Gardener’s Hand Scrub Soap Recipe (With Video Tutorial)

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This gardener’s hand scrub soap recipe is simple and easy to make and will be your favorite soap to use when your hands get dirty working out in the garden.  If you’re like me, I rarely wear gloves in the garden as I like to get my hands in the dirt.  That means that after a spending the day weeding or pruning tomato vines that my dirty hands are nearly black.  The best way to get them clean is to use this gardener’s hand scrub soap recipe which I have been making for many years now.  If you happen to be a mechanic, it also works great on grease and grime.  One of the best formulations my family has ever found for cleaning really dirty garden-stained hands (or feet).

This good homemade hand scrub soap is specially formulated with all-natural exfoliants like shredded loofah, poppy seeds, cornmeal and ground black walnut shells along with orange and lemongrass essential oils to rid your messy hands of dirt and grease.  It even gets the dirt and grime out of the cracks in your hands so you can go out in public without looking like you just came from the weed patch.  Made primarily with beef tallow or coconut oil, it is also nourishing for your skin and will keep your hands well moisturized.  I always take the time to make a big batch of this soap in the spring so we have it to use all summer long.

If you’d rather just buy this soap instead of making it, you can purchase it here.  

I’ve been making homemade soaps for many years now and if you’re looking for a more natural option for soaps, you can check out my website lareeshandcraftedsoaps.com.

Why You’ll Enjoy This Gardener’s Hand Scrub Soap

• Made with all-natural ingredients sure to be healthy for your skin.
• Does an extremely good job of getting rid of the dirt and grease off of rough gardener hands.
• My rancher husband has found that it takes off windmill grease better than Dawn dish soap.
• This is the perfect mechanics soap because it takes the grease off of your hands without drying them out.
• Excellent for sensitive skin.

Cold Process Soapmaking

Cold process soapmaking involves adding cooled lye water to room temperature oils and butters to make soap.  It is a great thing to learn if you are a beginner and want to learn to make your own soap.  It’s easier to make than hot process soap, and even though typically cold process soap takes a few weeks to cure, I’m gonna show you a trick so this soap will cure right away.

You’ll need a scale to measure out the lye, water, tallow or coconut oil and liquid oil.  It’s important to have the right ratio of those ingredients so your soap will turn out.  You can generally add more or less of the exfoliants if you wish, but the main soap ingredients need to be measured pretty exact.

Sodium hydroxide is the lye we are using to make this soap.  You need to be careful when working with lye, and use rubber gloves and eye protection because it can be harmful if it comes in contact with your eyes or skin.  Lye is what turns the oils and butters in this recipe into soap.  Once this chemical reaction happens during the soapmaking process, there will be no more lye in your soap.  

In this soap I have chosen to make it with dandelion infused oil and dandelion tea because of the cleansing properties of dandelion.  You can choose to skip this step if you’d like, it’s totally up to you.

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Tips For Making This Gardener’s Soap Recipe

• Always use cool/cold tea or water when adding in the lye because lye causes a chemical reaction when mixed with water that makes it get very hot.  If you use hot water or tea, and mix lye into it, it will boil all over the counter and make a big mess.
• Mix the lye and tea or water together a few hours before you want to make soap.  That will give it time to cool back down to room temperature
• ​If you don’t have beef tallow you can replace it with coconut oil for this recipe.
• You can melt the tallow or coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove top.  Make sure to heat it just until melted, you don’t want it to be any hotter than necessary.  I prefer to make soap when my ingredients are close to the same temperature, preferably 100 degrees or cooler.
• Mix the soap with the stick blender just long enough for everything to be nicely incorporated and so the add-ins will stay suspended in the soap and not sink to the bottom.  Probably less than a minute will be long enough.
• To speed up the curing process, put your fresh soap into a 170 degree oven for one hour.  This will encourage the soap to go through what’s called gel phase, which speeds up the chemical reaction between the lye and oils which makes soap.  This will result in a firmer soap that can be used within just a couple of days.  Keep in mind that the soap will continue to cure and lose water weight over the next few weeks, but putting it in the oven makes it safe to use right away.

Making Infused Dandelion Oil

Put 2 Tablespoons of cut and sifted dandelion into one quart of oil in a glass jar and cover with a sealing lid.

• Option 1 – if you’re not in a hurry:  allow it to sit for 6 weeks to fully infuse
• Option 2 – place the glass jar into a crockpot.  Fill the crockpot half full of water and turn it on low for up to 24 hours.  This will cause the infusion to happen more quickly.
• Option 3 – place the glass jar on a trivet in your instant pot with about one cup of water in the bottom.  Turn on high pressure for 30 minutes.  This is the fastest way to make infused oil.

I usually strain this oil through a cheesecloth to remove the dandelion pieces, but since this is an exfoliating soap, you could leave the dandelion in the oil as well.

