Quick answer: weigh 2 parts sugar to 1 part liquid oil. Pour the oil in first, stir in the scent, then the sugar, and spoon it into clean, completely dry jars. If it stays dry, a sugar scrub lasts as long as its oil, usually a year or more. Water getting into the jar is what makes it go bad early.
The method
- Weigh the sugar and the oil.
- Pour the oil into a clean, dry bowl.
- If you’re using essential oil or fragrance, stir it into the oil at the rate your supplier gives for rinse-off products.
- Add the sugar and stir until every grain is coated and there’s no dry sugar left at the bottom.
- Spoon it into clean, completely dry jars, pressing it down lightly.
- Close the lids tight and label the jars.
A small batch is 200 g sugar and 100 g oil. The sugar scrub calculator scales that to your jars, shifts the ratio for a softer or grittier scrub, and splits the essential oil per jar.
The oil goes in first because it’s easier to mix that way. Pour sugar into an empty bowl and it packs into a layer the oil has trouble getting through. Pour it into oil and it gets coated on the way in.
What you need
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Sugar or salt | White, brown or fine salt; more on grain size below |
| A liquid oil | Sweet almond, jojoba, grapeseed or fractionated coconut |
| Essential oil (optional) | At your supplier’s rinse-off rate |
| An emulsifier (optional) | Helps the oil rinse off your skin and the tub |
| A scale that reads to 1 g | The ratio is by weight |
| A bowl and a spatula | Both completely dry |
| Wide-mouth jars with tight lids | Easier to scoop from, and the lid keeps moisture out |
| Labels | Especially if you’re selling them or giving them away |
Pick an oil that stays liquid at room temperature. Regular coconut oil melts at about 75°F, so a scrub made with it goes firm in a cool room and soft again when it warms up. Fractionated coconut oil stays liquid.
Choosing the grain
How rough a scrub feels depends more on the grain than on the ratio.
- Fine white sugar and brown sugar are the gentlest. Brown sugar feels softer still, because of the molasses coating each grain. It’s also slightly damp, so it clumps and hardens in the jar more than white sugar does.
- Coarse or raw sugar scrubs harder, which suits feet, elbows and knees.
- Fine salt scrubs harder than sugar of the same size. Keep it off your face, and expect it to sting on cuts or freshly shaved skin.
For lips, use the finest sugar you can find, and not much of it. Lip skin is thin, and coarse grains are too rough for it.
The calculator page compares sugar and salt in more detail.
Keeping water out
A plain sugar scrub is just sugar and oil. Bacteria and mold need water to grow, so while the scrub stays dry there’s nothing for them to live on. Most of the ways a scrub spoils start with water getting in.
That usually happens in the shower. Wet fingers scooping from the jar, splashes landing in it while the lid is off, steam condensing inside a jar left open: all of it adds water. The sugar around that water starts to dissolve, and now microbes have somewhere to grow.
Start with clean, dry tools. Wash the jars, the bowl and the spatula, then dry them completely. A rinse with rubbing alcohol, left to evaporate, gets rid of any water you missed.
Keep a small spoon with the jar and scoop with that instead of your fingers. If you sell scrubs, put that on the label.
Close the jar between scoops, and keep it out of the spray.
Small jars help too. They get used up before much water has a chance to get in.
As for preservatives, formulators don’t agree on whether a preservative in an all-oil scrub protects it once water gets in, since the water comes in as drops and the preservative may never reach them. Keeping water out is the part everyone agrees on. If you sell scrubs for the shower and want to add a preservative, ask the preservative’s supplier for one that suits oil-based products likely to get wet, and use it at the rate they give.
How long sugar scrub lasts
A sugar scrub that stays dry lasts as long as its oil, usually a year or more. Sugar and salt don’t go bad. The oil slowly goes rancid as air gets to it, and that’s what sets the limit.
