20 Fall-Scented Hand Soap Recipes {Pumpkin Spice, Apple Orchard & more}

One of my favorite things to do at the start of every season is to make my own scented hand soaps.  And fall is no different.

Making my own scented hand soap is a great way to save money!  While the costs vary by which essential oils you use, it generally costs me way less than a dollar to make a bottle of my all-natural hand soap.  In contrast, store-bought hand soaps like those from Bath & Body Works retail for over $7 each.  Even if you take advantage of their half-price sales, this homemade hand soap is a MUCH better deal.

And best of all, you can customize your DIY soap to any cozy fall scent you want.  I’ve shared 20 of my favorite fall and Halloween hand soap recipes below.  They’re all made with essential oils and 100% natural ingredients.  There’s pumpkin spice, apple orchard, candy corn, woodland walk, vanilla bean candle, and lots more amazing fall recipes.

I have no idea why anyone would buy hand soap from Bath & Body works when they could make this all-natural liquid soap instead.

What’s in my foaming hand soap?

It’s super easy to make your own foaming soap with essential oils!  All you need are a few ingredients, and in about 1 minute, you can whip up an {all-natural} moisturizing foaming hand soap.

Like most homemade liquid hand soaps, my recipe starts with liquid Castile soap, but mine doesn’t stop there. I also add a touch of sweet almond oil and vegetable glycerin to make my hand soap extra moisturizing.  My soap recipe is tough on germs, but also very gentle on hands.  And since many of us deal with dry hands and chapped skin during the fall months, this is the perfect fall hand soap.

• liquid unscented Castile soap

Dr. Bronner’s liquid Castile soap is the main ingredient in most homemade hand soaps. Made from five types of organic oils, it’s about as natural as it gets.  It’s great at thoroughly cleaning hands but doesn’t strip skin of its natural oils, making it great for dry, chapped skin.

• sweet almond oil 

One thing I add to my DIY hand soap is a touch of sweet almond oil for extra moisturizing.  Sweet almond oil is rich in vitamin D which makes it extremely nourishing and great for all skin types.  Best of all it’s one of the gentlest oils and an ideal moisturizer, especially for dry and irritated skin.

substitutes:  If you don’t like sweet almond oil or have someone who’s allergic to tree nuts, then you can easily substitute another carrier oil for the sweet almond oil.  Apricot kernel oil or jojoba oil work very well in this hand soap.

• vegetable glycerin

Vegetable glycerin does several things to make this soap better than typical homemade hand soaps.  First, like sweet almond oil, vegetable glycerin also helps moisturize skin.  Second, vegetable glycerin helps emulsify the other hand-soap ingredients and keep them better mixed together.  And third, it thickens the hand soap which also improves foaming and yields a luxurious lather.

• essential oil

I use essential oils as an all-natural way to scent my fall hand soap.  Cinnamon, clove, sweet orange, vanilla, cedarwood, and spruce are just a few of the essential oils that evoke feelings of warm, cozy fall favorites.

See all 20 fall-scented recipes below to find your favorite essential oil combination.  There are essential oil recipes for pumpkin spice latte, apple orchard, gingersnap cookies, mulled cider, vanilla bean candle, and many more.

• distilled water

Water is used to help the hand soap foam and dilute it.  One bottle of this DIY foaming hand soap last at least four times as long as regular (non-foaming) hand soap.  How’s that for budget friendly?!

substitute:  If you don’t have distilled water, you can use filtered water that’s been boiled and cooled instead.

How to make fall-scented hand soap with essential oils

step 1:  choose a 15-ounce foaming soap dispenser

A couple things to look for in your soap dispenser:

• Material that it’s made out of– choose glass, PETE, or HDPE plastic soap dispenser–as those materials are all considered safe to use with essential oils
• Ideally, you want a soap dispenser that’s the self-foaming kind.  This recipe will work in a regular soap dispenser, but if you have a foaming one, the soap will last a lot longer as you only use a small fraction of the amount of soap with a foaming dispenser as you do with traditional soap dispenser.

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step 2:  To your soap dispenser add 1/3 cup of liquid unscented Castile soap

tip:  measure if you wish, but this recipe doesn’t have to be super precise, so honestly, I usually just eyeball it.

step 3:  add 1 teaspoon sweet almond oil

tip:  if you don’t have sweet almond oil, you can substitute another oil (such as, olive oil, fractionated coconut oil, jojoba oil, or apricot kernel oil) or you can omit the oil altogether.  I love adding the sweet almond oil because it makes the hand soap extra moisturizing, and my skin tends to be dry and needs all the extra moisturizing it can get!

tip:  again, eyeballing amount is fine

step 4:  add 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin

tip:  if you don’t have glycerin, you can omit it.  Just like adding the oil, I love adding the glycerin, because it makes the hand soap extra moisturizing.

tip:  again, eyeballing amount is fine

step 5:  add 25-35 drops essential oil

see below for 20 suggested essential oil blends in fall and Halloween scents

step 6:  stir briskly to combine the soap, oil, glycerin, and essential oils

step 7:  add distilled water to mostly fill the container (about 1 cup)

tip:  be sure to not overfill the container, leave room at the top for the soap pump.  If you fill to the top with water, then when the soap pump is added, the soap will spill over the sides.

step 8:  put on the soap dispenser lid and shake well to mix

step 9:   get free printable labels and all the fall hand soap recipes here

tip:  You can print these labels on full-sheet label paper, or do what I do and print the labels on regular printer paper and attach them to the spray bottles with packing tape.  It’s cheap and easy to do.  Plus, I find that the labels stay on better using packing tape than with regular label paper, and the packing tape protects the label really well, which keeps the labels looking great for a long time.

