How To Make Homemade Body Wash Without Castile Soap

In this detailed guide, I will explain to you how to make homemade body wash without Castile soap so that the next time you run out of body wash, you can try your hand at making it yourself instead of purchasing more.

Making homemade body wash is much easier than you might think and requires only a few naturally-derived ingredients.

If you’re someone with sensitive skin, making your own body wash is a surefire way to prevent irritation and dry skin. Aside from that, there are many benefits to making your own body wash, which can be done without having to use Castile soap.

DIY Rose Body Wash Without Castile Soap

There’s nothing more relaxing than the soothing scent of rose while enjoying a hot shower. That’s why for this DIY body wash recipe, rosewater is the main ingredient.

The finished product is a mild cleanser that can be used on all skin types, especially those with sensitive skin. Unlike other DIY body wash recipes, this one creates a rich lather with the perfect gel texture – all without having to use Castile soap.

The body wash is pH balanced and is made using a blend of rose water, gentle surfactants, provitamin B5 and rose absolute. Altogether, this creates a light and refreshing body wash with lots of foam that rinses off easily.

Two of the main ingredients in this body wash recipe are Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside and Cocamidopropyl Betaine, mild cleansers with great foaming qualities.

These ingredients are both considered surfactants, which means they’re able to clean by effectively removing excess oil and dirt from the body as it cleans.

Best of all, these ingredients are free of sulfates and ECOCERT-approved. Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside is derived from plants and is mildly acidic with a pH ranging from 5.5 to 6.

The other ingredient, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, comes from coconut oil and is also mild, with a pH between 6 and 7, which helps to increase mildness and stabilizes foam and lather.

Some people may be confused by the fact that there are two surfactants being used in this recipe. However, most shower gels typically contain two surfactants – a primary surfactant and co-surfactant to complement one another.

If you are having trouble finding both of these ingredients, it is possible to use another type of surfactant; however, these may have a higher pH level and may not be as mild.

Another ingredient used in this body wash recipe and perhaps the most important is rose water or rose hydrosol.

The rose water contributes a variety of things to this recipe including the wonderful scent, anti-inflammatory properties, and can act as an antibacterial as well as an antioxidant.

Put together, these properties are known to tone and hydrate the skin as you bathe. Many people are used to using essential oils in their homemade body washes, but rose water is a better alternative as it doesn’t irritate the skin and is better for those with sensitive skin.

If you can’t find rose water, you can always create your own by simply soaking some rose petals in distilled water. If you do decide to use an essential oil in this recipe, you can use rose absolute which will give the body wash a nice, floral scent.

You can also use diluted rose otto, which provides a more mild rose fragrance but is still pleasant nonetheless. Lavender, chamomile, and jasmine can also be used in place of rose.

Provitamin B5 is another ingredient found in this rose water body wash. This ingredient is the reason why your skin feels so soft and smooth after you use the soap.

This is because when your skin absorbs the provitamin B5, it then turns into vitamin B5, a vitamin known for keeping the skin moisturized and healthy. Vitamin B5 also has regenerating properties so it’s great for healing dry and irritated skin.

Besides the ingredients we’ve already mentioned, you will also need the following:

• vegetable glycerin, which thickens the body wash and helps the skin retain moisture
• fractionated coconut oil to provide your skin with more moisture
• xanthan gum to also help thicken the rose body wash
• citric acid solution to adjust the pH of the body wash and make sure it’s balanced
• Optiphen Plus as a preservative to keep bacteria from infecting the body wash
• and the optional pink pitaya powder to add a pink color to your gel.

How to Make Body Wash Without Castile Soap

To make this natural body wash successfully, you must split up the steps into different phases, starting with the water phase. Here, you will start by pouring the rose water into a jar and then placing it to the side.

In a different jar, add in the glycerin, xanthan gum, and optional pitaya powder. Once you have these first two steps done, take a milk frother or mixer and mix the last three ingredients together carefully and thoroughly.

Pour the mix into the rose water and continue to mix until everything is blended together and there are no lumps left. Within a few minutes you should start to see your mixture thicken.

Now you can start on the second phase, which involves mixing the surfactants. Here, all you need to do is slowly combine Caprylyl/Capryl Glucoside, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, and fractionated coconut oil in another jar.

Your next step will be to combine both the surfactant and water phase together for a couple of minutes until homogenous.

Lastly, you can go ahead and add in the rest of the ingredients, which should be the essential oil, provitamin B5, citric acid solution, and Optiphen Plus.

When you’re done combining all of your ingredients, you can simply transfer your mixture into the dispenser of your choice.

How to Thicken Homemade Body Wash

If you are not happy with the thickness of your body wash or you want it to be thicker in general, there are several ways to do so. The best way to do this is to add xanthan gum to the recipe.

