Did you know that you can make your own foaming hand soap? No special ingredients, no expensive machines — all it takes is a little honey, some water, and patience. Here’s how to do it:
## What you’ll need to make foaming soap
If you want to make foaming honey soap, you need to have the ingredients on hand: honey, water, and a microwave-safe container. You can use a saucepan on the stovetop if you don’t have access to a microwave.
## Add the honey and a few other ingredients
First, add the honey to the microwave-safe container. Microwave honey on high for 45 seconds, stir with a spoon, then microwave again for 45 seconds — this will help get it melted. Add the water and stir well. As with any recipe, do some trial and error to find the right ratio of honey and water to get the right consistency for your soap — too little honey and the soap will be too thin; too much honey and the soap won’t be foamy enough.
Next, add the shea butter and coconut oil. Shea butter is a plant-based butter with a cocoa scent that gets added to soap to help moisturize skin — coconut oil is another plant-based oil that makes a great moisturizer.
## Bring everything to a full boil
Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and orange essential oils and stir. Turn the heat to high and bring the honey mixture to a full boil. Boil the mixture for 2 to 3 minutes.
As you can see in the image above, the honey will turn a light brown color when it’s almost boiling. This is the “foaming” phase — the foam is created by naturally occurring chemicals in the honey. Once you see this, turn off the heat.
The key to getting a good foam is letting the honey mixture cool down to room temperature. It should be between 90 and 95 degrees. This will take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. Once it’s cool enough, you’ll notice tiny bubbles on the surface of the honey.
## Turn off the heat and leave it to cool down
Once the honey mixture is cool enough to foam, turn off the heat and leave it to cool down. The mixture may foam more while it cools.
While the honey mixture cools down, you can do the next step or combine it with the foaming phase.
## Add the essential oils
Once the honey mixture is at the foaming stage, add the essential oils. Start with a few drops of the oil you want to use and then add more if you would like. You can add more than one oil — make sure that you don’t add too many oil drops, as too much oil will make the soap too oily. You can add any essential oil here — try lavender or orange for a gentle scent.
You can add a few drops of rosewater to make the soap smell like roses. Rose essential oil has a strong scent and rosewater has a mild scent that complements the rose scent.
## Stir in your favorite scent or add more oils if you like
Once the oil is added, stir the soap mixture with a spoon. Once the ingredients are evenly mixed, pour the soap into molds.
You can also add essential oils while pouring the soap into the molds. Stir the soap while pouring it into the molds and make sure to incorporate the oils well.
You can also use this soap in the shower — just use warm water. How do you like your foaming soap?
## Pour into molds and let dry
Once the soap is poured into the molds, let it dry for 24 hours. You can speed up the drying process by placing the molds in the oven on low heat — use molds with air-holes so the moisture doesn’t get trapped in the molds. Once the soap is dry, you can use it.
If you like, you can pour some soap from one container into another. This saves you from buying new containers and it adds an interesting effect. You can also cut the soap into shapes, such as hearts or flowers, for a more decorative look.
Check out these other DIY natural soap recipes:
## More foaming recipes
Here are more foaming recipes you might like to try.
This recipe uses coconut oil and arrowroot as thickeners, so it’s a bit like a cake batter. You can pour the batter into molds or add it to ice cream to make a frosting.
This recipe uses a few drops of lavender oil as a scent and coconut milk as the liquid — coconut milk makes a great alternative to water because it’s rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot and tapioca starch as thickeners and almond oil and vanilla extract as scents. This makes a light texture that’s great for facial soaps.
This recipe uses coconut milk and lemongrass essential oil — the aroma of lemongrass is great for body cleansers as it’s antibacterial and antifungal.
This recipe uses honey and milk as thickeners and baking soda as the foaming agent. Baking soda is a natural cleanser — it’s great for removing dirt and oil from your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and coconut milk as the liquid. Coconut milk is rich in minerals and vitamins that nourish your skin when it’s exfoliated by the soap.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and milk as the liquid — milk is a great alternative to water as it’s rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and milk as the liquid — milk is a great alternative to water as it’s rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as the sweetener. Honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has antibacterial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as the sweetener. Honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has antibacterial properties.
This recipe uses honey as a sweetener and arrowroot as a thickener — arrowroot helps to thicken the honey recipe without adding sugar. This recipe is great for preventing dry skin, as honey prevents the skin from becoming too dry.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and vanilla extract as a scent — vanilla is a great multi-use natural scent that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and vanilla extract as a scent — vanilla is a great multi-use natural scent that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and vanilla extract as a scent — vanilla is a great multi-use natural scent that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as a sweetener — honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as a sweetener — honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as a sweetener — honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and milk as a sweetener — milk is a great alternative to water as it’s rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and milk as a sweetener — milk is a great alternative to water as it’s rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and milk as a sweetener — milk is a great alternative to water as it’s rich in vitamins and minerals that nourish your skin.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as a sweetener — honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and honey as a sweetener — honey is an excellent moisturizer that also has anti-microbial properties.
This recipe uses arrowroot as a thickener and
