Soapy Sunday

Mrs. Meyer's Basil Hand Soap is my fave!

While Pinteresting I stumbled upon the recipe of how to make it from The Farmer's Nest. So I investigated, and signed myself up for the challenge, which turned out to not be a challenge. Making my own hand soap was easy, so easy that I think this blog post might put Mrs. Meyer's Liquid Hand Soap division out of business (it appears that the gal from The Farmer's Nest may have already done some damage).

Here is what you need per batch:

Bar of Mrs. Meyer's Soap

2 Tbsp. Glycerin

1 Gallon Water

I made 2 batches. A batch of Lavender and a batch of Basil; a flavor for downstairs and a flavor for upstairs. 


Here is how to make it happen...
Shred up a whole bar of soap:

It looks a lot like mozzarella...there was an incident in our kitchen with a little soap getting stuck in my retainer. DO NOT simultaneously shred soap and mozzarella cheese in the same room.  You've been warned!

Pour the whole bar of shredded soap into a gallon of water (128 ounces or 16 cups) and add 2 tbsp. glycerin. That's all it takes is two measly tablespoons, so I am sharing the bottle of glycerin with a friend. 

Turn on the burners to med./high heat and mix the shavings until they are melted. You will have a pot (or 2 in my case) of soapy water. Turn off the burners and let it sit. That's all you have to do for about 8 hours.

 My soapy water started to sit at noon and this is what is looked like at 9PM last night.

 This is what it looked like after I stirred it up. Nice and fluffy. 

I beat it for a few minutes and added a wee bit of water to thin it out until I thought it had the perfect snotty consistency.

 Then I recruited an employee for my Soap Factory to help bottle up all of our hand soap.

We have enough hand soap to last us approx. 6 years. As Henry would say "I have over done it, again!"

The math:
One Mrs. Meyer's Liquid Hand Soap, 12.5 ounces: $4.50 (if not a little more)
One batch of home made Mrs. Meyer's Hand Soap, 128 ounces: $6.50 (soap and glycerin)

 Any questions? I love a deal!