A coconut salt scrub may sound very decadent (and, well, it is) but it’s also a pretty practical item to keep around. It can act as a gardener’s hand scrub to banish the really ground-in dirt.
This salt scrub recipe is featured in my book, Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living.
Making a body scrub recipe couldn’t be easier! Some simple mixing and you’ll be ready to use it — or give it as a gift — in just a few minutes. This gentle exfoliating scrub is excellent for cleaning garden grubby hands (and feet!) or for a relaxing DIY spa day.
Making this Homemade Salt Scrub
Coconut oil makes the base for this scrub, but the salt can be varied. Regular table salt isn’t quite coarse enough to provide the gentle abrasion you’ll want in this scrub. You’re aiming for salt somewhere between table salt and rock salt.
There are a number of good options to choose from:
- Sea salt
- Himalayan salt
- Epsom salt
The salt in this recipe acts as an exfoliant, sloughing off dead skin cells and leaving behind smoother skin, nicely moisturized by the coconut oil.
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Safety
Yes, safety. It may seem innocuous, but the coconut oil in this scrub is slippery. I recommend that you NOT use it in the shower or bath. At all. The oil is lovely on skin, but leaves a residue on surfaces that could very easily cause a person to slip and fall.
On top of that, coconut oil isn’t great for plumbing. You don’t want to send it down the drain.
I recommend relegating a couple of old towels to “spa duty.” Use one to protect the area in which you’re working. Scoop a teaspoon of salt scrub into wet hands. Once thoroughly scrubbed, use the second towel to gently wipe away remaining salt and then rinse your hands.
Another alternative is to use a portable dish pan for scrubbing and rinsing. Dispose of the water outside, in an area where the salt will not damage plants.
Scent Blends to Try
Fragrance is a highly individual preference. You might opt for no fragrance at all in this salt scrub, and that’s just fine.
If you decide to add essential oils, you can customize the scent strength by limiting the amount you add, or combine different oils to create a signature scent.
- Patchouli + vetiver + cedarwood = earthy
- Jasmine + rose + bergamot = floral
- Ginger + orange + cinnamon = spicy
- Cypress + white fir + sandalwood = woodsy
- Lemon + orange + rosemary = citrusy
- Peppermint + eucalyptus = decongestant
- Tea tree + orange = antimicrobial
- Clary sage + lavender + lemon = stress relief
- Peppermint + lavender + marjoram = headache relief
Store the finished salt scrub in a glass jar or other airtight container for up to six months.
For more DIY self care, try this basic soap bar recipe.
Easy DIY Salt Scrub for Soft Skin
A salt scrub works wonders for exfoliating dead, dry skin. Even rough, calloused feet will feel soft and new when treated to a little extra care.
Materials
- 1 cup salt (sea salt, pink Himalayan, or Epsom salts)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 10 drops essential oil
- 2 teaspoons dried herbs or flowers (optional)
Tools
- Small airtight container
Instructions
- Measure the salt and coconut oil into a mixing bowl. Use a fork or pastry blender to mix until well blended.
- Stir in your favorite essential oil. Lavender is soothing, peppermint offers an astringent pick-me-up, and grapefruit can aid with detoxification.
- If desired, add dried herbs or flower petals to the scrub. This makes the scrub prettier for gift giving, but is not necessary.
- Store in an airtight container for up to six months.
To use:
Scoop a couple teaspoons of the scrub into the palm of your hands and use it to scrub wet skin.
Notes
I recommend that you NOT use this salt scrub in the shower or bath as it can be terribly slippery. The oil is lovely on skin, but leaves a residue on surfaces that could very easily cause a person to slip and fall.
On top of that, coconut oil isn't great for plumbing. You don't want to send it down the drain.
I recommend relegating a couple of old towels to "spa duty." Use one to protect the area in which you're working. Scoop a teaspoon of salt scrub into wet hands. Once thoroughly scrubbed, use the second towel to gently wipe away remaining salt and then rinse your hands.
