We wanted to try making our own liquid soap so that we wouldn’t have to buy anymore = no more plastic containers and just refill the ones we had. We scoured the web and found a homemade liquid soap recipe from The Farmer’s Nest that looked easy enough.
It worked!
What we used:
Cheese grater
2 Tablespoons of Liquid Glycerin–purchased at any Drugstore
1 – 8 oz bar of soap
1 gallon distilled water
Large empty containers, like empty milk jugs or your already bought liquid soap containers to refill
How we made it:
1. Grate the bar of soap.
2. Fill a pot with 1 gallon of distilled water and add soap shavings.
3. Add liquid glycerin to pot and dissolve soap over med/high heat.
4. Allow to cool for 10-12 hours. (What starts out as soapy water will turn cloudy after a few hours.)
5. 12 hours later, it should be a bowl of thick, hardened cloudy soap.
6. Beat with egg beater to loosen and fill containers. If too thick, you may need to add just a little water.
End Result:
Really stretches a dime. A bit difficult to get out of the bottle and not a substitute for dish detergent but keeps going, and going,and going…
Others recipes to try for liquid soap:
- Homemade Liquid Soap – notsomuch (allthatstuffandmore.wordpress.com)
- Homemade liquid Hand Soap (dozenwilsons.wordpress.com)
- Make Your Own Olive Oil Liquid Soap (ournwsimplelife.wordpress.com)
- Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe (cre8tivehome.wordpress.com)
Attempting zero waste lifestyle in a military household 
Hey Jen:
Does it clean your laundry correctly? Also, does your laundry smell good?
Carrin, This one is not for laundry. It’s just to wash your hands with. It’s like the soft soap when you go to the doctors office and you pump it out. It smells good And it works well. But it is not Good to wash dishes with. And it’s not for laundry. I haven’t tried making my own laundry detergent yet, that’s next! 🙂
Could add a pinch of food coloring or essential oil?
I don’t see why not Anne. Fabulous ideas as usual! 🙂
Super wash 3.17
Borax 2.98
Oxiclean 5.47
Felsnaprha .97*3
Baking soda 2.00
Fabric softener beads
This is the recipe I use. It last us about 4 months. It cost a little under $20 and it cuts through dirt, urine, and grease.
Wow, thanks woman! Will try!
Great recipe – when my bulk refill bottle runs out, I’ll attempt this (maybe!)