When I played soccer in high school, I spent a lot of money on fancy body wash products (and fancy personal care products in general). I bought into all the claims that these products would make my skin softer or tighter, smell great, help with acne, etc. I even had several different body washes I mixed and matched to get the scent and effect I wanted (chemical cocktail, anyone?).

I don’t use most conventional products anymore and usually default to using bar soap. When I want the skin-softening, great smelling benefits of natural body wash, I make my own. This DIY natural body wash recipe contains ingredients that provide added benefits to your skin without harsh chemicals.

Why Use Natural Body Wash?

There are lots of benefits of using a natural homemade body wash.

First, this body wash recipe is super simple and will only take minutes to put together if you have the ingredients. If you don’t have a specific ingredient, you can use substitutions. You could even get your kids involved in making this with you.

This recipe is versatile. There are many great combinations for you to choose from using your favorite essential oils. It’s fun to match your skincare product scents with the seasons, a holiday, or even your current mood. Plus, you can make different variations for everyone in your family if you want.

Although you might need to buy ingredients the first time you make this DIY body wash recipe, you will get lots of batches of body wash out of these ingredients. This will save you money in the long run. If you want to give a homemade gift to your friend or family member, this body is a great choice; and you will save money on gifts too!

Unlike store-bought skincare products, homemade body wash doesn’t contain chemicals or artificial fragrances. With this recipe, you can whip up a natural preservative-free, hydrating body wash in minutes! Using these natural ingredients for your body wash will still give you a great lather, so you won’t be missing out on any of the suds you get from store-bought body washes.

DIY Body Wash Ingredients

This natural body wash combines several of my favorite natural skincare ingredients. Each one offers unique benefits to your skin.

Raw Honey

I’ve posted before about how honey is a great skincare ingredient on its own. Did you know honey is also excellent for wound healing (and even used in hospitals)? In this recipe, honey helps soften your skin and is naturally soothing & antibacterial. When possible, I use local, raw honey. If I can’t find any honey locally, I use organic raw honey (like this one).

Natural Oils

Natural oils are great cleansers for our skin. I use the oil cleansing method to wash my face each day, and my skin has never looked better. This recipe uses natural oils to accomplish some of the same benefits as oil cleansing for the whole body. And using natural oils in your body wash will help hydrate dry skin. Natural oils also work as carrier oils for the essential oils included in this moisturizing body wash.

I use a mixture of castor oil and olive oil, but you can use whatever oils you might have on hand, such as jojoba oil or sweet almond oil. Olive oil is rich in antioxidants and would also be a good choice. If you want to use coconut oil, you could try fractionated coconut oil. It would work nicely since it stays in a liquid form. Regular coconut oil hardens when it gets cold, so it might not work well with this recipe.

Liquid Castile Soap

This gives the body wash the cleansing ability. I use Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild, which is unscented so that I can customize the scent with essential oils, but any scent of organic liquid castile soap will work. Keep the scent of your castile soap in mind when selecting your essential oils to make sure the smells blend well together. This ingredient gives your homemade body wash great suds!

Essential Oils

Essential oils are a great way to customize it. There are so many combinations of scents you could use! You could even change up the oils you use seasonally or based on the holidays. I buy organic essential oils in bulk for recipes like this and other homemade care products.

Some of my favorites are lavender and chamomile essential oils for a calming body wash, peppermint essential oil for an invigorating body wash, and ylang-ylang and lavender essential oils for a stress-relieving blend. Keep in mind that if you have sensitive skin, you might want to stay away from certain essential oils.

Pump Bottle

Since essential oils don’t store well in plastic containers, it’s best to keep your homemade body wash in a glass container. If you use one with a pump, you can put it on a shelf in your shower so that your body wash is always easily accessible. I like to use a pump bottle that also foams my body wash, so I get extra suds, but you can use any soap dispenser. Another option is to use a mason jar and a dispenser lid. If you aren’t a fan of using glass in the shower, there are some excellent silicone and stainless steel options available too.

Notes: I use a natural sea sponge (like this one) with this body wash, and it foams up really well. If you don’t have a sea sponge, a washcloth will work well too!

Shelf life: Since all ingredients in this recipe are shelf-stable, it seems to last a long time, though I still make it in small batches so I can customize the scent to my ever-changing favorites.

4.38 from 67 votes

Moisturizing Natural Body Wash

This body wash combines skin-softening ingredients to create a lavish, chemical-free cleanser.

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Yield:

Author: Katie Wells

Materials

3 TBSP castile soap (liquid castile soap works best)
3 TBSP raw honey
2 TBSP oil (I used 1 TBSP each of castor oil and olive oil)
10 drops essential oil of choice (or more for your preferences)

Instructions

Carefully mix all ingredients by hand with a spoon in a glass liquid measuring cup. Do not use a blender, whisk or hand mixer as this will create bubbles and make it impossible to get into a container.
Pour into a (preferably glass) container and use in the shower as a body wash. I use this homemade body wash with a natural sea sponge for easy use.

