How to Make Body Wash Out of Bar Soap.

     I hope to soon start making a more NATURAL soap/body wash/shower gel for us to use on a regular basis. However, in the mean time I thought I'd give this body wash a try. You can turn 8 oz. of bar soap into a gallon of body wash! It may not be the most natural option (since you are still using commercial bar soap) but it's definitely a more affordable option than what we've been using. So let's get started, shall we?

Things you will need:

• 8 oz. of your favorite bar soap. (Different brands of bar soap come in different size bars, so be sure to check your bars to see how many oz. they are. You may need 1, 2, or even 3 bars to equal 8 oz.)
• 2 TBS. of Glycerin. (You can find Glycerin along side the medicine, band-aides, etc in most stores.)
• 1 Gallon of warm or hot water.
• 1 empty & clean gallon jug.
• 1 empty & clean body wash, shampoo, conditioner, etc bottle.
• A funnel.
• A wooden or plastic mixing spoon.
• A large pot.

Directions:

• Using a grater or food processor, grate the bar soap as finely as possible.
• Combine grated bar soap, 1 gallon of hot or warm water, and 2 TBS of Glycerin in a large pot.
• Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, over MEDIUM heat- until you no longer see tiny soap flakes floating in the water. (Note: the more vigorously you stir the water, the more bubbles you will create. I doubt bubbles would cause a real problem with the body wash but I tried to keep the bubbles down to a minimum when making mine.)
• After all of the soap has dissolved & you no longer can see ANY soap flakes in the water, remove from heat. The mixture will just look like extremely soapy water. No worries! It will thicken as it cools!
• Allow to sit, undisturbed, for 12 hours.
• Blend with a hand-mixer, adding additional water if you choose- to reach your desired consistency.
• Fill your empty body wash, shampoo, conditioner, etc bottle using your funnel. Be sure to label the bottle.
• Pour the remaining body wash into the gallon jug, again- making sure to label the jug.
• Enjoy! =) 

I am currently making Irish Spring body wash. Here is a photo of my grated soap (as you can see, I have 2 different shades of green. 1 bar was Aloe and 1 was not.)

And here is a photo of what the mixture will look like after all of the soap flakes have dissolved.

I will be letting the mixture sit, undisturbed, overnight and will update this post tomorrow night with more photos of the last steps in the process.  =)  Thanks for reading!


                                                                          (UPDATE!)
The photo below is what the body wash will look like after it has cooled and thickened. Kinda clumpy and snotty looking, lol.

 And this is what it will look like after you mix it up with your hand mixer. Smooth, creamy, and depending on how much (if any) additional water you added- still a bit snotty. I will be trying this out tomorrow! =)