My latest hippie adventure has to do with body wash. I’ve been making it for quite some time, but ran out months ago and never made the effort to make more. Until now!
I don’t make body wash because regular stuff makes my skin super dry or because of certain chemicals I’m afraid of. The novelty of it is just fun, and I like making my own things. That’s partly why I’ve made my own laundry detergent too! Here’s how I do body wash:
1. Procure soap.
I don’t know what the name of this one is, but it’s my favorite! It’s Olay brand and comes in a yellowish-orange package with coconuts on it. Smells divine and is wonderfully moisturizing. You can get it for $1/bar, but could get lesser quality bars for cheaper (or this one with coupons).
2. Grate or cut soap into small chunks.
This is surprisingly easy to do! I grate it until I get to the end then cut it up (see first picture up there) so I don’t grate my hand off.
3. Add to pot with ~2 cups water, and turn up heat to medium.
Different bar soaps will come to a different consistency, and that’s been the hardest part. This particular bar comes out thin – kind of like a thin cream. Feel free to experiment with water amounts!
4. Stir until soap chunks have disappeared, then let sit.
A whisk works nicely, but you can use any ol’ spoon. Or an oar. Whatever stirring agent you have lying around that won’t melt. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a while is what I read online, but I haven’t found the point behind that. I strained mine into a heat-proof bowl and let it cool so it wouldn’t melt my container.
5. Viola! Prepare for storage & use.
I made 6 batches of this at one, so it made about 2.5 liters, or an orange juice container full, however you’d prefer to measure. Since it is somewhat thin, I put some in a spray bottle for regular use. If you want it thicker, I would suggest looking into different types of recipes with glycerin or castile soap.
Sound super weird? I dare you to try it! This bar is moisturizing and smells heavenly, AND lasts a long time! If you’re into more au natural things, you can use a natural soap or whatever bar fits your preference. Let me know if you have questions or a different hippie project I could try out.
To Life,
A Drop in the Ocean 
Why not just use the bar of soap????
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That’s a good question! Bar soap has always kind of grossed me out because it gets soggy in the shower. Making it into body wash makes it last much longer too. It’s what I prefer, but if a bar works for other people, more power to ya!
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Some of my friends and I have been talking about making our own soap and laundry detergent, primarily from natural ingredients. It’s a neat concept to make your own soap. This looks like fun!
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Fun! When finances allow, I’d be very interested to try different techniques. If you try, I’d love to hear about it!
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YAY FOR A NEW POST! 😀
Wow. You are so hardcore. When you say it is thin like cream, does that mean it’s runny in the shower? Do you bring the OJ container into the shower with you? And what do you do with the stuff that’s in the spray bottle?
Coconut anything smells heavenly… it may convince me to try it 🙂
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Haha, gosh maybe I should write more!
How I make it, it is rather thin – so yes, runny. You can totally make it thicker with more soap/less water and other ingredients. I poured some of this in a spray bottle to use that way in the shower (OJ bottle is just for storage). If you have it in a squirt bottle, it doesn’t work as well. It sounds pretty weird, but works for me!
It actually doesn’t smell like coconuts (why they are on the package then, I don’t know). It’s the “ultra moisture beauty bar with shea butter” by Olay and smells SO GOOD!
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