Clean Hands

I happen to LOVE hand soap. I love 

DIY All Natural Foaming Hand Soap

Because I have been making so many DIY versions of household products that I use to buy at the store, I thought it was high time to try hand soap. I did a little web search and found this awesome foaming hand soap recipe over at My Merry Messy Life. {click here}. To make it Lea-fied, I tweaked the recipe and have been using it for about a month now. It seems to last a long time and the recipe is gentle on your skin. My theory has been tested as two events occurred concurrent with each other that were cause for excessive hand washing (the flu and cold sores). Ack! Sickness at its worst. As I washed my hands (a lot) the soap didn't over dry my skin or give me a rash like I have experienced in the past from excessive washing. The only downfall I did notice was that the soap left a film in the sink during the excessive washing phase, whereas during the normal washing phase I didn't notice the film.

Here's a quick and easy recipe to get you started:

What You'll Need:

Castile Soap (such as Dr. Bronner's)
Vegetable glycerine (optional)
Essential oils*

Water

Foaming soap bottle - {found here}

Directions:

1. Get your foaming soap bottle (I bought one at the store filled with soap, or you can find them empty online).
2. Fill it a little under 1/3  (but more than 1/4) full with Castile Soap.
3. Squirt in a little vegetable glycerine (1/2 - 1 tsp depending on bottle size and personal preference - it softens skin and helps to moisturize).
4. Add 10-30 10-100 drops of essential oils, depending on the size of your bottle. For example: if you have an 8 oz bottle you could use up to 80 drops for 2% dilution.
5. Fill up the rest of the way with water - any kind, even regular tap water. Make sure you leave room for the pump to fit in (I didn't the first time and made an over flowing mess).

*Essential oil ideas: Melaleuca (tea tree oil) is great for an antibacterial; Grapefruit is a personal favorite smell right now; Peppermint a friend made this and loves the fresh scent. The possibilities are endless, get creative!

DIY Hand Sanitizer

If you're a Facebook fan, you've seen this before.

What You'll Need:

Witch Hazel

Essential oil protective blend

Mini spritz bottle {found here}

Directions:

1. In this 4ml spritz bottle, add 1 drop of protective blend, fill rest of bottle with witch hazel. 
2. Shake before spritzing. Use often when out & about and can't wash your hands with soap.

This post has been updated to reflect new information I have learned - you may find things omitted that were previously there. In recipes, I have crossed out the old amount and added the new. 10/2013