Notes

This homemade hydrating body wash will last for several months at room temperature. Customize your scent with your favorite essential oils, and enjoy the lather of your preservative-free wash.

Other Uses for DIY Body Wash

This body wash is so versatile! If you need to shave, it works great as a shaving product. You can also use this homemade body wash as a face wash or hand soap. If you are traveling, take a small silicone container with you, so you don’t have to pack as many toiletries since it covers several bases.

Need a gift for someone who loves all things natural living? This body wash is a great homemade gift to give to someone special. You can customize the scent to their personality too. Wrap it up with a natural sea sponge, and you have a thoughtful, customized gift! You can also gift this to someone who usually buys store-bought shower gel and show them how amazing homemade body wash can be!

What do you use for moisturizing body wash? Or are you a bar soap type of person? Weigh in below!

This homemade body wash combines natural ingredients like liquid castile soap, honey, oils and essential oils for a skin nourishing recipe that works.

Sources

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

287 responses to “Homemade Natural Body Wash”

Shelley

April 8, 2015

I use another body wash recipe that uses oatmeal (you pour boiling water over the oats, let them sit for a couple of hours, then ditch the oats and incorporate the oat water into the wash). How could I best incorporate that into this recipe?

Thank you!
Shelley

Reply
Brooke

March 24, 2015

Hi Katie, I’m making a gift basket full of natural things for a church fund raiser, I was just wondering what essential oils you recommend. Which do you use? Thanks for the great recipies.

Reply
1. Brooke
  
  March 24, 2015
  
  Hey, I just made think recipe w/ orange and lemon EO. I used 20 drops (I doubled the entire recipe) and it still smelled very strong of Castile soap. I added alittle bit more and the same result I added 10 more drops and it still smelled very strong. What should I do?
  
  Reply
Robin

March 22, 2015

I played around with ingredients and different recipes and here’s what I got that I like:
coconut oil
raw honey
castille soap
vitamin E
vegetable glycerin
eucalyptus eo
orange eo
lemon eo

and as an after thought in the third batch, I added organic aloe vera

I made one batch with coconut milk and it was nice. But I didn’t use much coconut milk for anything else and even though I put it in the fridge, it went bad.

I found that the aloe vera gel gave it a creamier thickness. The vegetable glycerin gave it more suds. And the hubby loves the eucalyptus smell. It makes our steamy bathroom smell like a spa! I had not seen the aloe vera gel on any recipe but though why not. There is aloe vera other stuff and we use it on our skin….and it is organic gel. I like the thickness that it adds and the creamy white look it has.

So today I tried it as a shampoo. With towel on my head, I’ll report back as to how it works. In the shower, my hair didn’t feel as slick and thin. It was more thick…..and I hope not too oily with the coconut oil. I used my regular 3 minute treatment and an instant treatment as well. I’ve been using Aussie for YEARS so we’ll see how just changing up the shampoo works.

Reply
1. Anna
  
  May 26, 2015
  
  Hi Robin
  
  How did this go as a shampoo? I’m travelling soon and want to be able to take a multi-purpose body wash / shampoo. I was worried the honey would make it ‘sticky’ in my hair – did you find that?
  
  Thanks!
  
  Reply
2. Janice
  
  December 9, 2015
  
  I too would like more lather. How much vegetable glycerin would add to the recipe?
  
  Reply
Carol S.

February 21, 2015

I tried the recipe just as it was written. Love it! Even got the sponge. Thanks so much!

Reply
Beth

February 14, 2015

I have been meaning to test out this recipe for body wash for a few weeks. Well, today I made it! So easy to mix up and it worked well in the shower. I thought it would be too watery and not thick enough but it wasn’t too bad. Not as thick as store brands but much healthier!
Thanks so much!! Love your blog 🙂

Reply
Linda

February 10, 2015

I noticed that several people asked about where to get glass jars online. I live in the greater Seattle area and have purchased from Specialty Bottle; they also sell online

http://www.specialtybottle.com

They carry amber bottles in varying sizes, along with sprayer and pump mechanisms for them. They also carry aluminum pump bottles – not sure if there is any issue with leaching, but they are certainly not breakable.

Reply
Justine

February 5, 2015

Hey! I am just wondering hot to incorporate tea into this recipe. Green, earl grey, chai etc.
Thanks!

