Live Renewed shows you how to make your own foaming hand soap.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Live Renewed shows you how to make your own foaming hand soap.
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.
We love comments from readers, so chime in with your thoughts below! We do our best to keep this blog upbeat and encouraging, so please keep your comments cordial and kind. Read more information on our comment policy.
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su says
Does anybody have a homemade, cheap, easy, & it really works idea for a car airfreshener???
thx
Jessica says
This is very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I like the foaming soap, but it does tend to be more expensive. I was thinking about trying this, but read that the castile soap has coconut oil in it. My son has a cashew allergy so he is supposed to avoid all tree nuts, therefore coconut is off limits. It may be okay because it is an oil, but not worth the risk for us. Makes me wonder if the foaming soaps that I have bought in the past had coconut oil in them?
Christie Jester says
I’ve been using the free-with-coupon Suave shower gel to make my foaming handsoap, using pumps from the store brand soap (I bought them at Christmas because they had a gingerbread scent.) I find my kids (and their friends) all use less soap using the foaming kind rather than regular liquid soap, since one pump is enough to give them a handful of soap (vs. several squirts of non-foaming soap) and using the freebie shower gel has saved me a ton on buying soap.
Thanks for all the great ideas on MSM!
Melanie says
I’ve been doing the “homemade” foaming for years now – I just put about 1/2 inch of regular “softsoap” soap in the bottom of the dispenser, then fill gently with water. Hot water gives you the best results if your water is already heated up, it makes it mix better. Cap and shake well to mix.
I do have to replace the dispensers every once in a while, but it’s still far cheaper overall to do this. Just don’t use the ultra special soaps that have “moisture beads” or scrubbing beads or anything like that. Just plain textures. One large bottle of the softsoap stuff will last a year or so in our family of 4, with 3 of us home all day.
The Dawn foaming dishsoap dispensers also work well with this method, although I’ve only used mine (a freebie) for hand soap, not more dish soap. I wasn’t real thrilled with the foaming dish soap, but the dispenser is great!
Julie@thethriftymommasays says
I have been diluting my hand soap for about a year and it’s great. Little hands are still clean and I don’t find myself telling them “too much, too much” as often. I also have the Pampered Chef pump for my dish soap and would agree with others that it has more than paid for its’ self. (The oil pump sprayer they sell also is great at cutting down on cast and it’s healthier than Pam)
Sarah says
I haven’t had any success with my oil sprayer. Is there a trick? Mine works well with water when I wash it, but not oil. I’m not using a heavy oil either.
Brandi says
I’ve used many brands of soap for this, and it always seems to work just fine. You can get whatever smell you like, just get the bigger bottle 🙂 My soap dispenser was Bath and Body and it lasted about a year before I had to get a new one. Good to know soaking in bleach will help that last longer!
Nancy says
I make my own foaming soap, but not with castille because I have hard water and makes a mess of my sink. I scour stores like TJMaxx for Olivia Care All Natural liquid hand soap and mix it in my pumps at a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part soap. I used a similar mixture for my homemade baby wipes and saved tons of money.
Jenny Goodrich says
Love this post!!! I love that I’m going to be able to find an alternative to buying the refill bottles, even the Walmart brand was almost $4/bottle! Now, I’ll be saving and using something healthier for my family!!
Also, I love that Crystal is not afraid of sharing other blog and websites with us here on MSM.com, for me it just adds to the value of her website! 🙂 And gives us all more websites to find knowledge on! Thanks Crystal, once again a great inspiration 🙂
Crystal says
You’re very welcome! I love introducing you all to fabulous blogs I find!
Judy says
I first discovered making your own soap a year ago and am still doing it…some dispensers seem to like this better than others though 🙂
LoriMc says
I’ve been making my own for about three years now. Like Joni above, I also just reuse a Dial foaming soap dispenser…still using original one, too. Every so often I will soak the bottle and topper in some bleach water overnight to keep it fresh and it’s still working great!
I just buy one of those big bottles of regular liquid soap and put approx 1/4 cup (if that, just guesstimating) into the Dial dispenser, then slowly fill with water to the fill line, replace pump and just gently turn the bottle upside down a few times to mix.
The last bottle of soap I used was a 40 oz. one from Aldi’s and I refilled my Dial dispenser 20 times with it. Right now I am using a 64 oz bottle that I bought from Walmart for $3.68 and I’ve already refilled my Dial dispenser 11 times and the bottle is still well over half full!!
Ernie says
I put a marble in bottom of dispenser, this helps to mix and looks good.
Paige says
I got a bunch of that Dawn with Olay Hand Renewal when it was free last fall and I’ve been using that. It works great and I love the smell of it. I just put a little bit with water in my Dial pump.
Maria says
I’ve always done this, with Trader Joe’s body soap. We’re able to use the pump for about a year before it wears out. Just something I learned from my mom, growing up. 🙂
Jenni says
I’ve been doing somethng like this for a few months now and it is so EASY!!! Love it!
Elizabeth says
I use a Method foaming soap dispenser, but buy the Method gel soap. Put just a little bit in the bottom, fill up with water and I’ve got foaming hand soap. Pampered Chef sells a foaming hand soap pump, too.
TeamBonk says
I have the Pampered Chef foaming hand soap pumps (I was at a friend’s party and felt obligated to buy something …). With four children, they’ve more than paid for themselves!
The kids think they’re getting lots of foamy soap, I know we’re saving money!
julie says
I just bought the Pampered Chef pump and I love it 🙂
Tuesdae says
I’ve been on the hunt for a cute and stylish foaming soap pump since I’ve been doing this for over a year now. Are they cute? I’ve been reusing ones from Bath & Body Works. Actually my hubby threw one out once and I was SO upset…he didn’t even know that I was making my own. LOL
Joni says
I’ve been reusing my Dial Foaming Handsoap container for about a month now. I have just been using a small amount of dish washing soap and a lot of cold water. I then stir it around with a butter knife (because it fits through the neck of the container). It works great! I’m not too particular what kind of soap I use as long as it smells good and cleans my hands. 🙂