Three decades ago when liquid soap for home use was "new", I would save bar soap slivers and small hotel soaps and make them into liquid hand soap. Now it's less expensive, and less mess, to purchase gallon jugs of liquid soap (Sam's Club and Big Lots are good sources). For foam dispensers I use a 1:3 mixture of liquid soap and water, so we use all foam dispensers for even more savings. The recipe I used is very similar.... Homemade Hand Soap 11 c. water 1 bar soap (or enough slivers to equal the same amount) 1 T. glycerin optional - 10 drops essential oil Grate soap on a box grater, microplane, or in a food processor. Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add grated soap and stir to a boil. Add grated soap and stir until it melts. Add glycerin. Add remaining water. Once cooled, add essential oils. Let mixture sit overnight. Place 2-cups (at a time) in a blender. Mix well. If you want thicker add 2 more T. glycerin and allow to sit for a few hours. To use in a foam pump dispenser, add 1/4 c. homemade liquid soap and water to fill the bottle. You can add tea tree oil or grapefruit seed extract, or other essential oils like Four Thieves for additional anti-bacterial protection. HOMEMADE BODY WASH 1 c. Suave Shampoo ("flavor" of choice) 1/2 c. water 3 T. table salt or Epsom salts Whisk until frothy. \-Grainlady

This is an interesting thread. I use Seventh Generation Free & Clear and am pleased with it. I can't stand scented things, though I have no allergies, it's just a pet peeve. Like Brencbg said, why would anyone want perfume in their dish soap. I recently had my stone tile floors professionally cleaned and polished (they are 24 years old, and the grout had 24 years of dirt in it). The company instructed me that I should clean the floor mostly with just water and a sponge, but if I had to use soap, use an unscented dishwashing liquid. When I showed him my bottle of Seventh Generation, he said I couldn't use it on the stone tile because it has citric acid in it and would etch the stone. I looked on the ingredient label, and yup, there was citric acid. Who knew? He recommended the Dawn Pure Essentials that was mentioned above. When this bottle of Seventh Generation is finished, I will give the Dawn Pure Essentials a try, but sigh, I do like my Seventh Generation DW liquid.

I'm sensitive to many scents and try very hard to use only products that are cruelty-free. I've recently been using the Lemon scented J. R. Watkins foaming hand soap in the kitchen and bath, and I'm very happy with it. My hands are in pretty good shape lately. They claim their products are 95% naturally derived, (from their website) "free from Parabens, Petrolatum, Chemical Sunscreens, Glycols, Phthalates, Ethanoloamines, Synthetic polymers, Formaldehyde Donors, Synthetic Dyes, Silicones, Talc, and Mineral Oil". JR Watkins foaming lemon soap

I have always preferred bar soap, and I mean soap not some detergent bar. I have made my own-love coconut oil based soap with mint scent. Very creamy bubbles. Elsewise I use Hard milled lavender. I have watered down dish washing liquid to use at sinks for hand washing for thirty years or more. Dawn or Palmolive typically. Very effective for removing bacteria. I prefer to pay for my emollients separately since the point is to trap water in the skin surface. I have always wondered how soap which is designed to grab on to fat for instance will leave the fat behind when you wash with a soap with extra emollients built in.