Another alternative is to use a portable dish pan for scrubbing and rinsing. Dispose of the water outside, in an area where the salt will not damage plants.
Yes, it’s a favorite! I love to go thrifting too and find old glass jars to put the scrubs in… finding old milk glass jars is the best! Love it!
I just missed the coconut soft hand scrub. I’m really glad I have opportunity to check it once again. It’s easy to do and I have all ingredients on hand. I’m gonna make it now to see if it works good. I need it for summer .
Thanks.
I bet this would be great for that winter dry skin!
I do make my own scrubs! I appreciated the above comment about coconut oil “in the shower”–nobody’s actually been injured, but I does make things very slippery! (I have to scrub the shower every time I use it!)
Nice recipe.
Thank you
What a lovely gift idea to make year-round!
Such a fun, easy recipe. I will be making this for my family.
I’m so glad that you shared this! My husband works at a big garden nursery and even with gloves on, his hands still get pretty dirty and end up really dry and cracked after repeated washings. I am going to make up some of this scrub and see if it helps his hands. I may also send some in to the greenhouses so that the other gardeners can help their hands!
I will try this. I love the idea of using it on my feet.
Interesting idea. Thanks for the safety heads up too
I have received all-natural, homemade salt scrubs as gifts and they are lovely! I did make the mistake of using it the first time in the shower – very slippery as you describe. I like your suggestions on use outside of the shower or tub and disposal as well. We are on septic as well so I have to stay aware of what goes down the drain.
This sounds absolutely decadent.
canʻt wait to try this!!!! You have really good recipes!
My daughters and I love how soft this scrub makes our skin feel! I love that your book has so many sustainable projects that I can do with them! Teach them young!! ❤️❤️ My mom is always asking to borrow my book! If I had another one I would definitely gift it to her for Christmas ❤️
Several years ago we purchased a salt scrub/hand soap from a store that had crushed walnut shells and was sold for gardeners and mechanics. It was great. Got he dirt off well. I am going to try your salt scrub and then try it again adding some crushed walnut shells. Getting the shells crushed may be the biggest challange.
Thanks for the safety instructions about a slippery shower/tub. This sounds like it may be a good Christmas present for my daughter.
Just in case, make sure to keep this marvelous smelling scrub up or sealed where dogs won’t be able to get to it! Only safe for grownups!
This looks great—thank you!
What a great gift to give for the holidays!
I love this idea. I actually have the ingredients on hand to try this.
Wow! This looks so yummy! What a great gift for our teachers, especially this year!
This sounds lovely. I have a dear friend who would love this! Thank you!
Love making my own Salt Scrub and using Coconut Oil is a bonus. Not only does it smell good, but has great benefits for the skin.
I’m thinking of changing my skin care routine and I know my daughter would also like this.
I do try to eliminate toxins as much as i can. I just don’t was with a real harsh soap. exfoliates are wonderful too!!!
Looks like there’s another recipe for me to try out, thanks for sharing!
P.S. Thanks for the PSA on not using it in the shower!
I’m going to make a quarter batch to have in a little jar in the kitchen. Coconut oil is my go-to for getting super sticky stuff off (my hands or a jar I want to reuse). Having this scrub will work so much better. Will substituting lemon extract be ok (instead of essential oil)? That way, I know everything is in the kitchen and therefore can be done!
Love following like minded Folks!
My Daughter & law are having a gift making day this weekend. And I have everything we need to make salt scrubs! Perfect very low cost gift!
what a great gift idea!
I love the list of scent options! I have been looking forward to seeing your book and am excited about your giveaway. This book would make a wonderful Christmas gift!
Hi Kris,
What a great recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this. I used to make salt scrubs frequently but due to moves, etc., I’ve gottten out of the habit. This inspires me to “get with the program” and start making them again. I’m an avid gardener and always need a ‘special scrub’ for my hands at the end of the day.
