2016 Note: This post was first published back in 2013 as I was just learning how to DIY in my bathroom. Since that time I’ve learned a lot about making homemade products, including the safety side of ingredients. While this recipe is extremely gentle and luxurious, and many folks have loved this body wash, it must be used very, very quickly due to the coconut milk. This is a fun DIY to make and freeze, and pull out in a small batches to use “in the moment.” You can find my current body wash recipe over here.
Being a mom is dirty business.
Literally.
Within a few hours minutes I can go from fresh, clean and smelling fabulous to, “When’s the last time she bathed?” How is it that every piece of dirt, marker, food crumb, and well, you know what else, ends up being worn by mom? I truly cherish the dirt and whatever else happens to find its way onto my skin, clothes, and hair, each day. Let me rephrase that. I truly cherish the little people who lovingly adorn me with such well-earned souvenirs. This OCD (or is it CDO?) woman is truly learning to embrace the dirt that comes with the role of mommy-hood.
While I truly am learning to love this stage of dirtiness and fun, I am all for a good scrub down. You’re welcome, honey.
This past year I have been challenged to “clean-up” the non-food items in our home. I’m talking about the products we use on our bodies: soaps, toothpastes, lotions, deodorants, and make-up. Anything that comes in contact with our skin and within seconds our bloodstream.
Nothing like a super clean system filled with pastured, organic meats and good fats, organic fruits, and veggies, soaked organic whole grains, fermented and proboitic goodies and then adding in a large dose of daily toxins.
As I have shared in the past, I have fallen in love with developing my own recipes for toothpaste, lotion, lip balm, and laundry soap. I’ve even ventured down the road of making my own make-up. I’ve also found a local lady who makes wonderfully nourishing homemade soaps. Life has been good.
My beloved soap lady went on vacation last month. I intended to order lots of back-ups, but life got the best
of me, and I forgot. After a few days of grieving and wondering how I would survive a month, inspiration came knocking on my natural door. I decided to try making my own soap, more of a body wash to be exact.
I have a great love for Dr. Bronner’s Soap. If you haven’t tried Dr. Bronner’s you really must. No toxic ingredients and a thousand and one uses (okay, maybe more like ten) for just one bottle of soap. This body wash uses Dr. Bronner’s as well as coconut milk as the main ingredients. Please buy real coconut milk , usually found in a can, not the coconut beverage sold in cartons.
This soap is gentle enough I have also been using it on my children. The lavender is perfect for a nighttime bath!
Nourishing Homemade Body Wash
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup full-fat unsweetened coconut milk canned
- 2/3 cup castile soap I prefer the lavender or Baby Mild
- 3 tsp vitamin E oil
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
- 2 tsp vegetable glycerin optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bottle. Shake and use on a washcloth.
- This body wash has a very short lifespan since it lacks preservatives and contains coconut milk, so it's best to keep this body wash in the fridge and use it within a week. If you don't think you'll use this body wash quickly, reduce the recipe, or freeze the extra in an ice cube tray to defrost in small batches. See the 2016 note below. The glycerin may be left out if you don't have any on hand. As an alternative, you can use a nourishing oil, like jojoba, almond, or olive oil.
Notes
*This recipe needs to be used quickly due to the coconut milk. If you’re looking for a body wash that can be stored at room temperature with a longer shelf-life, I recommend use this recipe.
2016 Note: This post was first published back in 2013 as I was just learning how to DIY in my bathroom. Since that time I’ve learned a lot about making homemade products, including the safety side of ingredients. While this recipe is extremely gentle and luxurious, and many folks have loved this body wash, it must be used very, very quickly due to the coconut milk. This is a fun DIY to make and freeze, and pull out in a small batches to use “in the moment.” You can find my current body wash recipe over here.
With the cleaning power of Dr. Bronner’s and the antibacterial properties and hydrating moisture of coconut milk mixed with the antioxidant powers of Vitamin E and Essential Oil, this body soap is a perfect combo for both fighting the dirt and helping this mom relax at the end of a fun, messy day.