This is yet another, separate phase that needs to be done on its own. Start by adding the glycerin, xanthan gum, and pitaya powder into a small bowl and then mixing them up using a small mixer.

Afterward, be sure to pour the glycerin-xanthan gum mixture into the rose hydrosol and mix until it is blended together. Believe it or not, xanthan gum will start to thicken the second it comes into contact with water.

As a result, be sure to dissolve the xanthan gum in glycerin first to make sure it disperses in the rose water evenly and without clumping.

Why DIY Body Wash Without Castile Soap?

So, what exactly is Castile soap? Castile soap is made from a base of vegetable oils that can come from coconut, palm kernel, jojoba, hemp, and avocado.

Castile soap can be used for a variety of things including shaving cream, shampoo, makeup remover, and body wash. Castile soap can even be used in dish soap, laundry detergent, and even as a floor cleaner.

For the most part, DIY body washes contain Castile soap in their recipes. However, the use of Castile soap can cause damage to the skin barrier that can result in irritation, itching, and dryness.

Soap is alkaline and has a pH of 9 to 10 but using too much of it isn’t good for your skin. Surfactants on the other hand, are mildly acidic and help keep the acid mantle and moisture barrier intact.

People who suffer from constant skin irritation may notice a difference when switching from soaps containing Castile to those with mildly acidic surfactants.

The closer to your skin’s natural pH a body wash is, the less likely you’ll be disturbing the acid mantle of the skin, or the thin protective film that protects your skin from the outside world.

Your skin’s mantle is created from a combination of sebum and sweat. The pH is typically 5.5, although it can range between 4.5 to 6.5. To maintain your skin’s softness, the acid mantle must be intact.

The acid mantle helps retain moisture levels in the skin and prevents it from losing too much water, which in turn keeps your skin hydrated and soft.

Your skin’s acid mantle also provides resistance to infection since harmful bacteria as well as microorganisms grow best in alkaline conditions.

So how can you tell whether or not your skin’s pH is balanced? The answer is right in front of you. If your skin is suffering from irritation, dryness, breakouts, redness, and is excessively oily, chances are your pH is off balance.

The way your body responds to these changes depends on your skin type. If you typically have oily skin, your body will try to fight the pH imbalance by producing excessive sebum, which can then cause your pores to clog and create acne.

If you suffer from sensitive skin, you’ll be able to tell when your pH is out of whack if you experience irritated, dry, and itchy skin.

Storing and Packaging Your Homemade Body Wash

Now that you have perfected this homemade body wash recipe, you’ll be wanting to know how to properly store and package it.

In terms of storage, we mentioned earlier that any type of soap dispenser should work. You can place the body wash in a squeeze bottle or even a fancy glass jar.

The only problem with using glass, however, is that you don’t want to risk it slipping out of your hands in the shower and shattering to pieces.

Like with store-bought body wash, be sure to store your homemade body wash in a cool, dark place where it won’t get a lot of sunlight.

Your bathroom is a pretty safe place for storing. If you haven’t used it all up by then, your body wash has a shelf life of about six months.

Other Uses

Since this body wash is so delectable, chances are you may have found yourself wondering if you can use it in other ways.

The good news is, the answer is yes. This body wash can double as a shampoo, which means you may want to consider making an extra batch!

Other DIY Recipes

There are other recipes you can try as well! If you’re looking for a creamier and more mild body wash, you can also try to make your own milk and honey body wash that has a nice lather and leaves your skin feeling soft and hydrated.

This recipe contains milk, honey, and jojoba oil – all ingredients that do wonders for your skin.

The use of milk in body wash is ideal since it provides the skin with many benefits including acting as an anti-aging solution, as a moisturizer, exfoliator, and as a cleanser.

Honey on the other hand, is soothing, brightening, and can even prevent acne. For this recipe you will need Cocamidopropyl betaine, any form of plant oil, milk powder, raw honey, essential oils, and a preservative.

All you need to do is mix the liquids together – the cocamidopropyl betaine, jojoba oil, honey, and essential oils.

Afterward, you mix in the milk powder until it’s fully dissolved. Lastly, just add in the preservative and then transfer the finished product to a container of your choice.

Conclusion

With this recipe on how to make homemade body wash without Castile soap that not only smells good but is also good for you, you’ll no longer need to throw your money away on store-bought products that may not always be good for your skin.

Not to mention, this body wash can make a great gift as it’s suitable for all skin types. To recap, body wash is better for the skin when it doesn’t contain Castile soap since soap is alkaline and using too much of it can cause significant damage to your skin.

Luckily, there are other alternatives to using Castile soap that can make your homemade body wash just as effective. In this particular recipe, surfactants work as a better alternative to Castile soap, which results in a body wash that leaves your skin feeling soft, smooth, and moisturized.