I refreshed my foaming hand soap this week. Making this one thing instead of buying it has probably saved me over $15,000 over the last 15 years. I can make it for pennies. Pennies!

In fact, if you look back on my blog here, this is one of the first recipes that I ever posted here waaaay back in 2010. You can find the original on the Kitchen Sink page.

But, does making your own soap really save you money? Is it worth it?

Well, let’s do the math. A bottle of Dial foaming hand soap costs $2.50-$3.00 where I live depending on whether you buy it at Walmart or the grocery store. Our family goes through probably 10-12 bottles every 2 weeks. Estimating at the lower price, that’s at least $750.00 a year. Estimating high, it’s nearly $1,000.00. I estimate that the ingredients here cost me less than .10 per bottle to make. When I started making my own hand soap in 2010, I think I figured the cost at .02-.03 cents per bottle. If I estimate high to account for inflation today in 2026, the ingredients might cost me as much as .10 per bottle. So, I’ve spent maybe $500.00 on soap over the last 15 years on soap, rather than $15,000.00.

If you can do one thing today to save yourself some money in your grocery budget, make your own hand soap! My recipe is easy and moisturizing and we even travel with it. And it’s nothing special either – a squirt of dish soap, a dollop of aloe gel, a few drops of cheap essential oils for scent and disinfecting purposes, and water. It saves us money and means that my kids don’t end up with eczema flares from using soaps that we encounter on the road.

DIY Foaming Hand Soap Recipe:

In a foaming soap pump, add the following:

1 tbsp of your favorite dish soap (I use Seventh Generation brand, unscented)

8-15 drops of your favorite essential oils (I use NOW brand for soaps and cleaning and save the good essential oils for therapeutic uses. My favorite scent combinations are Orange and Geranium, and Lime and Lavender)

1 tbsp aloe gel (This ingredient is optional but makes it feel silky smooth. I use Swanson Aloe Gel.)

Fill with water to about 1/2 inch from the top of the bottle’s neck, and shake!

And you’re done! And it cost you less than .10 to make rather than $3.00.

Soap Pump Homemaker Pro Tip:

So, if you are going to save all this money making your own soap, which soap pumps are the best? Let me save you the time, money and trouble. Skip the fancy empty foaming soap pumps on Amazon. In my experience, those don’t last and stop working after a couple of months.

Dial brand foaming soaps from the grocery store work the best. I buy the pumps from the store or on Amazon, use up the soap that comes in them, and then fill them up again with my own homemade soap. I’ve had some of them for years. They really work great. So, don’t bother buying the fancy ones online. I’ve probably only replaced some of them twice in the last 8 years, and that’s saying a lot since that means that they lasted through COVID when we were all obsessively washing our hands. The only reason that I have some larger ones in my photo is because they were a gift. But, they don’t work as well, and most of the pumps have broken, so I just use them now as mixing vessels and pour the contents into the Dial pumps later. It saves me from making so quite as often.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. See my full Disclosures and Disclaimers here.