20 Favorite Fall Soap Scents

I LOVE that I can use my essential oils to make so many different autumn-scented hand soaps!  With just a few essential oils I can customize my base hand soap recipe to become pumpkin spice or apple orchard or vanilla bean candle.  You can even make scents perfect for Halloween (like candy corn, friendly ghost, or witch’s brew).  It’s really easy to do, and every time I get the exact fall hand soap that I want.

1.   Flannel

8 drops cardamom

2 drops cinnamon

5 drops sweet orange

2 drops clove

8 drops cedarwood

8 drops spruce

2. Autumn Breeze

11 drops lemon

11 drops sweet orange

11 drops fir

3.  Woodland Walk

17 drops cypress

9 drops fir

9 drops sandalwood

4.  Sweater Weather

18 drops eucalyptus

12 drops juniper berry

5 drops sage

5.  Stay Cozy

8 drops cedarwood

8 drops spruce

8 drops cypress

4 drops vetiver

4 drops sage

6.    Vanilla Bean Candle

24 drops vanilla

5 drops cedarwood

3 drops cypress

2 drops spruce

7.   Cinnamon Buns

10 drops sweet orange

10 drops cinnamon

8 drops vanilla

6 drops cardamom

8. Evening by the Fire

10 drops fir

5 drops frankincense

5 drops sandalwood

5 drops lavender

10 drops sweet orange

9.   Pumpkin Spice

12 drops sweet orange

4 drops vanilla

3 drops cardamom

6 drops cinnamon

3 drops clove

3 drops ginger

10.  Mulled Cider

18 drops sweet orange

7 drops cinnamon

3 drops clove

2 drops nutmeg

3 drops cardamom

11. Apple Orchard

4 drops lemon

6 drops green mandarin

4 drops copaiba

4 drops fir

7 drops cedarwood

7 drops frankincense

12. Enchanted Forest

7 drops spruce

4 drops pine

6 drops patchouli

8 drops lavender

4 drops frankincense

4 drops cedarwood

13.  Friendly Ghost

8 drops spearmint

8 drops lemon

8 drops sweet orange

8 drops vanilla

14.  Gingersnap Cookies

10 drops ginger

5 drops cinnamon

3 drops clove

5 drops vanilla

5 drops tangerine

5 drops ocotea

15. Witch’s Brew

2 drops ylang ylang

10 drops eucalyptus

10 drops lavender

10 drops spearmint

16. Trick or Treat

15 drops copaiba

8 drops bergamot

4 drops grapefruit

4 drops cedarwood

17. Candy Corn

10 drops lemon

10 drops sweet orange

7 drops copaiba

3 drops vanilla

18. Spooktacular!

5 drops frankincense

5 drops cedarwood

5 drops sandalwood

3 drops ginger

3 drops clove

10 drops sweet orange

19. Pumpkin Spice Latte

12 drops coffee

4 drops cinnamon

2 drops clove

2 drops ginger

8 drops sweet orange

4 drops cardamom

20. Graveyard

13 drops coffee

13 drops sweet orange

3 drops cinnamon

1 drops clove

Want more fall scents?  Find ideas & recipes for more fantastic autumn aromas here in my fall diffuser blends post and here in my Halloween diffuser blends post

How to use

• It stays pretty well mixed, but the oils can separate over time from the soap.  So I give the soap dispenser a shake every so often before using so that the oils don’t settle on top.  I find that does the trick and no one else in my family needs to mess with it..
• According to the CDC, these are the 5 steps to good hand washing: 1) wet hands with water and then apply soap, 2) lather up, 3) scrub for at least 20 seconds, 4) rinse, and 5) dry.
• Use within a few weeks of making.  This easily happens in my house, but if you don’t use it frequently or have a small family, then make hand soap in smaller amounts.  The recipe can easily be cut in half or even into one-quarter of the original amount.

Where to get supplies?

This website contains affiliate links. This means that should you click on certain links, and then subsequently purchase a product, I will receive a small commission. The price is exactly the same for you as it would be without the affiliate link. 

foaming soap dispenser – click here for essential-oil-safe plastic one I use or click here for glass

liquid unscented Castile soap– click here for the kind I use, you can also usually find this in Target, Whole Foods, and natural foods stores

sweet almond oil– click here for the kind I buy and where I get it

vegetable glycerin– click here for the kind I buy and where I get it

distilled water– you can find this by the bottled water in your grocery store, Walmart, or Target

get a free printable of the foaming hand soap recipes and labels here

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Please note: Products mentioned in this article have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products and information on this page are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This website is not a substitute for professional care.  Always consult your medical doctor regarding your medical care. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

Disclaimer: Please know that this website contains affiliate links. This means that should you click on certain links, and then subsequently purchase a product, I will receive a small commission. The price is exactly the same for you as it would be without the affiliate link.