Making Dandelion Tea

Put one Tablespoon of cut and sifted dandelion into a tea ball and cover with one quart of boiling water.  Allow to steep until cool.

Learn how to make your own laundry soap here.

Simple Ingredients

• Sodium hydroxide lye
• Dandelion tea or water (be sure it’s room temperature or colder before mixing with the lye)
• Beef tallow
• Dandelion infused olive oil or regular oil
• Shredded loofah
• Poppy seeds
• Cornmeal
• Black walnut hull powder
• Orange peel powder
• Lemongrass essential oil
• Sweet orange essential oil

Tools You Will Need For This Gardener’s Hand Soap Recipe

It’s important to have special tools and equipment used only for soap making.  Do not use your soap making bowls and utensils for cooking in your kitchen because they can still contain trace amounts of soap even after washing.

• Kitchen scale
• Mixing bowls – for mixing the oils
• Mason jars – for making the infused oil and tea
• Glass measuring cup or container – for mixing the lye water
• Immersion blender – for mixing all the ingredients together
• Measuring spoons
• Silicone mold
• Oven – to bake the soap on low heat so it cures quickly (it’s okay to use your regular oven you use for cooking)

How To Make This Gardener’s Hand Scrub Recipe

Safety Precautions

Be sure to wear protective gloves and eyewear whenever working with sodium hydroxide lye.

Making Infused Dandelion Oil

Put 2 Tablespoons of cut and sifted dandelion into one quart of oil in a glass jar and cover with a sealing lid.

• Option 1 – if you’re not in a hurry:  allow it to sit for 6 weeks to fully infuse
• Option 2 – place the glass jar into a crockpot.  Fill the crockpot half full of water and turn it on low for up to 24 hours.  This will cause the infusion to happen more quickly.
• Option 3 – place the glass jar on a trivet in your instant pot with about one cup of water in the bottom.  Turn on high pressure for 30 minutes.  This is the fastest way to make infused oil.

I usually strain this oil through a cheesecloth to remove the dandelion pieces, but since this is an exfoliating soap, you could leave the dandelion in the oil as well.

Making Dandelion Tea

Put one Tablespoon of cut and sifted dandelion into a tea ball and cover with one quart of boiling water.  Allow to steep until cool.

Mixing The Lye Water

Using a digital scale, add the dandelion infused tea or water to a large glass measuring cup or container.  In a separate container measure out the lye.  Slowly add the lye to the tea or water and stir well.  It will heat up instantly because of the chemical reaction, and will also produce a bit of an odor.  Set it in a safe place away from kids or pets to fully cool (at least 2 hours, but up to several days)

Making The Soap

Make sure you have all of your ingredients for the soap handy along with your measuring spoons, soap mold and immersion blender.

Add the tallow to a large bowl or pot and melt in the microwave or on the stovetop.  Be careful not to get it too hot.

Add the dandelion-infused olive oil or regular oil to the tallow.

Measure out the rest of the ingredients and gently mix into the oil mixture using the immersion blender.

Add in the cooled lye water/tea mixture.

Blend well using the immersion blender until all of the add-ins remain suspended in the soap mixture and it is well mixed.  

Pour the soap into the soap mold immediately.

You can either leave the soap out at room temperature in a safe place to set up, or you can put it into a 170 degree oven for one hour.  This will make it so you can use the soap within a day or two of making it.  

After baking, allow the soap to sit out on the counter overnight.  

Cutting The Soap

Cut the soap using a soap cutter, bench cutter, or even just a sharp knife.  If the soap went through the oven, it is safe to start using right away, however it will still continue to harden up and lose water weight for two or three weeks.  If you let it set out at room temperature to continue curing after it’s cut, your soap will last longer because it will be a harder bar.

To use, wet hands with warm water, and rub the soap all over your hands and the gentle exfoliant in the soap will remove all the dirt and grime off of your hands.  I also keep a bar of this in my shower and use it on my feet especially during the summer garden season.

Store cured bars of soap in a cool place in an airtight container for up to two years.

Put a bar of this soap next to every sink in your home.  I recommend placing it on a soaplift soap dish.  It will prolong the life of your soap by allowing it to fully dry between uses.  Use this soap on your hands feet or anywhere on your body that needs excessive dirt and grime removed.

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Gardener’s Hand Scrub Soap Recipe (With Video Tutorial)

This gardener’s hand scrub soap recipe is simple and easy to make and will be your favorite soap to use when your hands get dirty working out in the garden.  If you’re like me, I rarely wear gloves in the garden as I like to get my hands in the dirt.  That means that after a spending the day weeding or pruning tomato vines that my dirty hands are nearly black.  The best way to get them clean is to use this gardeners hand scrub soap which I have been making for many years now.  If you happen to be a mechanic, it also works great on grease and grime.  One of the best formulations my family has ever found for cleaning really dirty garden-stained hands (or feet).

