Make Your Own Body Wash

There are so many recipes over Facebook and the internet for food, cleaning and personal care products.  There are so many that it is hard to tell what works and what doesn't.  The best way to find out is to try them.  That is what I did with a recipe a friend sent me for Body Wash.  Apparently the body washes that you buy have a lot of unnecessary and possibly dangerous ingredients.  In order to have a long shelf life, the companies add a lot of preservatives that keep the product stable.  This recipe was quite easy and didn't have any unusual ingredients.  The strangest is the glycerin but that can be found in the toiletry section of most stores.  

The recipe calls for glycerin, distilled water, castile soap and optional essential oil.

It just takes distilled water, castile soap, glycerin and essential oil if you want.  I like the clean soap smell so I didn't put in the oil.  It also called for the oil in two Vitamin E capsules.  I didn't have any but I read they are a natural preservative.  I followed the instructions by grating the bar of soap and melting it in 4 cups of slightly boiling distilled water.

Grated soap looks just like coconut.

Then I took it off the heat and stirred in the glycerin.  At this point I covered it and left it.  It is supposed to cool untouched for 12-24 hours.  Apparently it is supposed to thicken up.  Mine didn't and was quite watery.  To use it this way, I put it in a self foaming soap dispenser.  I used an empty foaming hand soap dispenser.  It comes out foamy and will conserve the soap so it will last longer.  Time will tell if I like it. * (update below)

I have been diluting Dr. Bronner's liquid soap with water for years and using it in a foaming soap dispenser.  I use it for hand soap, but I think it would also work in the shower for a body wash.  Dr. Bronner is natural soap and come already scented.   It's all about experimenting to see what you like.

*  After I put the liquid soap into the foaming dispenser, I put it in the shower.  This morning when I took my shower, I couldn't get the pump to work.  I looked and the body wash had thickened up overnight.  I had to put it into a rinsed out body wash bottle.  I don't know if the temperature has something to do with it.  It is several degrees cooler in the bathroom I use.  The soap I had in a warmer area of the house remained watery.  I put a container in the car to take to my daughter, and that turned to gel.  I did find out that whether it is thick or thin, it suds up nicely.  The glycerin has a moisturizing effect and it smells good.  I will use it up and try again.

The exact instructions for the body wash can be found on this link.
http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2014/02/diy-body-wash.html