Many people are concerned about getting sick nowadays. Flu season is always an issue, and of course, colds and other sicknesses are always going around. This year’s Coronavirus, or Covid-19, has many people feeling scared about their family getting sick.

Nourishing Tweens is a participant in several affiliate programs, advertising programs that provides a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com and other websites. I only recommend things that I truly like and would use myself. If you click through my links and make a purchase, there is no additional charge to you.

My opinion is that most of us don’t need to be too worried. As long as you don’t have pre-existing medical conditions, you will probably be fine. A lot of people are going to get sick, but almost all will recover. However, it is still a good idea to be careful. I think we should be cautious about the people around us who are more at risk, such as the elderly and those with reduced immune systems.

As we have all heard, the best way to avoid getting sick is to keep our hands clean. I’ve heard some people are going a bit nuts running out and emptying store shelves of hand sanitizer, hand soap, and cleaning wipes. I have to say, this worries me because as you know if you’ve read my website before, I’m pretty concerned about the toxins in the cleaners we use.

I worry that in the rush to get the potential (and likely non-existent) sickness germs off of themselves and their families, they are damaging their immune systems for the long term by using dangerous chemicals to do so.

Have some sense, people!

If this is a new idea for you, please read this article:

Why You Need a Non-Toxic Home NOW

Best Non-Toxic Hand Soaps

You want to have your family washing their hands many times each day. Not only should you and your kids be washing your hands after using the bathroom or before eating, but also train your kids to wash their hands:

• after blowing their nose
• when they arrive home (especially from school)
• after using a computer keyboard or video game controls
• after eating

The EWG (Environmental Working Group) has a database of the safest hand soaps. They rate the safety and toxicity levels of both skincare items and cleaners. Here is an explanation of their ratings.

When I use the EWG site to do research, I always look beyond their number rating and check out the details. If you click on the item, you can see the list of ingredients and the specific concerns for each ingredient. I have learned that sometimes the EWG site has some information that I disagree with. In particular, EWG seems to be a bit untrusting of essential oils.

I believe that high-quality essential oils are very good for humans. Using essential oils can be like eating your vegetables. They provide nutrients to our bodies that can help us in a myriad of ways. However, I say “high-quality” for a reason. Essential oils are not well-regulated, and some untrustworthy companies try to take advantage of consumers by selling products labeled as essential oils that are actually contaminated with fillers. To learn more about this, please read my article Why Your Family Needs Essential Oils.

That said, I have studied the EWG site and here are the hand soaps that are especially safe. They are all rated “Low Hazard.”

Puracy Hand Soap

Puracy is definitely one of my favorite non-toxic brands! I have used their hand soaps and dish soaps, and they work great, have a pleasant scent, and are reasonably priced. They are having some really good deals on their website right now.

Puracy is frustrated by the fact that some other sellers are taking advantage of consumers’ health concerns by fear-mongering and raising prices. To counteract the attempts of other sellers to do price-gauging, Puracy is giving away free soap! They also have free shipping if you spend $35+ and they have a subscribe and save deal available if you are interested in that. Check out their website here to take advantage of their good deals:

If you’d rather buy Puracy soap on Amazon, click here:

Everyone Hand Soap

Everyone is one of my favorite all-natural brands. Not only do they rate really well for their non-toxic qualities, but they are also very budget-friendly. This reasonably priced set of three is spearmint and lemongrass scent:

EO Hand Soap

EO is another excellent brand. The EO in their name stands for essential oils. The EWG site rated their soap as a 2, which is good but not great. However, with further reading you can see that the ingredients that EWG considered questionable were essential oils such as lemon! I am confident that lemon oil is not going to make my family sick.

This container is a refill size, so you will need to use containers that you already have, or you can easily buy some hand soap containers.

Refillable Soap Containers

Refillable soap containers are a great way to save money. You buy them once and then refill them – and large refills are often more budget-friendly than buying individual soaps.

Pay attention to whether the refill liquid soap you are buying is regular or foaming. You need a different type of pump for the two different kinds.

Here’s a money-saving tip: foaming soap is the same as regular soap but with more water added! Don’t waste your money! If you like foaming soap, buy the regular kind and fill your container with half soap, half water.

This dispenser is for regular liquid soap:

These dispensers are the foaming style:

You can get one of these touchless sensor hand soap containers. It is more expensive, but it will ensure that your family is sharing less germs:

Hand Soaps I DON’T Recommend:

The following soaps are all rated “moderate hazard.” Soft Soap, Dial, and Bath and Body Works all rate a 5 on the EWG website. Most surprisingly, some of the brands that have the best reputations for being “green” rate a 4, such as Mrs. Meyer’s, Jason, J.R. Watkins, Avalon Organics, Ever Spring, and Whole Foods 365.

Have you ever considered making your own hand soaps? It’s fun, easy, and a great way to lower your family’s budget. Click here to read my article about how to make DIY hand soap!