DIY body wash

A few months ago I informed my husband that I was going to make our bath wash.  Let me just tell you he was more then a little leery of this idea. After reading about all the chemicals that are in body wash and even BABY soap (I mean really baby soap)!  I wanted to give it a shot. I am pretty sure Darin's exact words were "really I can handle the laundry soap but body wash?"  That set me on a mission to prove him wrong.  :)  After reading lots and LOTS of different ways to make it I found one that I thought I could handle. I set out on my mission to the health food store and got my supplies (which was 2 things...... for this anyway)  The one thing that I like about this is it is safe to use on my kids skin, and it makes even their skin softer! Unlike the soap that you purchase at the store this has no chemicals in it, the coconut oil puts almost a wax feeling of softness on your skin and soaks in all day long!  No more dry skin for our house!

You start by grating a bar of  Kirk's Castile soap, I did not grate it fine because you will be dumping it into boiling water.

Then you put a pan on the stove with 8 cups of water to boil.  After you water comes to a boil pull it off the burner and dump your grated soap into the boiling water and stir until dissolved.  This will smell your whole house up and gives it an extremely clean smell. Leave it on the stove and let it cool until it is luke warm.  

After it has cooled, you take 1 cup of the mixture and put it in a container and add 2 cups of water, this is where you add the coconut oil.  

I put my jar of coconut oil in the microwave for a few seconds to soften in up.  In your container you are mixing in, add 1 tbsp of the coconut oil into it and wisk it. Done! At this point you can also add a few drops of essential oil to give it a scent. Personally I did not put any essential oil in this batch, but I plan on getting some, just have to find the scent for me.  :)  I know that in Holton Sarah's Enchanted Cottage sells essential oils, I have yet to make it in there to look, but she would be able to give great tips on other items you can use them for.  

I use a container like this to mix it and store my already mixed body wash in. It works great because when it runs out I just dump it right into my container in the shower.  Now I tried cleaning out a empty shampoo bottle and just squirting it right on my loofa, I was not impressed with it at all.  This soap is a LOT more watery then the soap that you get at the store, and it takes some getting used to. Though I am not someone that "saves everything",  I decided to give a sour cream container a good wash. I added the soap into there, it fits on the shelf in the shower and my loofa fits right down in there and fills it will soap nicely!

Now you are probably wondering what in the world you are going to do with the plethora of soap left in your pot! Well I just got out some mason jars and filled them with the concentrated soap.  When my container runs out I just pull out a jar and dilute it down with the 2 cups of water add my coconut oil and refill!

I decided that when my husband who we will call "Skeptical Sam" told me last night that he had used some of the Dove soap that was in the shower, he no longer liked it!  YES, win for me! Not only does this make your skin fill wonderful and moisturized it also cost less then $.50 per container to make! Double Win!