Homemade Foaming Hand Soap! What better way to thank your child’s teacher for dealing with a gaggle of germ loving kiddos! I volunteer once a week at my daughter’s school and come home after a only half a day, immediately throwing all my clothes in the laundry and jump in the shower. So many little sticky hands and open mouth coughs in my face. I absolutely love kids, but my germaphobe brain and my mommy cuddling heart are constantly at odds.
Alas, it is December! I have always loved Christmas. Of course, as a little kid my excitement stemmed more from the anticipation of presents, but I still knew and loved the story of Baby Jesus and its significance this time of year. As I got older Christmas took on a much more beautiful meaning. The advent calendar was no longer a countdown to Christmas morning presents, but a countdown to the celebration of Christ’s Arrival (advent: the arrival of a notable person, or event.)
How awesome that this time of year we are given an opportunity to put our faith and the greatest gift to mankind on the forefront of everyone’s minds on an international scale. I cannot imagine wasting such an amazing opportunity to shine a light on our Savior.
This is such a wonderful time to instill in our children a passion for service and giving. I LOVE giving gifts. I know everyone says it, some sincere and some not so much, but it really is the thought….(and follow through) that counts. The gesture of a gift is so much more meaningful than the gift itself. Like most moms I value the little handmade gifts my children make, because I know they were thinking of me and were excited to show me how they felt by using their skills and means to do so.
This is also why I love HOMEMADE gifts. At this point in my life, I have accumulated a lot of “stuff”. I do not like clutter and relatively speaking, I have much less stuff than most. Partly because we can’t afford a lot, but mostly because “stuff” stresses me out. I don’t really need anymore stuff. Well, I could use some new Tupperware since I only have lids remaining from the set I was given 10 years ago, but other than that I’m good. I’m a minimalist by nature not because of the recent trend. I do not want a tiny house, but I do want a tidy house and for that to be achieved I need less junk.
With this in mind, I assume there are others like me and when it’s time to give a gift, I want to give something I would love to receive. Keeping in mind practical and functional with a little color for fun, I decided to make Homemade Foaming Hand Soap for Teacher’s Gifts this year. I had a friend do this for me a few years ago and I absolutely loved it. In fact, it led me to exclusively making our soap. Super easy and a great money saver.
There are a lot of recipes out there but this is what I have found works best for us.
Homemade Foaming Handsoap
- 2 Tbs Castile Soap
- 1 tps fractionated coconut oil (optional)
- 8-10 drops of your favorite Essential Oil ( I use Young Living )
- -I love adding Theives for its natural disinfecting properties and I love the smell
- – Lavender and Purification
- – Peppermint and Theives
- – Orange and Cinnamon Bark
- – Christmas Spirit and Citrus
- Fill the rest of soap dispenser with water
I ordered the foaming soap dispensers from Amazon. And they came with super cute “Foaming Soap” labels. Picked up a few Christmas Tree tags from Hobby Lobby on a 50% off day. Dollar Store twine and beads, and Voila! All done! Merry Christmas Teachers (and our sweet School Secretary who never judges me when we roll in 15 minutes late and I look like a sleepy troll).
So do you use water also? Otherwise it looks like I have about 3 tablespoons of something total and that’s it. I really need the whole recipe.
Yes, Fill the rest of the way with water. If you use hot water and tilt the bottle it won’t foam as much. 🙂
I seem to get an oily feeling left on my hands when rinsing in water. Is this how it should be?
Hi Sylvie. No, the soap shouldn’t leave your hands oily but this can happen with the coconut oil especially if it settles at the bottom. This has happened to me. Another factor is the type of water you have (hard or soft). Soft water seems to need less oil in the soap and can leave your hands feeling oily. You can shake your soap dispenser to make sure the oil is mixed well and if that doesn’t work, try adding less coconut oil to the next batch.
It’s probably the coconut oil
Can I use almond oil or jojoba oil in place of coconut oil?
I used your recipe, including the coconut oil, and it turned out great! I used it right after shaking the bottle a bit, and my hands came out clean and soft. I will remember to agitate the bottle a bit before using. This will make an excellent gift for the rest of my teaching staff! Thank you so much!
Made this recipe it turned out great make sure you are using fractured coconut oil not coconut oil you melt yourself. I put lemon and lemon balm and a cinnamon Christmas oil just a few drops and some pure oil. It smells great and foams great!!
Is it possible to add to many essential oil drops or the more the merrier? I added 24 drops, but it doesn’t seem to smell strong like I like it.
Hi. I do not see instructions for this. And the measurements as well. Would love to make these.