I have always wanted to make soap and seeing the ‘stuff’ in your book has inspired me to give it a go. Will jump on that bandwagon after the first of the year.
Thanks again,
Suzanne
Oh I have a plethora of dried lavender from the garden this year and will definitely be using this to give as gifts and use it up!
I like using the pink salt for a scrub and the essential oils smell wonderful.
This looks really easy to make so definitely going to try it – would it also work on dry heels?
Aloha Kris, thanks for sharing the salt scrub recipe and the different blends of essential oils.
Our after school group made this for Mother’s Day gifts. They were wonderful!!
And they were easy to make. I love the other ideas for other mixtures.
What a thoughtful gift this would be and it seems easy to make. I will definitely try it. Thanks for sharing
I love salt scrubs. The scents sound amazing and I will definitely try them
I love making homemade sugar scrubs!
I’ll have to try this. Looks amazing for dry winter skin!
I made something similar for my mom and sister several years ago. They loved it. Great for after gardening.
This looks great for sharing with my gardener guy. Thanks.
This is such a great idea, and easy enough for me on my non ambitious days. (Making my own lip balm was one of the ambitious days. )
I love this idea. I recently made a rosemary/orange salt scrub with extra rosemary from my garden. Smells great and leaves skin so soft.
Think I’ll try this in the outdoor shower. The epsom salts will be good for the garden.
This looks very doable and a sweet gift, maybe paired with some pretty hand towels!
Wow it is so easy and such great idea for christmas presents
thank you for sharing!
I like to add some dried sliced fruits to decorate
What a fabulous gift option! Especially in a small mason jar or another type of glass jar. Thank you again for the how-to-make videos!!
I’ve made similar salt scrubs. I made them in 3 different scents then packaged them together in a bundle as a gift. Be careful if you use photosensitizing EOs like lime. You shouldn’t go out in the sun for 8 hours after using.
Looks like a good recipe. I am trying to get my glucose levels stable and part of that is detoxing. This could be helpful.
I have made this before and it really left my skin feeling so soft and clean. Thanks for the oil blend list.
Do I know someone who would love to have this coconut soft scrub?! You bet I do, including myself, there’s my mom, my sister who works with horses, and my neighbor who’s hands are always working with the goats.
We all are into getting rid of toxins in our homes and this is another way of getting her done! 🙂
I love this recipe. I Used rose geranium essential oil to scent mine.
I love DIY for gifts for all occasions!! This will def be one that gets sent to friends and family! Thank you for the recipe
Looks easy!
Oh I love this! I’ve made salt scrubs before and they’re so easy to do and so lovely to use! Also very friendly on our waster water. Love them!
Such a awesome site. I love the knowledge you share about health care and using Healthy options and why. Thank you. I asking Santa for your book fingers crossed
So stupid question. I see that coconut oil is not ideal for plumbing, so you recommend using specifically delegated spa towels. Do you recommend tossing into the garbage can any excess scrub that falls onto the towel as you’re scrubbing, and then tossing it in the washer? And would that affect the plumbing via the washer? Or do you recommend washing by hand in a dishpan and then dumping away from plants?
Also, thanks for noting about dumping the dishpan away from plants. It’s a good reminder about salt being detrimental to plants. And it probably seems obvious, but I wouldn’t have known where exactly to dump it…do I dump it in the street? On the sidewalk? Will the town police mind? Will it affect the public sewer system? On dump it on a specific part of my lawn that I don’t care if the grass/etc dies? So thank you for your suggestion about where to dump. 🙂
Beautiful idea, we could all use some TLC.
I love how easy this sounds to make.
Hi Cris,
Wow this is Great! Have the ingredients already!. Love to use Coconut oil and keep some on my kitchen counter. All summer long before going out to do chores, gardening, or garbage duty. Both of us use the softened solid Coconut oil kept for that reason. Then put on our work gloves. After the work is done we usually have soft – very soft hands!