The scrub lasts only as long as the shortest-lived oil in it. Most oils keep for a year or more, but a few, like flaxseed, don’t. The body butter guide lists them. Suppliers date their oils, so go by those dates. Vitamin E is an antioxidant. It slows rancidity a little and does nothing against mold or bacteria.
A jar that has had water in it can spoil much sooner, whatever oil is in it.
Throw a scrub out if:
- it smells sharp, sour or like old paint, which means the oil has gone rancid
- it has spots or fuzz on top, which is mold
- there’s a wet, syrupy layer, where water has dissolved some of the sugar
Using it without slipping
Scoop some out with a dry spoon, rub it over damp skin in small circles without pressing hard, and rinse. Skip broken, sunburned or freshly shaved skin.
The oil that feels so good on your skin also coats the tub or shower floor. Rinse the floor when you’re done, and step carefully until you have. Adding an emulsifier lets the oil wash away with the water instead of staying on the surface; the calculator page covers how.
If you sell it
In the US, a sugar scrub sold for use on the body is a cosmetic. The FDA’s summary of cosmetics labeling requirements lists what has to be on the label, including:
- what the product is
- the net quantity, by weight for a scrub
- the ingredients, listed from most to least
- the name and address of whoever makes or distributes it
- warnings and directions, if it could be hazardous when misused
On a scrub, “use a dry spoon,” “keep water out of the jar” and “stir before use” are all worth printing, along with a note that it makes the tub slippery.
Common problems
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Thin layer of oil on top | The sugar has settled | Normal; stir before use |
| Deep layer of oil on top | More oil than the sugar can hold | Use a little less oil next time |
| Hard as a rock | Moisture got in and dried out, or brown sugar drying | Break it up with a dry spoon and a little oil; keep the lid tight |
| Wet, syrupy layer | Water in the jar dissolving the sugar | Throw it out; use a dry spoon next time |
| Spots or fuzz | Mold, from water in the jar | Throw it out |
| Sharp or sour smell | The oil has gone rancid | Throw it out; check your oils’ dates |
| Too oily on the skin | Too much oil | Move toward 2:1, or a little past it |
| Too dry and scratchy | Too little oil, or too coarse a grain | Add oil, or use finer sugar |
| Firm in winter, soft in summer | Regular coconut oil | Switch to a liquid oil or fractionated coconut |
Frequently asked questions
How do you make sugar scrub?
Weigh 2 parts sugar to 1 part liquid oil. Pour the oil into the bowl first, stir in any
essential oil, then add the sugar and stir until every grain is coated. Spoon it into clean,
completely dry jars and close them tight. A small batch is 200 g of sugar and 100 g of oil.
How long does sugar scrub last?
If it stays dry, as long as the oil in it, which for most oils is a year or more. The sugar
doesn’t go bad; the oil slowly goes rancid. Once water gets into the jar, usually from wet
fingers in the shower, it can spoil much sooner. Throw it out if it smells sharp or sour,
grows spots, or has a wet layer.
Why did my sugar scrub get hard?
Sugar pulls moisture out of the air, partly dissolves, then sets into a lump as it dries out
again. Brown sugar also hardens as it loses its own moisture. Keep the lid on tight, keep
the jar out of the shower between uses, and make smaller jars. You can break up a hard scrub
with a dry spoon and a little more oil.
Why is there oil on top of my sugar scrub?
Sugar is heavier than oil, so in a jar that’s been sitting, the sugar settles and the oil
rises. That’s normal, and stirring fixes it. If there’s a deep layer of oil, the recipe has
more oil than the sugar can hold, so use a little less next time.
How do you use a sugar scrub?
Scoop some out with a dry spoon, rub it over damp skin in small circles without pressing
hard, and rinse. Skip broken, sunburned or freshly shaved skin. Rinse the tub or shower floor
afterward, because the oil makes it slippery.
Can you use coconut oil in sugar scrub?
Yes, but regular coconut oil melts at about 75°F, so the scrub goes firm in a cool room and
soft again when it warms up. Fractionated coconut oil stays liquid, so the texture stays the
same all year.