If you’re looking for a change from my super-simple foaming body wash or hand wash and want something thicker and creamier, then look no further.
This recipe for natural hand and shower wash is seriously amazing and with 5 ingredients, you can’t go wrong!
Enough with the chemicals hiding in even so-called ‘eco’ and ‘green’ brands. Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol, Cocamidopropyl Betaine – all ingredients we need to steer clear of.
Read this blog post for some more info on chemicals to avoid. If you have a spare 2 minutes, whip up this natural hand and shower wash, your body and the planet will give you a big high-five for it!
Creamy Body Wash
Makes: 380 g | 13.4 oz Prep Time: < 5 min.
Ingredients
50 g | 1.8 oz hot water (see recipe notes)
25 g | 0.9 oz coconut oil (the type that solidifies)
1 tsp xanthan gum
200 g | 7.1 oz water – additional (see recipe notes)
100 g | 3.5oz liquid castile soap
30-50 drops of essential oils
My choice of essential oils…
My favourite essential oils in this recipe are peppermint and orange, but don’t be limited by my suggestions. Use oils that fit your budget, or those that you already have in your collection. Read here for more information.
Method
1. Add hot water, coconut oil and xanthan gum to a bowl and whisk until smooth and combined.
2. Add remaining ingredients and whisk again, either by hand or with an electric beater, until mixture is light and fluffy. This could take quite a few minutes if you’re whisking by hand. Periodically, scrape mixture down from sides of bowl.
3. Transfer into soap dispenser.
Thermal Appliance Method
1. Add hot water, coconut oil and xanthan gum to thermal appliance bowl and mix for 5-10 seconds on medium/high speed, or until smooth and combined.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix for 5-10 seconds on medium/high speed. Scrape down sides and repeat if required, until ingredients are combined.
3. Using a silicone spatula, make sure all of the xanthan gum is unstuck from around the blades, and scrape down sides of bowl.
4. Mix again for 5-10 seconds on medium/high speed, or until mixture becomes light and fluffy.
5. Transfer into soap dispenser.
To Use
Dispense body wash as required and massage over body. Rinse with warm water.
Recipe Notes
Water should be distilled, purified or pre-boiled and cooled to extend shelf life.
It’s so important to ensure you’re mixing the xanthan gum fully into the mixture.
You may need a wide-mouth funnel to get the mixture into your dispenser. I found that using a skewer to gently swirl/push the mixture through a funnel helped a lot.
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Krissy Ballinger
AUTHOR & ADVOCATE FOR NATURAL LIVING
Krissy wants to see a world where people make conscious choices that honour both humans and habitat. It is her mission to gently guide people towards this beautiful way of life. With a background in education and health promotion, she devotes her time to increasing awareness on common and avoidable toxins, as well as educating individuals on simple ways they can adjust their lifestyles to better serve themselves, and the planet. Natural DIY is Krissy’s speciality, and she has sold over 50,000 copies of her recipe books, including her latest book, The Lifestyle Edit, the award-winning, Naturally Inspired - Simple DIY Recipes for Body Care and Cleaning, and her kids book, Make & Play - Natural DIY Recipes for Kids. She offers honest and gentle guidance, education and 100+ free natural DIY recipes on her website.
Hi Krissy, Can you put this in a foaming bottle and if so will it foam? What does the gum do please?
Nope, has to be a regular pump dispenser. The gum thickens it.
One of my faves! I love that it can be customised with essential oils in so many different ways, just by swapping out essential oils, this recipe covers hand, body and face for me and my family!
hi Krissy, Just want to say this is our favourite recipe of the whole book, we make this recipe up every 8 weeks roughly and my husband no longer complains of dry itchy skin. The whole family loves it! thanks for such a fast, simple recipe.
This is such fab feedback, thank you, Sam! So glad the skin irritation has settled for hubby too 🙂
Hello, I am just wondering if this is suitable for newborns and toddlers as well? Would be great to make the whole families body wash!
