How To Make The Best Natural DIY Body Wash

This DIY body wash recipe is super simple, moisturizing, and inexpensive to make. All you need are 3 ingredients and a few minutes of time to make it. Perfect for the whole family.

One of my all time favorite natural ingredients to use is castile soap. It is so versatile, and can be used in so many homemade skincare products.

From foaming hand soap, to face wash, to cleaning your home, and so much more. It is a must-have in my arsenal of natural products.

This natural homemade body wash is so incredibly easy to make, and it won’t dry out your skin.

I love that it’s super foamy, and you can completely customize the scent.

Not only does this recipe work amazingly well, but it is really inexpensive. My favorite type of recipe: natural and cheap.

If you’ve used castile soap as body wash in the past, you might be wary of using this recipe, especially if you have dry skin. Don’t worry! Adding glycerin makes this recipe super moisturizing. It’s the secret sauce.

My skin feels great after – nice and clean, moisturized and not tight or dry. And because I almost always have the ingredients on hand, I’ll never run out!

Win-win. You and your whole family will love this recipe!

Recipe Highlights:

Easy: This simple recipe only contains a few ingredients and little takes minutes to make. It really can’t get much easier.

Natural: No harmful ingredients here. Just a few simple ingredients. Store-bought body wash often times contains artificial fragrances, parabens, propane (yes, seriously. Not a joke), synthetic preservatives, endocrine disrupters, and more.

Great for all skin types: Whether you have dry sensitive skin or oily skin, this recipe is for you. You can customize it to work for your skin type.

Inexpensive: It only costs a few dollars to make this recipe. Unfortunately, when switching to natural products you will find that natural store-bought versions tend to be on the pricey side. A great way to combat this, and save some money, is to make products yourself.

Sudsy: During testing of this recipe, I found that it can be a challenge to get it nice and sudsy. I found that adding glycerin was the solution. This helps it suds up, moisturize the skin, and make it into more of a creamy homemade body wash.

Tips For Making This Recipe:

• Place in a foaming hand soap container to make the body wash last longer. 
• If you don’t have a foaming hand soap dispenser, you can use a regular soap dispenser, but I would recommend using a wash cloth or puffy mesh bath ball.
• If you don’t have vegetable glycerin you can substitute it for honey.
• Have dry skin? This recipe is soothing and moisturizing, but you can also add in oil for extra moisture.
• It is usually recommended to store in a glass bottle rather than plastic containers when using essential oils.
• While you could easily double or triple this recipe, it’s a good idea to make small batches so it will be used up before it will go bad.

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Homemade Body Wash Recipe Ingredients

Castile soap: This natural liquid soap is my go-to for many homemade products. There are multiple brands out there to choose (I like Dr. Bronner’s castile soap or one from our local co op), make sure to use an unscented one so you can add your own.pure essential oils to it and avoid any artificial fragrances.

Vegetable glycerin: Helps the sudsing power and also adds moisture to the soap to prevent it from being too drying. You could also swap out the glycerin for honey. My local co op keeps this in the bulk section for fairly inexpensive.

Water: Since it is this recipe contains water, I recommend using distilled water (or water that has been boiled and cooled) to help discourage bacteria growth. It is also made in small batches to help.

Essential oils: Choose your favorite scent combinations. Are an amazing way to add aromatherapy benefits in an all natural way. See below for my favorite essential oils to add to this recipe. I use Doterra, Young Living, or Plant Therapy oils. Whatever brand you use, just make sure they are 100% pure essential oils. See my whole post here.

Carrier oil: Optional. If you have very dry skin, you may want to add a teaspoon of a nourishing oil like jojoba oil, apricot, sweet almond oil, avocado, hemp oil, fractionated coconut oil, or olive oil. My favorite oils are jojoba oil (because it is extra moisturizing and is the closest to our bodies sebum), and olive oil (moisturizing and always in my pantry).

Tools you may need:

Measuring cups and spoons

Soap dispenser: I like using a foaming pump bottles as this helps this DIY body wash recipe go a little further.

Best essential oils to use:

• Lavender: this delightful floral scent is super relaxing and can even help you sleep better. Anti-inflammatory properties that are great for skin irritation.
• Chamomile: Calming and delightful floral scent.
• Clary Sage: can be uplifting and have hormone balancing properties. It does have a stronger scent and I would recommend also adding lavender to brighten it up. 
• Tea Tree: Antifungal and antibacterial properties, this is a great oil to add to natural body wash to help fight bacterial.
• Peppermint: This can be a great oil to help you wake up in the morning. A little bit goes a long way so only add a little bit. Avoid if you are nursing.
  • Spearmint would be a better alternative for nursing moms.
  • Avoid using citrus oils if you are planning to be outside in the next 12 hours because they can make your skin photosensitive.

How To Make DIY Body Wash

Step 1: To a bowl or measuring cup, add water and castile soap.

Step 2: Mix in vegetable glycerin until dissolved.

Step 3: Add in essential oil. I like adding 2 drops of spearmint and 5-10 drops of lavender essential oil. Choose your favorite scents.

Step 4: Pour into a soap dispenser and you are ready to go.

Super simple right? 

To use: 

Give it a good shake and then squirt some into you hand while in the shower or bath, rub on your body and rinse.

If you don’t have a foaming soap dispenser I would recommend squirting some into a fluffy mesh pouf to make it sudsier and last longer.

Storage:

Store in a airtight container out of direct sunlight. A natural body wash recipe has a shelf life of about 3-6 months. If there is any mold, weird smells, or change of color, toss it out.

FAQ:

Is it cheaper to make your own body wash?

It is much cheaper to make your own body wash compared to buying it. Making your own products usually comes with a big cost savings. Especially when you compare it to natural store-bought versions that are usually pretty pricey.

Plus, most of these ingredients are very versatile and can be used to make other homemade products.

What is a natural substitute for body wash?

Natural soap (without artificial fragrances) or homemade body wash are a great substitute.

What essential oils are best for DIY body wash?

Lavender, chamomile, clary sage are a great choice for a calming body wash. Whereas peppermint, spearmint, eucalyptus, grapefruit, mandarine, orange are more uplifting.

My favorite blends are: lavender and mint (peppermint or spearmint), grapefruit and orange, OnGaurd or Thieves like blend.

How do you make antibacterial body wash?

Add bacterial fighting essential oils like tea tree oil, lemon grass, eucalyptus, cedarwood, peppermint or a blend like OnGaurd or Thieves.

Find More Homemade Skin Care Products:

• DIY Lotion Bars
• Brown Sugar Scrub
• Charcoal Face Mask
• DIY Epsom Salt Foot Scrub
• Homemade Face Wash
• DIY Lip Scrub
• Avocado And Honey Face Mask

If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you came back and gave it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @ablossominglife