Reading threads on homemade laundry detergents and natural dishwasher detergents gave me some great ideas on either making my own or at least extending the store-bought products I have.  It made me wonder how I could make my own body wash.  We used to use bars of soap, but found body wash went MUCH farther.  I even found a biodegradable "mountain fresh" product at Wal-Mart that my husband likes.  It's not that expensive, but at the very least, maybe I could mix it with a cheap unscented (or similar scented) shampoo to make it go farther.

Does anybody have any recipes for homemade body wash?

Well, no one's responded yet, and I'm thinkin' maybe by the time you buy the ingredients to make homemade body wash soap, you might as well have gotten the store-bought stuff...

I did pick up Suave (bio-degradable) shampoo (96 cents) and secretly added it to the bottle of body wash in our shower, along with some water.  Hubby didn't complain, so he must not have noticed!   (yea!)

CharlieB:

Well, no one's responded yet, and I'm thinkin' maybe by the time you buy the ingredients to make homemade body wash soap, you might as well have gotten the store-bought stuff...

I think that's about it. Dollar store body wash is pretty cheap. The only thing I can think of is using really cheap shampoo, but I don't know if that would be good for your skin over a period of time.  

Yeah, I guess I'll experiment, doing the mixing thing, see if I can "stretch" my dollar with the body wash.

You might want to look at the cost of a big bottle of liquid soap like Dial, for instance, and water it down to a thin consistency; a good starting point is 2 bottles of water to one of soap; then compare that price ounce per ounce with what you would normally pay for body wash or what you would buy at the dollar store. If you are using a nylon puff or sponge, you only need a small amount to suds up anyway. A 1/2 gallon or gallon bottle (whatever that size is) would last a very long time this way, possibly 6 months to a year, depending on how many people use it. Most of my liquid soaps are watered down 3:1 or 4:1if they are the thick syrupy type liquid soaps. That makes for less bottles to recylce, less trips to store to get more. Edey

i wont make soap, although next week if all goes right i should be getting paid to buy some soap at walgreens........bars not body wash (although i prefer body wash), and olay is good stuff, i plan on grating up one bar and adding some water to it and see how that comes out, i figure if i dont like how the one bar turns out, i have part of gift baskets done for otehr people......i figure why should i pay for it when walgreens is going to PAY me to take home soap  and shampoo, but i am frugal in it, because i dilute MY body wash(for what ever reason if i dilute the kids body wash and franks body wash they use it 4 times faster) i dilute mine a little bit at a time (by using a 2 ounce bottle half way with body wash then water filled the rest) this works out to about a weeks worth of showers, when the kids body wash is gone, i run the bottle under water till its done bubbling with the tub stopped up and give my daughter a bubble bath, i do the same with shampoo for her(cause you can only dilute it so far down)---and for what ever reason my son doesnt really like baths---and every time i dilute the kids body wash, they end up dumping out the whole bottle???

Edey, you are right about the sponge.  I bought a syntheic sponge for myself when I switched to body wash - just a little soap really lathers up.

I diluted the body wash with shampoo and water, but not that much water.  I could probably add more...  It's still pretty thick.

I bought the giganta-huge bottle of liquid hand soap at Walmart, their Equate brand in Milk and Honey flavor, to use as body wash.  I put it into a large, empty lotion squirt bottle for use as body wash. Just don't get anything that says 'antibacterial' as that means alcohol and other harsh cleanser has been added - not fun to use just anywhere...  I've heard cheap baby shampoo makes good body wash, too, and won't burn, but I haven't tried it yet - I will, tho, next time I find a good deal on it...Liz

bar soap lasts longer for us than liquid body wash because I have a son and husband that would squirt more than needed onto their washcloth LOL.

I use cheap Dollar store dishwashing detergent for liquid hand soap, and dh likes it better because it cuts grease on his dirty hands.

What about buying cheap bar soap, shaving and melting it down with boiling water to produce body wash? i do that with bar soap scraps.

(BTW if you can find them ladies try Suave Limited Edition Holiday body washes for $2.50! I found mine at Rite Aid....i swear they are every bit as good at Bath and Body stores but so much cheaper! I got the Candy Apple, Spiced Pear, and a toasted Vanilla but they have a Peppermint one that i couldnt find. I have found a new luxury.)

hey this is an old thread....how'd it get bumped up to my Active list?

cool don't think they have them here though.  

We just use ivory soap for bath and I have liquid soap pumps I just refill with jergens brand..cheap and good.  no allergy problems.   I found yardley lavender soap at the dollar store so got some of that one. very nice and not easy to find anymore.  dh doesn't like it..too girly lol