One of the easiest things you can swap out when trying to live a more non toxic lifestyle is hand soap. If you think about it, how often do you wash your hands every day? On top of my normal day-to-day handwashing, I'm also a nurse, so I'm constantly washing my hands in between seeing patients. As a result of all of this handwashing, I've been more conscious of the ingredients in the soaps I use at home, since I want soaps that will nourish my dry hands and are free from chemicals like parabens, sulfates, triclosan, propylene glycol, and even fragrance.

Fragrance and parabens have been linked to endocrine (hormone) disruption and increased cancer risk, especially breast cancer. Fragrance is also a nonspecific blanket term used by companies so they don't have to disclose exactly what ingredients they are using to make their product smell good. If you see the term 'fragrance,' it's best to avoid it. Triclosan is also an antibacterial and antifungal, and it is linked to increased bacterial resistance as well as endocrine disruption. Personally, I want my hormones not to be impacted by the products I use, so I aim to look for brands that have high-quality, non toxic ingredients to keep my body safe.

Here's my recommendations for the 5 best non toxic hand soaps:

Dr. Bronner's

One of my favorite non toxic brands of all time, Dr. Bronner's Organic Sugar soap is a great option for your household. The one above is unscented, but they have a wide variety of scents made from organic essential oils, and you can even buy refills in bulk, so it's more cost effective down the line and you use less plastic; get a variety pack of their scents you like best! If you're a fan of bar soap instead, they have an even wider range of scents. Lastly, this brand is most known for their castile soaps, which makes it a great base if you want to make your own hand soap at home! Simply get an empty foaming hand soap bottle, add in the castile soap and some distilled water (1:3 ratio of soap to water), and you're done! You can add in your own essential oils, too, and play around with what scents you like.

Everyone

Everyone liquid hand soap has a plant-based formulation and is also made with essential oils. Synthetic fragrance-free, triclosan-free, GMO-free, and cruelty-free, you'll feel good inside and out using this soap. It's gentle on the hands and the scents aren't overpowering like many synthetic fragrances. They have 6 fresh scents available; I'm a sucker for citrus scents, so I'm a fan of the Meyer Lemon & Mandarin, or their Ruby Grapefruit.

Attitude

Attitude's liquid hand soap is EWG-verified, and contains oats that help to soothe and nourish your hands to keep them from drying out. It comes in a few different scents and a fragrance-free option for those who are sensitive to smells. It's free from all those harsh, toxic chemicals, so your hands and body with thank you. They also have foaming hand soaps for kiddos in fun scents like blueberry, mango, and watermelon; if you're trying to encourage handwashing with your little ones, this is a fun way to introduce it!

Branch Basics

Another staple non toxic soap brand is Branch Basics. Most well-known for their concentrate for every day household cleaning needs, this is their new gel hand soap. It is fragrance-free, plant-based, non-GMO, and made with ingredients like aloe and chamomile to soothe and hydrate your skin. If you like their other cleaning products, you're gonna love this soap!

Blueland

Blueland is a great option if you want to limit your plastic consumption. Their foaming hand soap tablets are straightforward; you simply fill your reusable foaming hand soap container with water and plop the tablet in and you're good to go! The tablets are dye-free, polyethylene glycol (PEG)- free, phthalate-free, and paraben-free. Not only do the tablets limit packaging, but it saves you money down the line. 4 tablets cost only 10 dollars, so only 2.50 per bottle of soap. That's a great deal to me! If you don't have a reusable soap bottle, you can get their starter kit here.

*Disclosure: The links in the article above are affiliate links, so if you are inclined to make a purchase based on the recommendations, the author will make a small commission. Thank you for your support if you so choose.*