Love the additions for the Scrub, Will pick up the pink salt as I have already gifted it! Thanks for your posts on Facebook where I follow you. Margaret Valdes
This seems so easy! and beneficial!
I bet it smells wonderful…This really would be a nice gift for anyone!
I bet this would make a great summer gardening scrub you could leave out by the hose. I always try to get most of the black off my hands before going into the house, I will try this next summer. I’ve wet my hands in the sand to do a scrub, but this has the bonus of moisturizing too!
Sounds easy and very versatile.
This is a great gift idea for gardeners. Thank you for posting.
This looks like a good one! Can’t wait to try it.
I want to try it with eucalyptus- my favorite. I plan to use it down by our dock? Is there any reason I shouldn’t rinse it into the creek, do you think.
Great Christmas gifts!
This salt scrub sounds perfect for my (and my friends’) garden-dried hands! It looks easy and quick to make. Thanks!
Thank you so much for the tip on how to clean up after use. I honestly never thought about how coconut oil could clog your drains! Plus, our dishwasher is broken so I’m doing a lot of hand washing, which means my hands are super dry. I hope this is the solution to the problem. I’m looking forward to making and using it.
This is REALLY good stuff for elbows, and even heels (just so long as you do this before bed and wear socks. So many great tips here – esp. re: plumbing, safety,etc. You cover it all.
Thanks so much for all you share with us!
Really appreciate the tip on how to use it. I’ve always avoided these types of things for fear of damaging my plumbing. Seems obvious now to just do it over a pan or towel. Thanks!!
So simple and easy! I already have everything I need to make some up!
My husband and I have made a goal to eliminate as many toxins from our life as we can in 2021. This recipe is amazing! And your book is filled with such great information!
Can’t wait to try this
GREAT DO-IT-YOURSELF project..
I love this. My husband gets cracks on his hands in the winter. I’m a little confused about disposing it though. If I use Epson salts that is good in the garden but oil is not. If I use a towel I will have to wash it and go down the drain anyway. If I use it at the laundry sink at least I can run hot water and the wash water will keep flushing it. I guess the hint is, use sparingly.
This is a dream come true! Thank you so much for an easy solution to soften my skin in this harsh winter weather that has begun. What is so good about this is that I have the ingredients in the pantry. I’m off to make some now!!
sounds interesting
Sounds too easy. This one I will HAVE to try.
TY Kris
I just printed the recipe. I love the salt scrubs better than the sugar ones. Need stocking stuffers and this will be one! Thank You.
Now if I can only find small mason jars here on Maui! Can’t wait to try the salt scrub. I can package in my reuseable produce bag.
I love that I already have all the ingredients in my pantry.
I would love to make this for my sister and my friends, We all would like to use products that are not harming our bodies.
Love as a gift idea!
OOOhhh!! I can’t wait to make some of these in pretty jars as gifts. I especially love the fragrance suggestions as the stress relief blend is definitely a scent that speaks to me! I am making little sustainable gift baskets for a few close friends and this will be the perfect addition to my baskets! Thank you!
I used to make myself something very similar and absolutely loved it! Reading this I’m trying to remember why I stopped. I’m looking forward to trying your recipe as an early gift to myself!
Definitely going to try this soon. I made sugar scrubs before and didn’t like them cause the melt away too fast THIS will be much better and I can’t wait to see the results on my skin. Thank you
This sounds like a lovely thing to have after yard work.
If you struggle with high blood pressure do you think the salt will be absorbed into the skin and effect the blood pressure?
Will be making this & putting it out near our gardening stuff. Can use it to clean up before entering the house. Wonder if making smaller batches & use sugar would work, no worries about killing off plants
I have all of these ingredients currently. I will make this today! I think the recipe for “spicy” sounds great and I think I’ll make one based on citrus as well.
I have been eliminating toxins in my skin care. I am a gardener so I would love to use this. Thanks for the precautions for our drains.
So simple! Thank you for the adding the recommendations for blends!
I love salt scrubs! Great to have the recipe now.
