Welcome back to my Growing Greener feature where I'm providing frugal ways to lead a greener life, one step at a time.
I have researched and tried out many products in my effort to live a greener life as inexpensively as possible, so I'll be sharing product recommendations with you each week. The first category I would like to cover is liquid hand soap.
Being a stay at home mama, I am washing my hands CONSTANTLY throughout the day. Those hands are then getting sucked on by Baby, preparing his food, handling his precious little body, as well as all of the things he constantly puts in his mouth, so it's very important to me to not have my hands coated in chemicals and toxins.
As I've posted about before, avoiding fragrance is a must follow rule for me when selecting a natural product. WHY? There can be hundreds of chemicals involved in making up a single fragrance mixture, and those chemicals do not have to be listed on product labels. They can all fall under the single label of “fragrance”. Fragrance can contain neurotoxins and it is among one of the top allergens ever. Hence, all of the products I recommend will be fragrance free, unless they are scented naturally with essential oils.
If you want a high quality, natural liquid hand soap and you don't mind spending extra money for it:Try Olivia Care Liquid Hand Soap, Mandarine, 18.5-Ounce Bottle (Pack of 3). A pack of three 18.5 oz bottles costs $24.20 on Amazon. It lathers well and really softens your skin. It's made with luscious ingredients like Aloe Vera, Olive Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sage, Rosemary, Chamomile, and Tea Tree Oil. It's in an attractive bottle, and it feels like a nice little luxury item.
If you are looking for the best deal for a natural liquid hand soap:Try Seventh Generation Natural Hand Wash in either Fresh Citrus (scented with essential oils and botanical extracts) or Just Clean Unscented. A 12 oz bottle is only $2.99 on www.drugstore.com. This is the hand soap that I currently have next to every sink in our house. As the ad on drugstore.com says, the soap is:Natural, plant-derived cleanersAloe creates rich, foamy latherNo triclosan, no dyesNo synthetic fragrancesBiodegradableFood grade preservativesHypoallergenicDermatologist TestedNot tested on animals and contains no animal ingredients.
I have to admit that this soap is slightly drying, but considering the cost, convenience, and all natural ingredients, it's still worth it to me.
If you're looking for the cheapest natural option and you're up for some fun:Make your own liquid hand soap! This sounds relatively easy, very safe, and super inexpensive - about $1.78 for 64 oz! This would also be a very fun project to taken on with your little ones. I'm looking forward to trying this myself. Check out this post on The Green Mom Review for instructions.
Finally, you might be wondering why I haven't recommended any antibacterial soaps. Here are two major reasons:1. Antibacterial soap helps to create super bacteria that are resistant to the methods we currently use to combat them.2. Chemicals in antibacterial soap such as triclosan and triclocarban are being found in our water, fish, and breastmilk. Scary!
What are your favorite natural liquid hand soaps? Please let me know in the Comments section below!