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Living Well Mom

I help moms with simple, natural ways to look after their families. Find recipes, fun stuff for kids, and simple DIY ideas. Plus natural solutions made easy peasy!

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All-Natural Homemade Body Wash

By Maura in Natural Homemade Ideas

featured natural living homemadeThis post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

You won’t believe how easy it is to make DIY body wash! This recipe only has 3 ingredients that will cost you pennies on the dollar when compared to potentially toxic store brands.

Skin is the body’s biggest organ, so I tend to be extra cautious with what I slather on it. This is especially true for my children—I prefer to use products such as homemade body wash to clean their sensitive skin.

Thankfully not only is this project effective, but it’s also simple to do too! Learn how to make DIY body wash that the entire family can use

bottled homemade body wash next to a rack of towels and body sponge this idea now...

Essential Oil Body Wash

To keep this body wash as natural as possible, I opted to add essential oils. You can, of course, omit them and keep the wash scent-free. However, I like them for their aromatherapy benefits, and many have excellent benefits for your skin too.

For this DIY body wash, I chose lavender and peppermint essential oils, but you can modify this recipe to use your favorite essential oils and blends. (More on that below.)

How to Make this DIY Body Wash

Let’s jump into the DIY! Making homemade body wash is as simple as measuring, pouring, and shaking.

What You’ll Need to Make Homemade Body Wash:

  • 1 1/2 cup Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap
  • 4 tsp Organic Vegetable Glycerin (optional but recommended…see why below)
  • Lavender essential oil
  • Peppermint essential oil
  • 16oz empty plastic container to hold the body wash.  I used an old shampoo bottle, but you can purchase your own empty bottles over here.

natural castile soap in plastic measuring cup

How to Make the Homemade Body Wash

First of all, make sure your bottle is clean and dry.

Then, start by pouring 1 and 1/2 cups of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap into your empty 16 oz. bottle.  I filled my 3/4 measuring cup and poured twice, that way I only dirtied one measuring cup.

homemade natural body wash in plastic container

The soap won’t quite reach the top of the bottle – which is what you want. You need just a bit of room left in the bottle for the remaining ingredients.

black teaspoon pouring soap into plastic soap container

Why I Recommend Glycerin

Next, add 4 teaspoons of organic vegetable glycerin. The glycerin is what will make this homemade body wash sudsy! Castile soap is a gentle cleanser, but the glycerin will give you the lather you will be looking for in a smooth body wash.

That being said, if you prefer, you can leave the glycerin out. Your body wash will still work beautifully and smell amazing, but it won’t produce suds.

essential oil drops into plastic soap container

Essential Oil Body Wash

Now you will add the essential oils of your choosing.  As I mentioned earlier, I chose lavender and peppermint. Lavender is soothing for your skin and is calming.  I also chose peppermint because of its cooling effect on the skin.

Here are a few more essential oil combinations I recommend for homemade body wash:

  • geranium may help support mood
  • Ylang Ylang can help you feel calmer
  • Melissa can be soothing
  • Hyssop may aid in relaxing while also improving clarity
  • Jasmine can help you relax
  • Cucumber Seed is excellent for skin

peppermint essential oil drops into plastic soap container

I added about 30 drops total of essential oils to my homemade body wash.

essential oil pdf download for moms on blue background

*Note – if you want a citrus blend of body wash, I recommend you getting a glass bottle to store your body wash in as the citrus oils may corrode plastic containers.

shaking natural body wash mixture in plastic container

Now that you have your three ingredients in your bottle, give your body wash a good shake to get the glycerin and Castile to mix well together.

a pink loofah with soap suds

Next time you jump in the shower, be sure to have your body wash pouf, as this body wash will suds up amazingly well and will be soothing on your skin!

DIY Body Wash: Final Thoughts

After using this homemade body wash, I have no desire to ever use any commercial body wash product again. Just smelling the bottle of my old body wash was overbearing and harsh to me. Plus, as I gradually swap to more natural and often homemade bath, beauty, and home products, I always prefer them to the chemicals.

pink loofah with suds, rolled washclothes, and plastic bottle with homemade body wash

This body wash is not the only homemade DIY bath product you will find in my shower!  I also have these that you should make and try too!

  • Natural Homemade Foaming Face Wash
  • Homemade Coconut Shaving Cream
  • Homemade Peppermint Sugar Scrub

Just pin it below to find the recipe later!

collage of images of pouring ingredients to make an all-natural homemade body wash

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    Filed Under: Natural Homemade Ideas, Natural Living Tagged With: featured natural living, homemadePublished on July 27, 2020

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    About Maura

    Maura, her husband and 2 daughters live in upstate NY. She is a former high school biology teacher turned into a work at home mom. She loves to have fun and find a great deal. As well as writing for Living Well Mom, she shares her frugal tips and DIY projects on happydealhappyday.com.

    Comments

    1. Luvin says

      April 8, 2017 at 4:58 pm

      This did not suds whatsoever, at all…..I still used though, just mixed with a sudsing bodywash I had left……

      Reply
      • Maura says

        April 9, 2017 at 6:46 am

        Luvin – How much glycerin did you use? I’ve even used this as a shampoo and it suds’s great on my hair!

        Reply
    2. Sharon B Gilbert says

      August 25, 2017 at 4:38 pm

      Just wondered why I got more than 8ozs? Did I read something wrong? 1 1/2 cups equal 12ozs. Thanks

      Reply
      • Maura says

        August 26, 2017 at 8:33 am

        oops – yes that was a typo. It should be a 16 oz bottle. Sorry – I made changes in the post!

        Reply
    3. Roselyn Jackson says

      June 19, 2018 at 3:58 pm

      Could I use a different oil like coconut oil or almond oil instead of vegetable glycerin?

      Reply
    4. Cheyenne says

      August 12, 2018 at 1:55 am

      Kind of related to this post: I’m hesitatnt to make this recipe because, to me, Castile soap smells like bile (stomach acid) after I rinse it off. It makes me gag. Does anyone else experience this?

      Reply
    5. Connie says

      September 19, 2018 at 11:17 pm

      It looks expensive, compared to a pack of bar soap.
      Ive been searching for a cheaper soap.

      Reply
      • Erika says

        September 20, 2018 at 2:51 pm

        Hi Connie, if you’re comparing this to a cheap bar soap, then yes this homemade body wash is more money. But when compared to an all-natural body wash from the store or online, this is a more economical option. I hope you find the soap you want. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Rikki says

      September 24, 2018 at 2:06 pm

      I often use honey in my soap recipe. Can that be substituted for the glycerin? Honey is a sudsy agent.

      Reply
    7. Terry Raymond says

      September 17, 2020 at 12:15 pm

      Hobby Lobby has scentless shower gel soap. Just add the essential oils. It’s 7.99 and you can get a 40% off coupon to buy it with. You could make several 8 ounce bottles. They have scentless lotion too. I haven’t tried it yet but plan to

      Reply
    8. Jenny says

      September 25, 2023 at 9:43 pm

      On the label is says to use 3 to 1 ratio with water. Will it be fine without water or will it be too strong?

      Reply

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