If you are somewhat clean, you wash your hands at least six times a day. Research shows that. Although most people wash their hands less than six times a day - ieuwww, a lot of hand soap still goes through every year. You can buy that, but you can also make liquid hand soap yourself very easily. Cost you very few ingredients, little money and little time. So why not? Our zero waste expert Emily-Jane Townley shares her DIY recipe for hand soap.
Making your own hand soap
You can very easily make your own hand soap and save a lot of money. Fine, ideas like this make us at thegreenlist.nl always very happy. You can make hand soap very easily from an unused bar of soap. For making hand soap, it doesn't matter which bar of soap you choose. The preparations are done fairly quickly, after which it is mainly a matter of waiting a few hours before the hand soap is ready for use. By making a large quantity at once, you can stock up. It stays good for a very long time. You can store it in a big bottle - big sticker on it - and by your kitchen sink put a nice soap dispenser. The thrift store is full of them! I share with you my favourite recipe.
Zero waste recipe: making your own hand soap
Tools
- soap dispenser(You can invest in a nice glass or stone dispenser. Sometimes you can find nice ones at the thrift shop).
- funnel
- bottle for refilling(Be careful about storing cleaning products in a water bottle, especially if you have children).
- bucket or bowl
- hand blender or whisk
Materials
- 12,5 gr soap (In my webshop, you will also find beautiful soaps without any mess.)
- 1 el glycerine (On sale at drugstores or pharmacies.)
- 625 ml water
- 1-3 drops essential oil, e.g. lemon or lavender (optional)
Instructions
- Grate the soap and put it in the pan, bucket or large bowl with 625 ml of boiling water (if necessary, put on a mouth mask or a scarf, it may sting a bit in your throat otherwise).
- Stir this well until the soap is dissolved in the water. Add the dash of glycerin and any essential oil for a nice scent. Leave it for a few hours or overnight to cool down.
- Then beat the stiffened soap with a whisk or a hand blender to make it liquid again.
- Pour the hand soap into a soap dispenser (and pour the rest into an old soap bottle as a refill).
More zero waste tips from thegreenlist.nl
- According to zero waste expert Emily, this is The best recipe for making your own laundry detergent.
- Original-flavoured lip balm such as chocolate spread and elderflower is also very easy to make yourself. Check out the recipe for lip balm.
- Also nice: DIY recipe to make hair wax yourself.
Sources: BNNVARA, levenzonderafval.com. Photo credits: Ron Lach (Pexels),
