How to make liquid hand soap from bar soap. Use this to stretch one bar into a gallon of soap that can be used for your hands or body. You can use your favorite bar of soap or add essential oils if you use an unscented soap.

The best way to reduce the spread of germs is by washing your hands well with soap and water. I'm writing this in the middle of the national scare, so I hope it is but a memory when you are reading this.

Sanitizer flew off the shelf first, and now it's hard to find hand soap. I make soap, so I have a shoe box full of soaps. I can help you stretch any soap that you do have by teaching you how to make liquid hand soap from bar soap.

Most stores do have bar soaps, so if it's all you can find, use this easy recipe to make one gallon of hand soap for your family to use.

How to Make Liquid Hand Soap From Bar Soap

Why turn a bar of soap into liquid? Why not just use it as a bar of soap?

We have a family of five and one bathroom. Someone is always washing their hands, and the bar of soap is constantly wet. When there's less than half a bar left, it gets mushy and dissolves.

Soap, especially handmade cold process and melt and pour soap, do dissolve if they are left in water. I use a metal soap dish, but the soap just doesn't have time to dry.

I tried swapping out soap dishes mid-day, but that's a hassle. It's easier to just use a liquid hand soap instead.

My kids go through a lot of soap. I also have eczema on my hand, and hand soap is a big trigger. If I don't make liquid hand soap with castile soap, then I make this liquid hand soap from bar soap.

The Best Type of Soap to Use

I've made this liquid hand soap from bar soap, and the success absolutely depends on what type of bar soap you use.

I make a lot of melt and pour soap, but melt and pour soap does not work well in this recipe. Neither does a glycerin soap, which is what some bars from dollar stores are.

Cold process and handmade cold process soap does work very well. I recommend this basic bastille bar soap recipe or buying handmade soap on Etsy if you can't find it locally.

You can also use Kirk's Castile Soap, Dove soap, or African black soap (get it from Amazon or Etsy). Very dry bars of soap do not work well for this recipe, so make sure it has some water content in it.

Essential Oils

You can use either essential oils or fragrance oils if you want a scent, but it's not necessary. If you use a scented soap, your liquid hand soap from bar soap will also be scented. The scent will be faint though.

If you do use essential oils, you want to use a 1 to 2 percent dilution. That means use 6 to 12 drops per ounce of soap.

A gallon of soap as 128 ounces, so you would need 768 to 1,535 drops of essential oils. A 10 ml bottle of essential oil has 200 to 250 drops, so you would need several bottles of oils for the entire batch.

I prefer to add the oils when I refill the soap dispenser so I can change scents. If you know how many drops to use per ounce, you can do this easily. Use 48 to 98 drops per 8-ounce bottle of soap.

You can always use less essential oil. The soap and the act of handwashing are what kill the germs, so feel free to omit the scent if you want to.

You can use your favorite essential oil blend. I like these fun essential oil blends that smell like candy. You can also make a Thieves oil hand soap with this DIY Thieves oil blend recipe.

You can also use Simply Earth's Defender blend or Plant Therapy's Germ Fighter blend.

Soap Dispenser

I reuse bottles when I can. I buy Method hand soap when it's on sale and use the bottles several times before the pump finally gives out.

You can also buy a soap dispenser that will last much longer. I also have some mason jar lid soap dispensers that I've bought to use with mason jar.

Tips for Making Liquid Hand Soap From Bar Soap

The first time I tried turning a bar of soap into liquid soap, it was a gloppy and gooey mess. I swore I'd never try it again!

I had used a bar of glycerin soap from the dollar store. The glycerin will turn this into a slimy mess. Use only handmade cold process, Dove, African black soap, or other cold process soap.

Grating the soap will give you the best results because the soap will dissolve quicker. I have arthritis in my hand, so sometimes I just cut slivers in the soap. It will take longer to melt, but it will eventually melt.

You don't have to use a stick blender, but I highly recommend it. It helps incorporate the soap and water. Your liquid hand soap may separate if you don't use a stick blender. Just give it a good shake, and it's safe to use. It might, however, clog the soap pump.

I recommend using distilled water. If you don't have distilled water or can't get some, you can boil the water for several minutes, let it cool, and then use it.

I never add essential oils or a fragrance oil to the entire batch because it's a lot of oils. I add it by the refill so I can change scents often. Don't feel like you have to use the full amount; you can use less per ounce.

This liquid hand soap from a bar is less concentrated than what you buy in the store. You might want to use an extra pump on your hands.

Don't store this soap in an empty plastic water jug (the ones like milk jugs). Over time, the seams will start to leak. That's a pro tip for you. I had mine stored on a wire shelf in the laundry room, so it wasn't noticeable for a few days.

This doubles as a great body wash, too. It should lather well on a bath puff.

Ingredients

1 4-ounce bar of soap
1 gallon distilled water
6 to 12 drops essential oils per ounce

Equipment

Directions

Step #1

Grate or cut the soap. Place in a large pot with 1 gallon water..

Step #2

Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, turn down the heat to medium and stir while the soap dissolves.

Step #3

Turn off the heat and let the soap sit overnight to gel. It should be a thick gel in the morning.

Step #4

Use a stick blender to mix well.

Step #5

Pour into a container and refill your soap dispensers as needed.

Now you know how to make liquid hand soap from bar soap!

liquid soap, hand soap, soap making

Yield: 1 gallon

Author: Cari @ Everything Pretty

Estimated cost: $4