I’ve written before about the dangers of antibacterial soap and why I opt for homemade hand sanitizer. I turn to natural products when I need a good hand soap to get rid of anything nasty on my hands. This lemon thyme foaming hand soap smells lovely and helps keep hands clean, safely.
Is lemon safe to use?
Even though this blend contains lemon, an essential oil that’s considered to be photo-toxic, it’s safe to use in this recipe. Since it’s a wash off product, you don’t have to worry about it lingering on the skin and potentially causing burns. It’s also used at a 1.5 % concentration, which is less than what’s considered a safe limit to use even for a leave on product.
Kick germs butt
The lemon essential oil gives this a fresh, clean scent and helps cleanse skin. Thyme essential oil is another powerful cleanser. It’s a good broad spectrum oil that will take care of a wide variety of nastiness on surfaces, including skin (source).
Lemon essential oil is:
- An antioxidant that can inhibit cancer cell growth
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antibacterial against both gram positive and gram negative bacteria
- Antifungal
Thyme essential oil contains thymol, a potent disinfectant. It’s EPA approved for neutralizing drug resistant MRSA, coronavirus (including the novel covid-19), and other viruses on surfaces. Thymol isn’t government endorsed for hand soap, but has a long history of safe use in skincare products when used correctly. Thyme essential oil is also effective against a wide variety of bacteria. Gram-positive bacteria and E-coli are especially susceptible (source).
Even the FDA (who I don’t usually agree with), recently asked hand sanitizer and soaps makers to prove their products get rid of germs and are safe.
Why foaming soap?
Foaming hand soap is so much more fun than the regular kind, especially for little ones. It also lasts longer. I love the smell of the Mrs. Meyers brand of hand soaps, but it can quickly get expensive, so I find it’s cheaper to make my own. This way I can also customize the scent, and leave out any questionable ingredients.
Where to get a foaming soap container
You can re-purpose a plastic foaming pump dispenser from any brand at your local store, which is what I’ve done. You can also purchase foaming dispensers online. There are some really cute ones that use a mason jar for the base, and you attach the foaming pump to the top. This one is stainless steel so it’s more durable than plastic, and it would look really pretty on one of those blue glass mason jars!
Lemon thyme foaming hand soap
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup Castile soap
- 2 TBSP distilled water
- 1 tsp sweet almond oil
- 3/4 tsp lemon essential oil
- 1/4 tsp thyme essential oil -thymol chemotype
- 1/8 tsp vitamin E oil
Instructions
- In an 8 oz foaming soap dispenser combine the soap, sweet almond oil and essential oils. Stir or shake until everything is thoroughly combined. It should look creamy.
- Add just enough distilled water to fill. Be sure to leave enough room for the pump lid.
- Place the foaming lid on your soap container and use whenever you need to clean up your hands.
Notes
Most vitamin E oil is mixed with soybean oil or other filler ingredients. Be sure to use a concentrated vitamin E oil - alpha tocopherol should be the only ingredient on the label.
What are your favorite soap scents? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to share this recipe!
Sources:
- Klimek-Szczykutowicz, M., Szopa, A., & Ekiert, H. (2020). Citrus limon (Lemon) Phenomenon-A Review of the Chemistry, Pharmacological Properties, Applications in the Modern Pharmaceutical, Food, and Cosmetics Industries, and Biotechnological Studies. Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 9(1), 119. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9010119
- EPA. (2020, March 3). EPA’s Registered Antimicrobial Products Effective Against Methicillian Resistant Staphyloccus aureus (MRSA) and/or Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus faecalis or faecium (VRE). https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents/2020.03.03_listh.pdf
- EPA. (2020, March 13). Pesticide Registration: Selected EPA-Registered Disinfectants. https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/selected-epa-registered-disinfectants
- Marino, M., Bersani, C., Comi, G. (1999). Antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of Thymus vulgaris L. measured using a bioimpedometric method. J Food Prot. 62(9):1017-23. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-62.9.1017
This recipe looks amazing — can’t wait to try it!
I wonder how you can make it with fresh herbs?
Normally with fresh herbs you would infuse them with an oil first. You would get some therapeutic properties, but not as much, and the smell wouldn’t be very noticeable. If you made your own liquid soap and used an herb infused oil with that, before making the foaming soap that would probably be the way to do it. Let me know if you do and how it turns out!
I REALLY love this dispenser! It has the correct measurements for the water and soap, but the design hides the lines! I bought several of these for bath and kitchen as well as for family as gifts. It is plastic, but I do love the design and there are color options as well to fit any decor.
https://www.amazon.com/Better-Living-Products-Dispenser-White/dp/B00DPMEJ98/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&qid=1488468234&sr=8-34&keywords=foaming+soap+dispensers
Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I also made a homemade version of thieves oil, and use a few drops of it neat in soap, but this would be a great alternative and switch up for that.
That dispenser does look nice Carol! Do you have any issues with cleaning it properly though? We use a lot of the “thieves” type blends too, so it’s nice to switch things up 🙂
No problems rinsing it out. Just be sure to get the underside of the opening as it can sometimes get some buildup on it, but if you do it frequently, there should be no problems. I just made the lemon/thyme soap, and am loving it!!
Thanks again!
No problems rinsing it out. Just be sure to get the underside of the opening as it can sometimes get some buildup on it, but if you do it frequently, there should be no problems. I just made the lemon/thyme soap, and am loving it!!
Thanks again!