How to Make My Own Scented Foam Soap

A little foam soap goes a long way.

Scented foaming soap is often a big seller at bath and beauty stores, since you can put it out for guests to use, yet only a small amount is needed. Instead of paying for the soap though, making your own takes about five minutes and allows you to experiment with a wide variety of scents. Holiday smells, such as pumpkin pie, cranberry, gingerbread or cinnamon, can be used to make gifts of soap for friends and family. Foam soap is so simple, even kids can make their own, and many kids love to play with the foam as well.

Things You'll Need

• Tea kettle
• Foaming soap dispenser with pump
• Scented essential oils
• Oil-based liquid soap, unscented
• Stir stick

Instructions

1. Heat water on the stove until it is hot but not boiling. If your water does end up boiling, just remove it from the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes before using.

2. Pour the hot water into the soap dispenser, leaving about 1 to 1 1/2 inches at the top. If your bottle is narrow, leave more room, if it is a wide bottle, you only need the 1 inch.

3. Add eight to 10 drops of essential oil. Citrus fragrances, like orange, lemon or lime, are nice for soap, as are herbal scents such as rosemary and lavender.

4. Add 2 tablespoons of oil-based liquid soap, sometimes referred to as Castile soap, to the dispenser.

5. Stir the mixture gently a few times to mix the soap and essential oils with the water.

6. Attach the pump to the dispenser and enjoy your new scented foam soap.

Tips & Warnings

• You will need to pump the soap out a few times before the foamy suds start flowing.

• Most dish soaps or unscented liquid hand soaps are oil based. Dish soap tends to work better for foamy soap recipes.

• Don’t shake the dispenser to mix the soap, water and essential oils.

• Residue can build up after several refills, keeping your pump from working properly. To fix the problem, rinse the pump with water, then distilled white vinegar, then a final water rinse.

• If kids are making the soap, an adult should pour the hot water to be safe.

References

• “The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques for Creating Colorful and Fragrant Soaps"; Alicia Grosso; 2007
• Full of Great Ideas: DIY Foaming Soap Refill