DIY Gentle Hand Wash: Simple Homemade Recipe
Discover how to make a gentle DIY hand wash that cleanses without drying out your skin. Join us for this simple homemade hand wash project that will leave your hands feeling soft and refreshed.
If you have delicate and sensitive skin type, then finding some gentle hand wash can be challenging sometimes. You can find solutions here in this post so that you can make your own hand wash. Post-COVID, many people have developed the culture of hand washing and hand sanitizing though there are less risks now, washing your hands regularly should be something you do.
Why You Should Wash Your Hands?
There are many good reasons as to why one should wash their hands. Hands are body parts that is mostly exposed to bacteria since they come into contact with many surfaces. Washing your hands can
Improve hand care routine: Using hand wash can be an important and first step to hand care. You'll always start with hand washing followed by moisturization and not the other way round. Using hand wash for cleansing is more better than alcohol-based sanitizer or wet wipes which can be drying afterwards.
Reduce chances of spreading communicable infections: Many illnesses are transmitted due to contact and hands being a body part that is used for more contacts such as hand shaking then incorporating hand washing can reduce chances of having infections so far than any other way possible.
Improve overall hygiene: When your hands are washed and well taken care of, it can improve your overall cleanliness and reduce chances of getting food poisoning. But also it is good and safe for young children since it can prevent them from sickness.
After knowing a thing or two about hand washing then creating a gentle hand wash that can cleanse your hands and underneath the fingernails can be rewarding especially if you're looking for a formulation that won't be drying and can be soothing and gentle to your hands while getting rid of bacteria. Let's make a perfect hand wash just catered to you!
Selecting Ingredients
Distilled water: When making a hand wash formulation for the most part water is the largest ingredient by far. So you have to use distilled water instead of other options such as tap water or bottled drinking water since there are high chances that these options maybe likely to contain bacteria and traces of mineral impurities which can affect the quality of your hand wash in general.
Sodium laureth sulfate: Its short form is SLES not to be confused by its notorious counterpart sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), SLES is a good surfactant and effective cleansing agent that can remove dirt on your hands and make them clean. It can also lather and produce that foam you see when you rub your hands with the hand wash.
Coco betaine: Also known as cocamidopropyl betaine is a well-known ingredient that is common in cosmetics and personal care products. It is a good thickening agent and can make this hand wash more creamy. It ia also a good foaming, mild cleansing and viscosity controlling agent in products.
Lotus flower extract: This botanical extract has far more benefits than drawbacks. Lotus flower extracts can be soothing and calming to your hands due to its anti-inflammatory properties as well as a brightening agent for your hands, so including it in your hand wash formulation is definitely a go to.
Jojoba oil: This natural plant oil can mimic natural oils produced by the skin so including it in the hand wash formulation as the emollient is quite a good choice that can do many jobs at once.
PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate: This ingredient can act as an emulsifier for water-based and oil-based ingredients in the hand wash formulation. It also another good surfactant and emollient that function very well.
Glycol distearate: It is your pearlizing agent commonly used in body washes, shampoos, conditioners and other numerous personal care products, giving them a pearly appearance but also enhancing texture of your hand wash.
Sodium chloride: Commonly known as table salt, this ingredient can thicken your hand wash formulation and make it less runny if used in very small amounts thus included as part of the recipe.
Phenoxyethanol: This ingredient is used in smaller percentage but with greater importance to the hand wash formulation. It is a good and safe anti-microbial agent that is good in highly water based recipes. It can kill bacteria and prevent growth of bacteria on the final product thus a good preservative.
Citric acid: It is another ingredient used in small amounts to check and adjust the pH of the final product. This ingredient make sure the hand wash is neither too acidic or too alkaline at the end of the day.
Fragrance oil: This is a very optional ingredient to begin with. Choose the fragrance oil of your choice and add to your hand wash formulation to make it smell good and leave nice scent up on using it.
Ingredients
3¼ tablespoons of distilled water
2 tablespoonssodium laureth sulfate
¾ tablespoon of coco betaine
¾ teaspoon of lotus flower extract
⅓ teaspoon of jojoba oil
⅓ teaspoon of PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate
⅓ teaspoon of glycol distearate
⅓ teaspoon of sodium chloride
¼ teaspoon of phenoxyethanol
⅛ of citric acid
5 to 10 drops of fragrance oil
After getting all the ingredients, its time to gather all the tools like double boiler or saucepan, kitchen thermometer, pH strips or tester, measuring spoons, mixing bowl, heatproof measuring cups, wooden spoon stove top and designated pump bottle. Now you're all set to start preparing your hand wash.
Instructions
Measure out your ingredients: distilled water and glycol distearate then add them a double boiler or instead if you don't have one, add them in a heatproof measuring cup and place it in a saucepan with few inches of water.
Put it on the stove top and set it on low heat. Heat it on low heat and stir frequently while also checking for temperature using thermometer when it reaches 170 Fahrenheit. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool to around 140 Fahrenheit.
Pour mixture into the mixing bowl and add sodium laureth sulfate, coco betaine, lotus flower extract, jojoba oil and PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate to the mix.
Take a hand-held mixer and blend with low speed and gradually increasing to medium speed for about 3 to 5 minutes.
For viscosity controlling and adjusting pH, add sodium chloride and citric acid to the mixture and blend more.
Add your drops of fragrance oil and mix, skip the step if you don't need it.
Transfer the mixture into a well-sanitized designated pump bottle.
Use you hand wash!
How to Wash Your Hands Properly
Start by wetting your hands with running clean and safe water.
Press few pumps of your hand wash and rub it all over your hands, back of your hands, palms, between your fingers and underneath the fingernails.
Scrub your hands for like 20 to 30 seconds properly to remove dirt and bacteria.
Rinse out your hands under clean and safe running water, again addressing your palms, fingers and underneath fingernails.
Pat your hands dry with a clean towel, paper towel or tissues, you can use air dryer though there are not good option.
Moisturize your hands with hand cream or lotion.
About me
Hello, my dear gorgeous! Welcome to my blog and learn with me as you walk in your skincare journey. I'm skincare enthusiast and a student. I like sharing my passion of beauty and skincare with the world. I like blogging, reading and binge watching YouTube vlogs and Netflix during my leisure time.