More DIYs You May Like:
Homemade Honey and Aloe Facial Cleanser
DIY Homemade Facial Cleansing Wipes
Hi. I was wondering if I could use Pure Glycerin USP? Is this different than Vegetable Glycerin? Thanks!
Hey Veronica, Yes, you can. They are basically the same thing :). Enjoy!!
Wow! This article is magnificent! I thought that it is impossible to make my own body lotion or soap but now I know that I am able to make my own cosmetic products. Thanks a lot for the inspiring post!
Thanks, Melinda.
For those concerned with using for baby’s or very small little ones, Bronner’s also makes a baby version of their soap. I haven’t tried it myself, but from reviews I saw, they used a 90/10 dilution. It still isn’t tear-free, but is supposed to be very mild & unscented. I’m not sure what the main difference is between this & their regular unscented version though. Amazon also seems to have it in gallon-sized containers through a 3rd party.
Dr. Bronner’s Baby-mild Liquid Soap 32 Oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DAI76TC/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Al0-ub15S8JKQ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DAI76TC/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Al0-ub15S8JKQ
Thanks for sharing, Pam!!
Thank you!!
Thank you so much for your response. I hope to catch that interview!
One more question… I have a friend with YL that says all of their oils can be ingested. Do you know if PT’s can be ingested? I would like lemon and grapefruit to drink in my water.
Thank you!!
Sorry about that…it kept showing me an error. :-/
Thank you so much for your response! I hope to catch that interview!!
One more question…I have a friend with YL that says all of their oils can be ingested. ?? Do you know if PT’s can be ingested?? I am wanting the lemon and grapefruit to drink in my water.
Thank you!
What is the quality of Plant Therapy essential oils compared to Young Living essential oils?
Hey Cindy, I actually have an interview post with Plant Therapy that will be live on Saturday…stay tuned :). I’ve found that Plant Therapy’s oil are comparable to YL in quality and extraction methods. The price is the biggest difference. YL has a large overhead with many reps they must pay (commission). Plant Therapy is a smaller company with less overhead (no reps or commission) which results in lower prices.
Thank you so much for your response. I hope to catch that interview!
One more question… I have a friend with YL that says all of their oils can be ingested. Do you know if PT’s can be ingested? I would like lemon and grapefruit to drink in my water.
Thank you!!
Hey Cindy, No problem :). Most independent aromatherapists don’t recommend ingesting essential oils (not even YL and DoTerra oils) unless a person is under a doctor’s care. I personally would just add a lemon or grapefruit slice to water since essential oils are so potent! This post may be helpful: https://livesimply.me/2014/06/24/beginners-guide-essential-oils/.
Thanks sounds good,I’ll give that a try. I’ll let u know how it goes.
Isn’t it always creepy when two little ones are playing together and it’s very quiet.well as I was finally sitting to read I noticed that my 4&5 year old were very quiet upstairs, the smell of lavender as I was headed upstairs was intoxicating. When I found those two in the bathroom spilling the “smelly stuff” in the sink, first I laughed and than realized they just poured 7$ down the drain .i was not laughing anymore, so how can I make this soap smell more kid friendly? My 8& 9 year old said maybe vanilla…..
Oh no, Hela! My two year-old once found a bottle of frankincense (a very expensive essential oil) on the counter and poured it all over the floor (right after I made a lotion recipe)…I can totally relate!! You can definitely leave the essential oil out and make a great body wash! Orange essential oil is pretty inexpensive and kid-friendly.
This is the most fantastic body wash! I’m new to the homemade beauty products scene so this and the lotion were the first I’ve made. I couldn’t find liquid castile soap without a scent at first so tried the peppermint. Eh, not to my liking. However, later, in the baby section of the local grocery store I found a huge bottle of castile soap without a scent. Whipped up a batch with the unscented castile and used lemongrass oil instead of lavender. Oh my word, is it great! I don’t think I’ll ever go back to store bought. My skin is quite dry and flakey and I was totally amazed after just the first use. After drying from my shower I could feel and see the difference in my skin. Well, then, I couldn’t find any attractive containers to keep this in until I came across a tall slender glass oil and vinegar mixing bottle, with a cap. This fits perfectly in the corner of my shower. Now I’m hooked, LOL. Thanks so much for providing such a wonderful recipe!