Reply
Sarah

January 31, 2015

I made this recipe and stored it in a mason jar. I was loving it. Then one day I got in the shower and ants were everywhere ????
They hadn’t made it in the jar because of the lid was shut but they were all over on and near it. I’m not sure if anything could be done to prevent this. I live in a warm climate with very mild winter. Maybe I will store in the fridge next time?

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  January 31, 2015
  
  Yeah, that might work better…
  
  Reply
Kimberly

January 26, 2015

Hi Katie,
My only question to you and seems to be my biggest quest so far from changing over to natural recipes is finding a clean and fresh scent. I do not like the “tropical” or sweet scents for my body. I don’t want to smell like coconut, vanilla, or shea butter. I don’t like the floral smells too much either , like lavender Etc. I am searching for that clean girly smell. I don’t know how to explain it other then the scent of conventional personal care, like tersemme shampoo or dove soap. If there is any suggestions for some EO’s or combinations that may help me achieve the fresh, clean scent I adore please PLEASE HELP!! Thanks so much??

Reply
Ashley

January 18, 2015

I use soaps and scrubs like these all the time and while I haven’t had a clogged drain; one of the easiest ways to unclog is pour some dishsoap down the drain let it sit for like 20 minutes so it can slip under the clog, then pour hot not boiling water down the drain, then plunge. Hope this helps.

Oh and I have also never had an an issue scrubbing the lady parts with sugar, brown sugar, honey, or any above mentioned oils.

Reply
kundi

January 18, 2015

Hi ,its true the smell is so ungodly ,I tried different eo’s to no avail, also my skin drying up after use ,never happened to me before. Normally I use scented castile soap ,i shall try adding glycerin for better lathering, I shall twirk it a little more before completely giving up because I love how it feels on my skin ,thanks Katie anyways

Reply
Joanne

December 24, 2014

Do you order the glass bottles online? If so, where do you get them?
Thanks for this, and all the other great posts.

Reply
1. Michele
  
  June 8, 2015
  
  You can find amber glass bottles (which are the best for preserving natural recipes) on Amazon. They’re pretty nice and affordable.
  
  Reply
Katia

December 15, 2014

Hi!
can i replace the raw honey with regular honey?
raw honey is quite expensive

Reply
1. Karen
  
  December 15, 2014
  
  I used raw honey, but it was so stiff I couldn’t get it mixed together. I had to heat it to get it mixed. Then it was no longer raw.
  
  Reply
  1. sara
    
    January 27, 2015
    
    Raw honey means that it hasn’t been processed, heating it won’t make it not raw. 🙂
    
    Reply
    1. Joe
      
      January 28, 2015
      
      Heating honey destroys the natural bacteria that are “Good” for you. Hench, heating honey is “processing” it. “RAW” honey is natural… unheated… and unprocessed in any way.
      
      Reply
Jennifer

December 14, 2014

Hi there,
I made the body wash this weekend for the first time and loved it! I did use coconut oil in the recipe as well. So far my whole family has liked it. The only thing we didn’t like was it was very runny. Is there a way to make the consistency a bit thicker? Also, is using a plastic container that bad? I just can’t see having glass in my shower with my 12 year old son.

Thanks for your input!!

Reply
1. Wellness Mama
  
  December 15, 2014
  
  Hm… I hadn’t thought to thicken it. I am need to experiment. You might consider a silicone container as an alternative to the glass jar. Healthier than plastic if you want something that cannot shatter.
  
  Reply
Anne-Marie

December 14, 2014

Hi! I am very new at this making my own products and am very excited with this website that is so informative. I presently am nursing my four month old son and was just wondering about the honey in this and other recipes. I am aware that honey can be dangerous for babies under 12mths old which makes me hesitant in using it. Are you aware if it could be harmful for babies? Thank you so much for all your shared information. I really appreciate reading your site????

Reply
Satthi Palli

December 10, 2014

The honey is hard to mix with the castille soap. Any solution to this?

Reply
1. Robin D.
  
  December 19, 2014
  
  So you won’t have to go looking for my other comment: I used coconut oil instead of olive or castor. I heated up the olive oil in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds or so. I added the raw honey next and I think that softened it up a bit. I added the rest and shook the jar. It turned out nice and I just shake it a bit in the shower. I used coconut oil, raw honey, baby mild unscented castille soap, glycerin, vit e oil and EOs (eucalyptus, lavender and lemon). It turned out way better than I thought after reading some of the comments. 🙂
  
  Reply
  1. Robin D.
    
    December 19, 2014
    
    I mean I heated up the coconut oil. Geez…..:)
    
    Reply
Katy

December 5, 2014

Hi,
Is it normal that this body wash doesn’t go a long way at all? I feel like I’m just scrubbing myself with a wet sponge after only a few scrubs once u apply the body wash onto the sponge. It doesn’t seem trip foam much at all…. I followed the recipe very closely

Reply
1. Sarah
  
  December 18, 2014
  
  I had the same issue! I wash one arm and all the lather is gone. Also, my wash is so thick I can hardly squeeze it out of the container (I used a leftover plastic bottle since I was too excited to make this and wait for a glass bottle to arrive if I ordered it). It was very liquid-y when I first made it and it somehow thickened up after sitting in the shower.
  
