Get the recipe now for this super EASY and MOISTURIZING DIY liquid hand soap; you’ll never go back to your store-bought brand.

I am the queen of dry hands. I guess its not something to brag about. My mom and sister are always giving me a hard time about how dry my hands are and how the cracked look isn’t very flattering! Eeek.
In the wintertime my hands get especially dry. I feel like I could put lotion on all day long and they’d still be cracked at the end of the day. Sometimes they get so dry that they actually hurt!
I think its a combination of my skin type, not putting on lotion consistently, and washing my hands pretty often. If you suffer from the same thing then you will LOVE this DIY liquid hand soap recipe that actually moisturizes your skin.
I usually just use castile soap mixed with water for our DIY liquid hand soaps. This time around I wanted to switch things up a bit, especially since we are coming off of a cold and dry winter.
Which…. brings us to this crazy easy and moisturizing DIY liquid hand soap recipe. With a few extra ingredients to help with adding moisture back into your skin, this recipe will be a favorite if you’re a dry hand queen like me.
Why Make Your Own DIY Liquid Hand Soap?
You may be asking yourself this question, when its just as easy to grab a hand soap from the grocery store. There are even plenty of varieties that boast their amazing moisturizing effects.
I believe its safe to assume that most commercially bought products, especially cleaning and skin care ones, are not that great for us. I used to do a lot of research into everything I was using to see what was toxic and how bad something was.
Now, I save myself the trouble and am just working towards switching ALL of the products we use to something more natural, whether its store-bought or DIY’ed. This includes our hand soap!
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This DIY liquid hand soap is SO easy to make, that it just makes sense to make it myself. I could research a good all natural brand, but I love how quick this recipe is to make and how I can change it depending on what I want.
As you can see, it was not a big deal at all to add a few extra ingredients to my usual recipe to make this hand soap more moisturizing. I can also swap out the essential oils depending on the season or my personal preference.
Another bonus is that making your own DIY liquid hand soap can save you a lot of money over time, especially if you’re able to buy your ingredients in bulk. Are you sold?!
Tips for Making DIY Liquid Hand Soap
Here are some helpful tips for making the most of your DIY Liquid hand soap and having the whole process go smooth and easy.
- Use a glass jar, which won’t leak any chemicals into the soap like plastic can. You can find the jars that I have, on Amazon HERE.
- Because you’re adding oils into this recipe, the oils and water will naturally separate. Its best to give the soap a good shake before each use. I try to shake ours a few times throughout the day so if any guests go to use it they don’t need to shake it.
- There are so many different options with essential oils. You can omit them entirely or find your favorite blend that smells great and works well with your skin.
- Sometimes, at least from my experience, castile soap recipes can tend to get clumpy and dried in the dispenser part of the jar. No biggie though! I deep clean our bathrooms about once a week and when I do I just give the dispensers a good cleaning so they are free from clumps and working properly.
- Obviously, the kicker of this particular recipe is that’s its moisturizing. If you don’t need an extra moisturizing hand soap then you can stick to the very basics, castile soap and water (essential oils and witch hazel are also optional).
- The witch hazel is added in because it has antibacterial properties, but can be omitted if you don’t have any.
- Because water when not purified can attract bad bacteria, its best to use clean, purified water for this recipe. You can boil some just before using to purify it. You can also just try to make sure the soaps are used up quickly and don’t sit, unused for too long.

Moisturizing DIY Liquid Hand Soap Ingredients
3/4 cup purified water
3/4 cup liquid castile soap (I prefer the Dr. Bronners Hemp Baby Unscented variety because I can then scent it however I want with my essential oils)
1 Tbsp. vitamin e oil
1 Tbsp. almond oil or jojoba oil (I used almond because its what I have)
1 Tbsp. witch hazel
10-15 drops essential oils of choice (I made two different jars for both of our bathrooms this time and I used lemongrass essential oil in one and peppermint essential oil in the other)
Moisturizing DIY Liquid Hand Soap Directions
- combine all ingredients in glass jar that has a soap dispenser lid, starting with the water, then the soap, and finally the oils. Put the lid on and give the bottle a good shake.
- Shake before each use, and use like any hand soap by squirting a small amount onto hands, scrubbing, and rinsing with water.
Its really that easy! I’ve included a printable recipe card below if you are the printing type. How fun would it be to have all of your favorite DIY product recipes printed out and in a binder to refer to? I may have to try that!
I hope you enjoy this DIY liquid hand soap recipe and you love it as much as I do. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Moisturizing DIY Liquid Hand Soap
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup purified water
- 3/4 cup liquid castile soap
- 1 tbsp vitamin e oil
- 1 tbsp sweet almond oil
- 1 tbsp witch hazel
- 15 drops essential oils of choice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a glass jar with a soap dispenser lid, starting with the water, followed by the soap, and finally the oils.
- Shake well before each use. To use, dispense a small amount onto hands, scrub hands, and rinse with water.
Check out some of our other Natural Homemaking posts!
9 Ways to Go All Natural With Your Laundry Routine
3 Natural Alternatives to Bleach
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