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Active Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Curing Time1 day d

Total Time1 day d 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Keyword: gardeners hand scrup soap, gardeners soap

Yield: 10 bars

Equipment

• 1 Kitchen scale
• 2 Mixing bowls
• 2 Glass jars
• 1 Immersion blender
• Measuring spoons
• 1 Silicone soap mold
• Oven

Materials

• 4.6 oz Sodium hydroxide lye
• 12 oz Dandelion tea or water be sure it’s room temperature or colder before mixing with the lye
• 25 oz Beef tallow
• 7 oz Dandelion infused olive oil or regular oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Shredded loofah
• 1 Tbsp Poppy seeds
• 1 Tbsp Cornmeal
• 1/2 Tbsp Black walnut hull powder
• 1 Tbsp Orange peel powder
• .3 oz Lemongrass essential oil
• .2 oz Sweet orange essential oil

Instructions

Safety Precautions

• Be sure to wear protective gloves and eyewear whenever working with sodium hydroxide lye.

Making Infused Dandelion Oil

• Put 2 Tablespoons of cut and sifted dandelion into one quart of oil in a glass jar and cover with a sealing lid.
• Option 1 – if you’re not in a hurry:  allow it to sit for 6 weeks to fully infuse
• Option 2 – place the glass jar into a crockpot.  Fill the crockpot half full of water and turn it on low for up to 24 hours.  This will cause the infusion to happen more quickly.
• Option 3 – place the glass jar on a trivet in your instant pot with about one cup of water in the bottom.  Turn on high pressure for 30 minutes.  This is the fastest way to make infused oil.

Making Dandelion Tea

• Put one Tablespoon of cut and sifted dandelion into a tea ball and cover with one quart of boiling water.  Allow to steep until cool.

Mixing The Lye Water

• Using a digital scale, add the dandelion infused tea or water to a large glass measuring cup or container.  In a separate container measure out the lye.  Slowly add the lye to the tea or water and stir well.  It will heat up instantly because of the chemical reaction, and will also produce a bit of an odor.  Set it in a safe place away from kids or pets to fully cool (at least 2 hours, but up to several days)

Making The Soap

• Make sure you have all of your ingredients for the soap handy along with your measuring spoons, soap mold and immersion blender.
• Add the tallow to a large bowl or pot and melt in the microwave or on the stovetop.  Be careful not to get it too hot.
• Add the dandelion-infused olive oil or regular oil to the tallow.
• Measure out the rest of the ingredients and gently mix into the oil mixture using the immersion blender.
• Add in the cooled lye water/tea mixture.
• Blend well using the immersion blender until all of the add-ins remain suspended in the soap mixture and it is well mixed.
• Pour the soap into the soap mold immediately.
• You can either leave the soap out at room temperature in a safe place to set up, or you can put it into a 170 degree oven for one hour.  This will make it so you can use the soap within a day or two of making it.
• After baking, allow the soap to sit out on the counter overnight.
• Cut the soap using a soap cutter, bench cutter, or even just a sharp knife.  If the soap went through the oven, it is safe to start using right away, however it will still continue to harden up and lose water weight for two or three weeks.  If you let it set out at room temperature to continue curing after it’s cut, your soap will last longer because it will be a harder bar.
• To use, wet hands with warm water, and rub the soap all over your hands and the gentle exfoliant in the soap will remove all the dirt and grime off of your hands.  I also keep a bar of this in my shower and use it on my feet especially during the summer garden season.
• Store cured bars of soap in a cool place in an airtight container for up to two years.
• Put a bar of this soap next to every sink in your home.  I recommend placing it on a

Notes

• Always use cool/cold tea or water when adding in the lye because lye causes a chemical reaction when mixed with water that makes it get very hot.  If you use hot water or tea, and mix lye into it, it will boil all over the counter and make a big mess.
• Mix the lye and tea or water together a few hours before you want to make soap.  That will give it time to cool back down to room temperature
• ​If you don’t have beef tallow you can replace it with coconut oil for this recipe.
• You can melt the tallow or coconut oil in the microwave or on the stove top.  Make sure to heat it just until melted, you don’t want it to be any hotter than necessary.  I prefer to make soap when my ingredients are close to the same temperature, preferably 100 degrees or cooler.
• Mix the soap with the stick blender just long enough for everything to be nicely incorporated and so the add-ins will stay suspended in the soap and not sink to the bottom.  Probably less than a minute will be long enough.
• To speed up the curing process, put your fresh soap into a 170 degree oven for one hour.  This will encourage the soap to go through what’s called gel phase, which speeds up the chemical reaction between the lye and oils which makes soap.  This will result in a firmer soap that can be used within just a couple of days.  Keep in mind that the soap will continue to cure and lose water weight over the next few weeks, but putting it in the oven makes it safe to use right away.