need recipe for handwashing soap

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jan 14, 2014
Messages
4,129
Reaction score
4,262
Has anyone ever designed a soap for people who wash their hands a lot?
We have one child, one very old cat, 2 hamsters, 3 fish and I wash my hands a lot!

Shoot....just making breakfast with scrambled eggs means I wash 3 times...before meal prep, after handling raw eggs, then after eating/loading
dishwasher.

I have yet to make my first soap ever, but after I make a couple practice batches, I'd like to focus on a good handwashing soap so my hands won't be
tight and dry even after using lotion multiple times a day!

Btw, lard is welcome. And if possible, I'd like a nice hard bar.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I am a nurse, so thinking of using bar soaps for handwashing kind of squicks me out. I used this recipe with 1 oz of jojoba oil substituted out for 1 oz of olive oil. Very conditioning. I have halved my use of lotions easily. You will need to add 3.9 oz water to the liquid glycerin and bring it to heat with the glycerin. Add the KOH SLOWLY. Like 1 teaspoon at the time slowly. Keep mixing and stirring alternately and hang in there. It does take a bit longer than the video shows.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VUGV_H7bZU[/ame]
 
Fair enough! I'm a microbiologist and there's no way I would ever use bar soap at work but I like it at home as I find it dries my hands out less. I wash my hands a ridiculous amount every day too and no matter what I try my hands are always really dry.
 
75% lard with 25% Coconut Oil will make a nice soap..

Soap is soap if you wash your hands properly it does not matter if it is a bar or liquid.
 
Liquid soap tends to be more drying than bar soap IME, and interestingly enough I was just reading earlier today that not one single case of germ transmission from a bar soap has ever been documented. Not one! Even in controlled tests where nasty microbes are placed on the bar before using. No squick necessary, it seems that bar soap works just fine. :)

As for how to formulate something, I find that my hands are much more hearty than the rest of me, so any bar I would use in the shower works great as hand soap. Even tho I wash my hands a lot during the day I use the same formula. I usually take any soap batter left over after filling my mold of choice and put it in a sample size container and that becomes my kitchen sink soap. Great for hands and great for testing.
 
Last edited:
You could add a bit of lanolin to your recipe. It's a really good emolient and adds a protective layer to the skin. You only need a tiny amount, so don't go higher than 1-2% of your recipe, or the soap will get too sticky. Adding a bit of cocoa butter to the recipe (maybe 5%) can also counteract any stickiness. They go really well together. I've read that some people can be allergic to it or they don't like the scent, but I love lanolin! It's brilliant for when your skin is really dry or chapped or has been put through the mill. I like to use lanolin soap after gardening or spring cleaning and such, when my hands need just that little bit extra TLC.
 
I like salt bars for hand washing, because they stay firm and do not need to dry between uses. We also make liquid soap, but the solid salt bars leave my hands feeling a lot more conditioned.
 
Back
Top