Home-made hand Scrub

A new craftiness for me!  A friend back in CA made a body scrub for me, and I wanted to give it a try.  I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course) and decided to give it a try.  So, here you go: a quick-and-easy hand scrub (copied from the original blog, plus my own notes, thoughts, and pictures).

Quick & Easy hand Scrub

Ingredients:

• Dish soap - the most moisturizing kind you can find.  Dawn has a version with Olay, but I went with the Wal-Mart version, as it was my first batch of scrub and I wanted to keep it nice and cheap ;)  I actually ended up with the off-brand of the same soap that she used in the original!  There were other scents available too, but I liked the smell of the pomegranate best.
• Sugar
• Jars.  Doesn't matter what kind, just something clean to fill.  If you've got empty jars waiting to be recycled, this would be a good use for them too.  I used a bunch of 8 oz canning jars from Wal-Mart (yes, a total Wal-Mart craft).  I liked the 8oz jars even though there was a bigger size available.  The 8 oz jars had a wider mouth and straight mouth-to-side angle (no mouth widening into a fat jar - do you know the type of jar I mean?)  It just meant that filling the jars and mixing the scrub was easier, and it'll be easier to scoop the scrub out later as I use it. 
• Final tool, a knife for mixing. More on that later.

Directions:

1.     Fill a jelly jar almost all the way full with sugar.

2.     Add a layer of detergent.  You don't want to fill it all the way up, as it will make a mess when you try to stir it.  Don't ask me how I know, but let's just say my kitchen counters are clean and scrubbed now!

3.     Using the knife to stir, gently mix the ingredients in the jar.  Green Bean Crafterole pointed out this one.  The knife is neater to mix with than a spoon, as the spoon pushes more contents out than around in the jar.  I started to mix by moving the knife up and down in the jar first, before stirring the mixture in circles to thoroughly mix.  Also, it's best to use a real knife for this, not a plastic one.  The scrub is pretty thick, so you either have to stir veeeeeeeery slowly with the plastic one, or use a regular metal knife, so that you don't end up with broken plastic cutlery in your bath products!

 

4.     Green Bean Crafterole didn't mention this, but as I stirred, the contents in the jar settled.  So, when I started out with an almost full jar of scrub ingredients, I mixed them and ended up with about 1/2-2/3 a jar of scrub.  So, I added another layer of sugar and some more soap to fill the jars a little more fully.  I found that to mix the additional ingredients, it was easiest to mix them on top of the existing scrub, moving the knife in circles through the added stuff, working over the layer of existing scrub.  Once the top new layer of scrub is mixed, then mix it in with the lower layer to make it all a uniform consistency.  This helped reduce my splatters a lot!

5.     Mix until you like the feel of it.  Too runny?  Add more sugar.  Too thick?  Add more soap.  It's very easy to adjust when there's only two ingredients in a recipe!

 

6.     Ta-da!  You're done!  Behold my first batch!

The only things I'd add now would be to wipe down the threads on the jar so that the lid actually goes on smoothly, and to wipe down the jars themselves as well.  Of course, you might have been a lot neater than I was while mixing, but I know I had soap and/or sugar caught in the threads or dripping down the sides on most of my jars.  Maybe with practice I'll be a little neater, but who knows!  Use a very lightly damp cloth or paper towel to wipe everything off.  Too damp, and it'll just suds.

After making my first jar, I gave it a try, and OH MY GOODNESS, were my hands soft!  Even my horribly dry hands!  Still had to put lotion on afterwards, but I have to do that anyways, but for an exfoliating scrub, this one is nice and easy and cheap!  And isn't there always a nice feeling using something you made instead of something just bought?

Reading different blogs, there are several ways to make hand/body scrubs.  The scrubbing element seems to be either salt (commonly epsom salts) or sugar.  Then add the oil or similar medium, then essential oils for scent, and coloring if you want.  And that's really the basics.  This is a more simplified version, as the scent and color and oil/soap is all mixed together already in the dish soap.  I've added a few links here of other recipes I've found online.  I haven't tried them yet, but they do make a good reference (and inspiration for packaging too, if nothing else - some of these jars or labels are simply adorable!)

• The Beauty Department uses sea salt and olive oil.
• Envirocraftiness is a sugar scrub like this one.
• The Happy Housewife has a vanilla sugar recipe suitable for Valentine's Day, along with some adorable gift tags. 
• A little bit different recipe and more cute labels at Ruffled Blog.
• Under the Table and Dreaming has a Pumpkin Spice Scrub that probably smells good enough to eat!
• More good spicy scents from Our Best Bites.  I wonder if the brown sugar might make it more moisturizing than regular white sugar?
• Perpetually Engaged has 3 variations listed, which all must smell wonderful! 
• Maybe Matilda has some adorably decorated jars, with one of the best gift tags!
• And of course, no craft list like this would be complete without Martha Stewart's version.

This would make a great gift with some cute hand towels or bath scrubbies.  Since that season's coming up soon, something to keep in mind!  I want to try one with epsom salts, though, with peppermint oil.  Both are really good for post-workout soreness, and it'd make a great gift for my good workout buddies (if I don't need it all myself after routine changes with the move - gotta get back on track!).

UPDATE:  I made my scrub back at the end of August and have now used up two jars of it.  I love it on my dry skin!  One thing to note, though, is that it does tend to separate into layers of soap and soapy sugar while it's sitting on the shelf.  I don't mind it, but have just added a cute butter knife to my bathroom cup next to my toothbrush to stir up my scrub when I'm getting ready to use it.  Just something to note.  Some of the other mixtures might not separate as easily, based on particular combinations of ingredients, but I've yet to try them out.  So, don't be worried if your batch starts to layer as it's sitting on the shelf - just mix it back together and you're good to go!