You’re very welcome, Cindy. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the homemade body wash. I love the container idea!
Sounds good , I’ll be on the lookout for the dish liquid detergent recipe. Have a wonderful weekend!
I did try the body wash for myself,it’s absolutely amazing!! Kudos to you on this great recipe.at first I thought I felt dry after the shower, but after drying my skin was so soft (no need to moisturize).it’s even soft this morning! ……. Thank you (this blog is slowly becoming my second home )
That’s great, Hela! I’m so glad you like the body wash. And thank you so much…we are so glad you’re here!!
Hi Kristin,I Finally got around to making this body wash .i used it on the kids “they said it smells funny” but I guess they have to get used to this stuff.can I use the castile soap as a liquid dish soap?……can’t wait to try it out myself (after the mountain of laundry gets folded)
Lol, Hela. My kids and husband had to get to used to a new smell, too. I prefer using Sal Suds (the cousin to castile soap) for dish detergent (a recipe I still need to share here at Live Simply) since it cuts grease much better than castile.
I just made this up (minus the vegetable glycerin… don’t have it in my pantry) and I put it in a tinted spray bottle since it’s fairly liquidy and will conserve the amount I use 🙂 Looking forward to trying it out! I may add the glycerin if I need more sudsy action.
Love how simple the recipes are. Easy to make!
Hi I researched Castile Soap and to my surprise it contains a dangerous chemical called Lye. This is used to decompose road kill, oven cleaners and lower grade forms of this is used in certain Chinese food and a Japanese noodle. This is also the reason why it cannot come into contact with metal because it is corrosive. It can burn skin and eyes.
Hey Pauline, Thank you for sharing your concern about the potassium hydroxide. The label includes this ingredient, but also notes, “None remains after saponifying oils into soap and glycerin.” I’m very confident with the ingredients in castile soap and find it’s one of the safest cleaning products available for use on my family and in our home.
I would like the body wash to be thicker, more like the consistency of commercial body washes. What can I add to thicken it up?
Hey Jamie, I believe another reader in the comments used 1 tablespoon of xanthan gum (used as a thickener in recipes) to thicken the body wash.
So bummed, the vitamin e alone would cost $7.50 per batch 🙁
Yikes, Karen! Yes, that’s expensive. I would leave out the vitamin E with that cost. You’ll still be able to create a moisturizing and nourishing body wash without it.
Hi
did you know how can i replace the castile soap? i live in mexico and i cant find it anywhere 🙁
thank you!
Hey Jacqueline, There really isn’t a good replacement for the castile soap :(. The only other option would be to find a good natural soap bar (one without added synthetic ingredients) and create your own liquid soap for the recipe. Here’s an example of how you can do this: http://www.vintagekidsmodernworld.com/2013/01/diy-turn-solid-castile-bar-soap-into-liquid-castile-soap/.
Would love to try this version of body soap used to use coconut oil. My question is what does the vegetable glycerin do, and if i need to put it in or if i can leave it out? Thank you
Hey Sylvia, You can leave it out. I add the glycerin for extra body wash suds.
Thank you Kristin, do you also have a homemade shampoo?
Sylvia, I do not have a homemade shampoo recipe. I’ve played around with homemade shampoo recipes for a few years now, but everything leaves my hair greasy :(. Shampoo is still a product I purchase from the store, until I can find the perfect homemade combination.
Yes i tried everything too, and i only have greasy results 🙁 im looking for a good bought shampoo now 🙂 thank you
Hey Kristin! I am dying to try this and was wondering if this recipe will help with acne prone skin? I get breakouts on my back and I need something that will help with this, natually. I have tried so many store bought products that have left my skin so dry and irritated. I have heard that tea tree oil can help with acne as well. Can I put tea tree oil in this recipe?
Hey Katilin, I’m not sure if the recipe will clear up acne, but I know it’s probably a much a better option than the majority of store-bought washes. I believe adding tea tree oil to this recipe would be really beneficial for acne-prone skin!