Life in a house with five sons, an inventive handyman husband, two dogs, an elderly cat and a flock of chickens can get… aromatic. I love every single member of this chaotic household, but the combination of kids, animals and activity can strain the nose.
Case in point: I once sent one of my boys—let’s call him Stanky Hank—to the shower. He stayed in for ten minutes, came out soaked, and still had dirt on his hands, feet, arms and knees.
Me: You were in there for ten minutes. Why are you still covered in dirt?
Stanky Hank: Oh, I was supposed to get rid of those?
If you think that’s an exception, think again. It’s more the rule than the rarity, and sometimes I feel like I live with a group of walking smelling salts. (A quick aside: historically, smelling salts were ammonia solids mixed with strong fragrances—basically cat pee plus perfume—used to revive someone. Not that my kids smell like that, but you get the idea.)
I’m a bit obsessive about soap—specifically triple-milled French castile bars. Castile soap uses olive oil, which is gentle on skin, and triple-milled bars have a luxurious feel. My favorite brand is Pré de Provence. These big, fragrant bars in scents like Coconut, Rose, Linden, Sage, Mint Leaf, Honey Almond Lavender and Green Tea are heavenly. I confess I’d happily bury my nose in one all day if it were practical.
That said, my guys prefer liquid body wash and liquid hand soap over bars. They won’t use my pretty soaps, which meant I needed a way to give them the scents I love in the formats they prefer.
Between my soap stash and a leftover supply of vegetable glycerine from other kitchen projects, the only thing I needed was distilled water. I boiled a gallon of distilled water to minimize any potential microbial growth—distilled water lacks minerals but can still harbor microbes unless it’s boiled. Since we won’t use a whole gallon of soap quickly, I wanted to be safe.
The recipe that follows uses only three ingredients and is surprisingly simple. The resulting liquid has a mild, pleasant scent and works well as both body wash and hand soap.
Three tips on choosing your bar soap:
- Pick a bar whose scent you love. The fragrance will intensify slightly when converted to liquid, so choose a scent you truly enjoy.
- Avoid lotion bars. Soaps labeled as “with lotion” or heavily moisturizing may prevent the liquid from setting up properly.
- Ignore the color. No matter the bar’s color, the finished liquid typically becomes a pearly white.
I followed the method and let the mixture sit overnight. Two important notes from that step:
- Don’t store the covered pot with a lid that holds odors, or your soap may pick them up.
- Don’t panic if the mixture looks like a solid mass at first; it will loosen when mixed.
I don’t own a hand mixer (I got rid of mine long ago to avoid mashed potato disasters), so after the soap rested I broke it up with a whisk. It was still chunky, so I recruited my energetic six-year-old and an old egg beater to work it until smooth. A hand mixer or immersion blender would speed this up, but a manual beater and a helpful child do the job too.
The final soap has a slightly stringy consistency compared with commercial liquids, but it performs beautifully. We poured the soap back into the cleaned distilled water jug and filled a couple of empty hand and body wash containers. Here’s the cost breakdown from my batch:
- Gallon of distilled water: $0.69
- One 8-ounce bar of Pré de Provence Green Tea soap: $6.69
- About two tablespoons vegetable glycerine: roughly $0.75
- Total yield: roughly 1.25 gallons and total cost around $8.13
The verdict: the men of the house now smell great. My husband, who has an especially sensitive nose, approved immediately—so the scent is pleasant and not overpowering. The kids also like it, and I’m thrilled to have them using something that smells wonderful and costs far less than store-bought body wash and hand soap.
Recipe and method adapted from The Farmer’s Nest.
Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) bar of castile soap (Pré de Provence, Dr. Bronner’s, or similar)
1 gallon distilled water
2 tablespoons vegetable glycerine
Instructions:
1. Bring the distilled water to a boil in a large non-reactive pot (stainless steel or glass).
2. Grate the bar of soap using a metal box grater.
3. Add the soap shavings and vegetable glycerine to the boiling water, stirring frequently until the soap shavings fully dissolve.
4. Remove the pot from the heat, cover tightly, and let it rest undisturbed for at least 8 hours or overnight.
5. After resting, break up and smooth the mixture using an egg beater, hand mixer or immersion blender. If the mixture is too solid, warm gently, add a little distilled water, stir until loosened, then allow to cool and reassess.
6. Use a funnel to transfer the liquid into the cleaned distilled water jug and any extra into pump bottles or jars with tight lids.
7. Use as you would regular body wash or liquid hand soap. Store unused soap in a cool, dark place; if you prefer extra caution, refrigerate.
Enjoy an economical, pleasant-smelling liquid soap made from simple ingredients and minimal effort.