Sol. My mother-in-law uses it to clean. I think her ratio is a gallon of Pine Sol to two tablespoons of water. ONE WHIFF and I get a horrific, hours-long headache. I'm not exaggerating. I dropped by on one of her cleaning-day Thursdays, caught a whiff, immediately left but still spent the rest of the day in bed with my head pounding. Ugh.

I've discovered you can make your own personal and household cleaning products that work just as well  as what you purchase in stores. The cost savings are huge- often pennies on the dollar. When you factor in the safety, going the DIY route makes perfect sense.

I've made my own laundry detergent for a couple of years but I'm saving that for another post. Today we're discussing liquid hand soap- the kind you keep on the bathroom sink. It seemed like I was constantly buying the stuff. Well, no more. 

Start here:

 

Begin with a bar of soap. I don't like the perfumes and dyes used in most soap, so I use Ivory. You can always add a few drops of essential oil at the end if you prefer a scent. A castile soap can also be used. Some of those are already scented. Grate the soap. I used the side of grater with the large slicers. If you don't have a grater, use a knife with a large/sharp enough blade for a thin chop. The soap has to melt and the thinner the slice, the quicker that part of the job. NOTE: This is the grater I use when making laundry detergent. You'll need a separate one for cooking.

 

This is what you'll end up with:

 

 

 

Add four cups of water to a large pot and bring it to a low boil. Reduce the heat and slowly stir in the grated soap. Stir regularly for about five or six minutes. It'll look like nothing at all is happening. Try not to fall asleep.

 

 

 

As soon as all the soap flakes are dissolved, remove the pan from the stove. It won't look like soap at all. It actually looks like the cloudy dishwater after a load of dishes, just without the bits of food you didn't scrape off the plate. There may or may not be a bubble or two trying to form. You'll actually read over this post thinking you've skipped a step. You haven't. This is now mine looked:

 

 

Remove the pan from the heat. I covered mine, reminded the kids not to toss it out, and distracted myself with the half million other things I had going on at the moment.

 

Half an hour later, it was a bit more cloudy but still thin. I checked it occasionally; seemed nothing was happening. I wondered if I'd need to throw this out and begin again. I watched part of a movie then went to bed. This is what I found the next day: 

 

 

It was thick, white and gel-like, but couldn't be poured into a soap dispenser. I put the pan back on the stove with minimal heat--I used the #2 setting.

 

I slowly poured in water- about half a cup, while stirring the glob. One minute in, I got this:

 

 

The consistency was right, but there were still lumps. Another quarter cup or so of water and more stirring. It was breaking down nicely. Notice that I've removed it from the heat at this point.

 

Bubbles!  More stirring, a bit more water before the lumps were gone and it could be poured.

I got my funnel and jars.

 

I poured some in my bathroom decanter and the rest into an empty plastic bottle that I'll keep in the cabinet for refill. This is where you'll add scent if desired. I stirred in two drops of castile soap before I starting pouring. This stuff is natural and has a nice smell. It's also potent- a little will do a lot. Use your own judgement when it comes to essential oils but remember a little goes a long way.

 

 

 

That old orange juice bottle holds 56 ounces, the decanter holds 8. For less than $1 (the Ivory soap came in a bundle of three and cost $1.99), I have half a gallon of hand soap.

 

 On my bathroom cleaning days when I straightening out the cabinet, I make sure to give the big bottle a shake.

 

Two things: There's a chance the soap wouldn't have gotten thick/lumpy had I not gone to bed before pouring. It could also mean that I should add a more water in the beginning.  I'll try both the next time. Still, I'm satisfied with my first attempt. It's been three days and it still works like a charm.



Entryway redux & intro to Use What You Have Monday

I started the entryway redo just before the holidays. Here is the summary of part one with a reminder of the end result:

That post represented the largest part of the makeover, which will be completed in four sections.

Today we're discussing part two. You can't see it in this picture, but the ceiling light fixture was an old, 70's style round glass globe that had to be unscrewed in order to replace the light bulb. I did not like it. I did not like it at all.

I also didn't have pockets deep enough to change out the ugliness.  All manner of  DIY lighting projects have been popping up in blogs and on Pinterest for a while now- from repurposed lamp shades to homemade covers made from embroidery hoops, bird cages, and mason jars--the possibilities are just about endless. I knew if I set my mind to it, I could come up with a low-cost solution.

In the end, my project came in at zero dollars and zero cents. That's right: not a single penny.
I cut the bottom of out small wicker wastebasket I already had. I didn't even have to paint it;  it was already blue. 

 I was going to complicate matters and use small screws to affix to the wall, but in the end decided construction adhesive was the way to go.  Genius, right? The basket is so small and lightweight that it won't cause a lot of damage should I decide to change it out. I put a little construction adhesive on the edge of the basket, then I held it in place for a few minutes and she was done. I love how it complements the space.

Some light covering tutorials give instructions for covering the bottom of the piece, so that you don't look up and see the light bulb. Lightweight plexiglass cut to size is the usual answer. I skipped that here, as I did with the upgraded light in the dining room. The standard bulbs will be replaced with  with compact fluorescents, which will give off a softer light and are most cost efficient. They're a lot easier on the eye and I won't mind seeing them when I look up.


I used a generic brand of a Liquid Nails equivalent. You'll always find paint, adhesive caulk and salsa in this house.   Stay tuned for part 3.  Hopefully, I'll have the stairs painted by then. (We're still rocking that primer.....)

This in our inaugural post in 'Use What You Have Monday'--low or no cost upgrades using what you already have on hand. Feel free to add your re-do.  Please link directly back to your post, and post projects that are less than three weeks old. Looking forward to seeing your work!