This is the time of the year that it is fun to give as well as receive. Well, what better way than to share your love of cleaning with homemade Hand Soap! Well, even if you don't love cleaning, you will love this handsoap. It leaves your skin so soft and clean! Flavor it up with your favorite scents and you are good to go! Love it! Have fun with it, too!

I am not the 'author' of these recipes and do not take credit for their creation, but I do enjoy using them! Credit belongs to Kelly Reno for her recipes on the web. Enjoy!



Peaches And Cream Bath Bar

Makes One Bar 1 4-ounce bar

Castile soap (or pure white unscented.. like ivory)
1/4 cup distilled water
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
1/8 teaspoon peach fragrance oil
1 drop orange food coloring {optional}

Shred the Castile soap and set aside. Heat the water in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir in the shredded soap until it forms a sticky mass. Remove the pan from the heat and add the powdered milk, Sweet almond oil, Peach fragrance oil, food coloring; stir until well-blended. Spoon the soap into its mold and let set for four hours or until hardened.




Cinnamon Soap

unscented glycerin soap
10 drops cinnamon oil
1 drop red food coloring {optional}

In a heavy saucepan, melt the glycerin soap over low heat until liquefied. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cinnamon oil and coloring until well mixed. Pour the soap into a mold and let set for three hours or until hardened. Makes 1 4-ounce bar.



Mechanic's Hand Cleanser

Grind up a bar or two of your soap...

1 c. borax
1-2 t. pure turpentine
1 t. sweet orange essential oil
1 c. ground soap

With very clean hands, work the turpentine and essential oil into the borax until there are no lumps left, then work into the soap. Keep it in a wide-mouthed jar or tin that's easy for him to open when his hands are greasy, and which you won't mind getting black on the outside. Don't forget to put a nail brush and pumice stone out with the hand cleanser.


Recycle old soap!

Here are several ideas for re-using those little bits of leftover soap:
* Use as tailor's chalk - mark darts and hems on washable fabric
* Make bubble bath - shave and crumble and add to bath
* Make new soap cakes - get them wet and stick them together to make a new bar!
* Make shower soap - Put slivers and pieces into the toe of some old pantyhose.
Tie a knot in the nylon just above the toe, and another at about the knee. Hang in the shower.

Preservatives & Shelf Life

Most of the recipes offered here have a shelf-life of 2-3 months if stored in a cool place. Did you know grapefruit seed extract could be used as a preservative for soaps and lotions? Recommended usage is .5 - 5% of the entire volume (in ounces) of your batch.