  Reply
  1. Robin D.
    
    December 19, 2014
    
    Use vegetable glycerin. That will give it more later. I tweaked the recipe a bit and added the glycerin and it lathered nicely. I bought new scrubbies as I didn’t think a wash cloth was going to work. I used coconut oil (melt in microwave first then add the raw honey), unscented baby mild castille soap, raw honey, vit e oil, glycerin and eo’s for fragrance. I used eucalyptus, lavender and lemon. I put it in a mason jar (no kids in the house) for our shower and shake a bit before using it. The husband LOVES it.
    
    Reply
    1. Michele Taylor
      
      April 8, 2015
      
      Thanks for this Robin – will give it a go. I’d posted a few months ago about having problems with no suds but never received a response so this is really helpful!
      
      Reply
    2. Nick
      
      October 15, 2015
      
      Hey how much glycerin did you use?
      
      Reply
Briana

November 26, 2014

I am so happy to have found this recipe. Has anyone had an issue with the ingredients smelling great alone, but not good at all when put together? I used Dr. Bronners unscented, raw honey, almond and avocado oils, and it smells really bad. I put the EO in there to help, but it has like an underscent of yucky. Am I the only one? Are there any tips to keep this from happening? Thanks!!

Reply
1. Robin D.
  
  November 28, 2014
  
  Now I am hesitant to make this wash. I don’t like that you can’t use it in private areas and the smell…well you can waste a lot of time and product trying to make it right. I looked on amazon to find a body wash but some of them are no better with many chemicals. I don’t know what to do anymore.
  
  Reply
  1. Kate
    
    November 29, 2014
    
    Do a small test batch first- I do a 1/10th size batch to test scents. I -personally- find that I have trouble with avocado oil and any scent, alfalfa based Shea butter and sweet smells (vanilla, peppermint) and unrefined coconut oil and floral smells (sandalwood, lavender).
    
    Reply
2. Amanda
  
  July 28, 2015
  
  Yes! The raw honey and the unscented Dr. Bronner’s reacted immediately and it smells really unpleasant… “like fish,” my husband said. 2% EO’s did nothing to mask it! This has happened to me with two different raw honeys so I am wondering how other people are making it without that reaction. (My soap and honey both smell fine on their own!) Oddly, the pH of the solution didn’t change with the addition of the honey, which is fairly acidic. Can anyone explain??
  
  Reply
  1. Melissa Candrasaputra
    
    November 7, 2018
    
    I had the same problem with the smell using Raw Blossom honey. Then I switched to Longan Honey and there is no smell! The longan honey also has a naturally fruity scent which is a nice plus…
    
    Reply
Kandy Grimes

November 23, 2014

I tried the shower gel recipe. I put 15 drops of essential oils in it and it still just smells like the castle soap. It doesn’t smell fragrant at all? The Castille Soap I used was Dr. Bronners Lavender. Help! I want it to smell so good.

Reply
1. Kate
  
  November 29, 2014
  
  Dr. Bronners SCENTED soap is the issue – the scented version of the soap is really really condensed and strong (usually you need to dilute it with water). Try using the baby version or unscented with your choice of essential oil and add lavender essential oil in balance w the other oils (afew drops of whatever and equal drops of lavender.)
  
  Reply
Marj

November 18, 2014

Hi Katie! Loving this site! But seriously, so many women are asking and I also would like to know, can you use this on intimate areas, and if not, what is a natural product to use??? Sugar is supposed to be bad and so is honey, but that is in all of you recipes. What do you use??? Thank so much for helping us solve this dilemma!

Reply
1. Katie – Wellness Mama
  
  November 21, 2014
  
  I use natural homemade coconut oil and olive oil soap most of the time
  
  Reply
  1. apelila
    
    November 26, 2014
    
    Olive oil and coconut oil? First that would take forever to “lather up”, second it sounds like a backed up drain ready to happen.
    
    Reply
    1. Kate
      
      November 29, 2014
      
      Disagree- the amount of oil in a solid bar of soap is not enough to clog your drains if you’re using it to wash your lady bits, only. We have the worlds most temperamental drains and I have never had an issue using soap w oil in it (I bought handmade olive oil soap for years from Whole Foods to help w my hives before tracing myself to make it.)
      
      Reply
      1. Rosaria
        
        December 14, 2014
        
        I use only water and bicarbonate to wash my intimate parts and it’s been working great so far for me.