5 Foaming Hand Soap Recipes for Winter & Christmas

Creating your own foaming hand soap is one of the easiest DIY body care items you can make, and it’s very budget-friendly too! Natural products can get very expensive, so DIY hand soap is something I highly recommend doing to save you some money! It can also be very fun to create different scents and customize them just how you like them.

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This post will focus on which essential oils to use for foaming soap that is perfect for winter & Christmas, but I previously wrote a blog post with more details on how to make the soap base. Be sure to check out that post here to see the full details!

I also wrote a post with fall themed foaming hand soaps! Some of those are great for winter too. See that post here for even more ideas.

In addition to the castile soap and essential oils, you will need a foaming soap dispenser. You can either re-use a current foaming soap container that you have, buy a foaming pump to go on a current dispenser you have, or purchase a new foaming soap container that you can refill again and again. If you don’t want to make foaming soap, you can also use the essential oil combinations below as a guide to add to unscented liquid soaps or in your essential oil diffuser.

How many drops of essential oils to use

The below essential oil blends are how many drops I used for 8 oz of liquid soap (this is approximately how much liquid will fit in my 10 oz soap containers). It’s important to note that essential oils are potent and concentrated and should always be properly diluted to be used safely. The dilution rate that is best for most people is 2%. A 1% dilution is best for children and anyone with really sensitive skin. Here’s a quick reference for the correct amount of drops to use for those dilutions:

• 2% dilution: 12 drops of essential oils per 1 oz of carrier liquid
• 1% dilution: 6 drops of essential oils per 1 oz of carrier liquid
• This means that for 8 oz of liquid soap, you can do up to 96 drops of essential oils for a 2% dilution (8 oz x 12 drops = 96 drops). I find that most scents don’t need this many drops, as you’ll see below. It’s always best to use less if you can.

How to make the foaming soap:

1. Leaving about a 1/2″- 1″ of space at the top of your soap dispenser for the pump, fill your soap jar 1/3 of the way with castile soap.
2. (Optional) If you want a soap that feels a bit more moisturizing, next add 1/2 tbsp – 1 tbsp of a liquid, skin-friendly oil to the castile soap. Examples of oils you could use include: olive oil, fractionated coconut oil (must be fractionated), sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil. Please note, I find that the added oil does not emulsify (mix together) with the other ingredients as effectively as soap made with just castile soap & water. This means you have to shake the dispenser more often to keep the ingredients incorporated… keep that in mind if you want to add the extra oil.
3. Then add your essential oils to the castile soap (see below for the essential oil blends) and thoroughly stir them together. Use a glass liquid measuring cup to determine how many liquid ounces fit in your dispenser if you aren’t sure.
4. Add filtered or distilled water to the remaining 2/3 of your dispenser (leaving some room at the top for air and the pump). Stir this together, and you’re done!

The winter/Christmas soap recipes:

Peppermint Candy Cane

The combination of peppermint and vanilla is one of my all-time favourites! It has become my Christmas tradition to have this scent of soap at Christmas time. It smells so good I could eat it! I really reminds me of something like a mint chocolate cookie.

I used a CO2 flavour extract for the vanilla (pictured below for reference) and ended up needing to add 68 drops of it to my soap. Unfortunately, this flavour extract is no longer available for purchase online. If you are using a different type of vanilla, I recommend using less drops to start with in case you don’t need as many, then adding more if needed.

Winter Wellness (‘Legend of Thieves’)

This is my take on the well-known and popular ‘Thieves’ soap, made by Young Living. This combination of essential oils is known for its antibacterial and antiviral properties, making it perfect for promoting staying healthy during the winter season and holiday gatherings. Not only that, but it smells amazing too! You will love it!

Bright Forest

This is a simple and classic scent perfect for Christmas and all throughout the winter season. It is fresh and woodsy, and reminds me of walking through a forest after a fresh snowfall.

All is Calm

This blend is perfect for helping to promote feelings of calm! Who doesn’t need that during the Christmas season?! Both orange and lavender help to relieve anxiety. This blend is soothing and has woody notes from the juniper berry and frankincense. It’s unexpectedly delicious and great for the holidays!

Christmas Morning

This is like a combination of all the best scents of Christmas morning… fresh baking, evergreen trees, and oranges. It is a classic that never gets old! Use this blend all throughout the winter season.

I truly hope you give these recipes a try and love them!