DIY Handwash

I remember once seeing an interview with a doctor where he stated that professionals in his hospital were required to wash their hands a ridiculous number of times. When they walk into a room, when they're leaving, right after drawing blood, etc. I'm not sure an actual number is that helpful but guidelines outlining when you're most likely to have come into contact with infectious contagions.

That being said, I worked in two settings, before I became a stay-at-home-mom, where washing my hands frequently was a requirement. I hated it - mostly because my hands would get so dry.


As a housekeeper in a nursing home, I had to change my gloves every room, and I had to wash my hands before I put on gloves and after I took them off. It didn't make much sense to me - especially since I was cleaning about 40 rooms, but it wasn't as though I could argue.

When I did in-home care for the elderly, I had to wash my hands after helping with a bath, wash hands before and after handling food, wash hands when I left their place of dwelling and came back five seconds later... I felt like half of my time was spent washing my hands, and I would get soap rashes under my ring if I didn't rinse and dry thoroughly.

At home, now, I do a lot of cooking, so I'm still washing my hands fairly often. This necessitates working with oils and meats, which leave a grimy layer on my hands. I was previously using another DIY hand-soap, but I struggled with it because it never removed the grease from my skin. I would wind up using the dish soap, which could cut the grease but wasn't hydrating. In my frustration, I decided to try making my own recipe with the goals of cutting grease and hydrating. So far, I love this recipe and wanted to share it so others can enjoy it as well.

DIY Sal Suds Handsoap

1/2 C Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds
1/2 C water
1 Tbs. sweet almond oil
15 drops tea tree essential oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix all, starting with Sal Suds to reduce amount of bubbles.

Notes:

• You may ask if you could substitute Sal Suds with liquid castille soap. You can do this; however, this will seriously reduce the ability of the soap to remove grease.
• Sal Suds is naturally thicker than castille soap. It will become thinner, much like water, when you add the essential oils. For some reason, the oils break down the consistency. If you want, you can omit the oils in favour of the thickness. I would advise against this mostly because the oils are there to kill germs and viruses. The soap will still lather nicely when thinner.