This recipe for Coconut Sea Salt Scrub looks amazing and I cannot wait to try it! Easy, simple, useful! I’ve got some little jars I’ve been saving and this is the perfect thing to put in them for gift giving.
I know someone that would love this thank you!
I love this!
This sounds heavenly! So simple to make, and nothing toxic in it. A wonderful addition to my healthy and safe body products.
The recipe includes everything I already have on hand. Easy to make and makes for a great gift! Thank you for your inspirations!
This will make a great Christmas gift 🙂
Thank you for sharing
I made this for my daughters for Christmas this year! And I’ve been using it myself. It’s lovely!
This is a great idea for gifts all year long.
The coconut salt scrub is next on my “to try list!” I’m thinking Christmas gifts!! 🙂
I can’t wait to try this. So simple to make and I have all the ingredients on hand.
Love this simple recipe! I really enjoy using salt scrubs.
I don’t usually use skin care products myself other than lotions, but this could make a nice gift for someone.
A friend gave me a gift of a sugar, oil, and lemon scrub which works wonders on the skin. The lemons were from her garden!
Cannot wait to add this to our homeschooling!
Can’t wait to do this as part of our homeschooling!
What a simple concoction to put together especially with ingredients I already have. Not only is this a good exfoliant for your hands but it can be helpful to use for getting off grease, dirt, etc.
I love salt scrubs! They make your dry winter hands feel so good!
Love the simplicity. Makes a lovely homemade gift.
Will be making this easy DIY with the grandchildren.
This sounds lovely. I was always hesitant to make something like this because I wasn’t sure I would use it before it went bad but with a 6 month shelf life I should be ok. I’ll be making some as soon as I can get some more coconut oil.
Must try this! Then share with my step-mom. She loves luxurious skin products!
What a great gift idea! I’m also making sugar lip scrubs for friends and repurposing my mini Bonne Maman jelly containers.
I love your posts. Can’t wait to make the Salt Scrub for soft hands for my gardening days! Again, thank you for sharing.
What a great idea! I’ll definitely have to try this out.
This looks like an amazing solution to my dirty dry hands after working in the garden! I’m definitely going to make some!
We are doing a homemade gift exchange with siblings this year. This is so easy. I hope the like it!
Clear and concise instructions are so appreciated!
Interesting! I see that you warned against using it in the shower because of being slippery, does it leave your hands greasy?
So simple!
Thanks for sharing this one
This scrub is a wonderful present for our hard working CSA farmers!
I have thought about making soap but it always looks a bit complicated. I really don’t worry too much about chemicals in my skin products because all I use is soap and a bit of coconut oil for lotion…
I’ve been having really dry flaky skin recently and this looks like the perfect way to remedy that. I also already have all the ingredients at home! Yay!
I can’t wait to make these! All those combinations sound amazing. What a great gift idea 🙂
I have been trying to get rid of toxic skincare products for years. I love this stuff! I have made it several times for gifts. This year I’m making lots of gifts from your recipes… Mustard, salt scrub, coffee liqueur.
Salt scrubs – So easy, yet I always forget about them! Thanks for the reminder. I am going to make some tonight!
Thank you for the recipe.♥️
I’ve never made a salt scrub.
I have all the ingredients, so will try it.
I am excited to learn to make more beauty products with my own beeswax. This is a great section of this book.
I’m grateful that you also included the list of blends to try. Where do you recommend I find some of the harder to find items on that list?
Love how easy this looks to put together. I would love this for myself but also as a gift. Also want to learn how to make soap. Your book is awesome! Thanks for all your recipes and ideas.
Thanks for the recipe. I always like things that uses easily attainable ingredients and don’t cost a lot to make, but are really nice. Looking forward to trying it.
Oh, I love this! I already have most of the ingredients on hand, and this sounds like a terrific project for me and the kids!
I like the fact that I already have all the ingredients! How simple is this! Love this.❤️
This also is a great Mother’s Day gift and can easily be done outside with littles.