Hey Anita, yes I believe so, but it’s safest to leave the essential oils out.
Was wondering if castile soap had a shelf life .
Yep it does, each bottle you buy should tell you. Usually 6ish months.
Hi Krissy, any alternatives for xanthun gum?
Hi Nicoletta, not one that works as well (and I have tried many)! You could try a foaming wash instead? https://krissyballinger.com.au/recipes/foaming-body-wash/
Hi Kristy, can this be used as shampoo for the kids? Just wondering if this could be a multi-use product beside hand and body wash? Or would there be something more or less I would need to add for it to be safe for kids? I’ve only found a running-formula for kids shampoo…
Hi Felicia, because children’s hair typically isn’t very greasy you could definitely try this recipe. I do have a recipe in my book though, which is great for kids hair. If you’re worried about essential oils and kids, leave them out.
I just wanted to know how to access the recipes. When I click it on, it sends me to this comment page.
Hi Deborah, I’m a little confused… The recipe is on this page, above these comments, and there is also a print feature below the recipe notes.
I have been playing around with making soaps and a variety of bath and body products to give me something to do & I have a question in regards to using a preservative. So all the articles I have read, even some that are formulators that want to make their products as clean & chemical free as possible, most say that if your recipe contains water as an ingredient or if the product will be stored in a area with high moisture, like a shower, than you have to use a rral preservative, not Red Turkey Oil, or Vitamin E, a true preservative like Optiphen.
So, without a preservative being added to this recipe, will the soap still grow bacteria that is nakes to the eye? I am curious because I love thos recipe, but I want to make this for family, but don’t want to hurt there skin with bacteria contamination.
Thank you in advance!
Crissy
Hi Chrissy, I share my thoughts on this here > https://krissyballinger.com.au/blog/preservatives-shelf-life-and-safety-information/ In a nutshell, I keep things super simple, and believe the lack of preservatives far outweighs the risk associated with many commercial products. In saying that, I understand that some people are not comfortable using water-based products without chemical preservatives, so I’d encourage them to either buy these products (as clean as possible) or source a recipe from someone who uses, and understands, them. Good luck 🙂
Hi Krissy
Made the creamy body wash as per recipe.
Very foamy in mixing bowl. Should I leave it in the bowl to settle before transferring into shower bottle. If I transfer from bowl to container it settles down overnight to half the quantity then I refill the next day with what is left in the mixing bowl.
Am I doing something wrong.
Cheers
Suzanne
Sounds normal! Just let it settle and then transfer into your bottle. There are no rules, whatever works for you 😉
Hi Krissy,
I love this and ended up using it on my kids and using it as a hair wash for the kids, is it ok to use in there hair. I don’t put essential oils in the kids one. I make to for our hand wash to, my hands have noticed the difference.
Thank you
I know lots of people who use this as shampoo (and because kids don’t really have greasy hair, it’s perfect for them!). Thanks for your feedback too 🙂
Where do you buy liquid Castile soap?
Hi Dianne, I have plenty of suggestions for suppliers, as well as discount codes here > https://krissyballinger.com.au/blog/my-favourite-suppliers-of-natural-ingredients-packaging-accessories/
Hi Krissy, I made this but have ended up with a big bowl of foam. Can this be rescued? I’ve let it sit for a few hours but it’s still like meringue.
Hi Deb,
It does settle. Just get it into a bottle using a funnel or piping bag – 100% useable 😉
Should liquid coconut oil be used so it doesn’t get solid bits through the mixture?
Hi Rachael, I don’t have any issues with the coconut oil solidifying throughout the mixture. 25g in almost 400g isn’t enough to impact the recipe but feel free to sub it out for FCO and see if you like the end result 🙂
I have made this recipe for Xmas presents everyone said they loved it.
So glad I found this recipe. Been making this recipe since the first lockdown when all the liquid soap was out of stock. Haven’t stopped since and mixing it up with different essential oils