Natural, nearly zero waste hand wash you can make in just five minutes? Yes, it's possible — and it's so easy you'll be wondering why you haven't tried it before! 

Now there's a reason I call it nearly zero waste hand wash — the ingredients do come in disposable packaging (unless you have access to them in bulk), but they will last exponentially longer than your average container of soap. Think about it — how many times do you buy new hand wash throughout the year? 6 ... 12 ... maybe more depending on the size of your household? 

Before we go further, I also want to mention that I've tried bar soap, but to be honest, it just wasn't for me. I was constantly cleaning soap residue off the bathroom counter (it was gross) and my hands didn't feel very clean afterward. Ever since, I've been trying to come up with another way to reduce plastic waste from hand wash packaging.

One thing that was holding me back? Finding the perfect soap dispenser. I'm very picky about my soap dispensers — I can't stand it if the color of the soap doesn't match everything else in the bathroom (yes, I'm just a little crazy). So as soon as I discovered these beauties from Kuishi, I knew it was time to finally give the whole homemade hand wash thing a try!

In an effort to help others create an uncomplicated, beautiful, and balanced home that's in keeping with nature, Stephanie Melarickas founded Kuishi, a home and lifestyle shop located in Cornwall. She has curated a thoughtful collection of household essentials that are connected to the materials, colors and textures found in nature, and help reduce the use of plastics in the home.

I particular, she offers a wide variety of glass soap dispensers that are absolutely stunning and affordable. I decided to go with the 300ml black textured soap dispenser because of its modern, minimalist aesthetic, and it looks perfect sitting on my bathroom counter. But I also have my eye on these amber glass soap dispensers for the kitchen and shower when our budget is a little more under control post-move.

Now... onto the hand wash recipe!

I kid you not when I say this homemade hand wash recipe is insanely simple. In fact, it takes less time to make this hand wash than it does to go out to the store to buy hand wash (at least once you have the ingredients). Not to mention, it will save you a good chunk of change in the long run. 

INGREDIENTS

3-4 tablespoons Unscented Dr. Bronner's Castile Liquid Soap

3-5 drops of essential oils of your choice

Cold water (as much as you need to fill the soap dispenser)

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1 | Pour the Castile Soap into the bottle.

STEP 2 | Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. I ended up using lavender for the upstairs bathroom and a mixture of eucalyptus and tea tree oil for our downstairs half bath.

STEP 3 | Fill the remainder of the bottle with cold water and shake.

NOTE: This hand wash does not have the thick consistency you're likely used to. But as soon as you run your hands under water, it will get more sudsy ... and your hands will smell AMAZING! I also use a similar recipe for my all-purpose house cleaner, which works really well for daily cleaning and dusting.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ZERO WASTE RECIPES?

Big thanks to Kuishi for partnering on this post and for gifting me these beautiful soap dispensers! As always, all opinions are my own and I selectively work with brands that share the same values. This post also contains affiliate links for items that I used for this recipe. When you shop using the links above, I may make a small portion of the sale. Thanks for supporting brands that support MOTIFIED!