I'm going to go into this assuming you know foaming soap is a rip off. You know that, right? You pay the same or more for foaming soap & for that you get - less soap and more water. Here's how to make your own diy foaming hand soap.
It's the little things in life that get me all riled up and in a good mood. Remembering I have leftover pizza in the fridge, watching squirrels scurrying around trying to find hiding places for their nuts in the fall, finding out Home Depot now carries the 2" galvanized pipe elbows with a double sided, screw in end. You know. The little things.
Foaming soap is one of those little things. I love it. It's easy. It comes out puffy and lathery without any work on your part at all.
That's right. I'll spend 12 hours stacking 2 full, bush cords of wood, but I'm too lazy to lather.
What of it?
The one thing I don't like about foaming soap dispensers is refill soap for them is harder to find than regular soap and is usually more expensive. Even though you're getting less soap.
500 ml of regular liquid soap
=
500 ml of regular liquid soap
wheras
500 ml of foaming soap
=
100 ml soap + 400 ml water
500 ml of regular soap = 500 ml of regular soap. 500 ml of foaming soap is 20% soap and 80% water.
So I figured out how to turn regular liquid hand soap into the sort of soap that will work in a foaming dispenser.
Regular liquid hand soap won't work in a foaming dispenser because it's too thick.
So genius me decided I could probably just add water to it to thin it down.
Genius me was right.
Getting the proportions right isn't even difficult. It's pretty forgiving. It's foaming soap, not an atomic bomb.
Table of Contents
Can You make Your Own Foaming Hand Soap?
You CAN indeed make your own foaming hand soap. But for the soap to foam you need a special foaming soap dispenser. If you've ever bought a foaming soap that's in a dispenser this technique will work in it.
What Makes Foaming Soap Foam?
The reason the soap foams has nothing to do with the actual soap. It's the way the soap is dispensed. Foaming dispensers add air to the soap as you push down on the foaming pump. If you take a look at your foaming soap dispenser you'll see the soap is held in the main chamber, and then attached to the pump there's a smaller chamber. It's that chamber that forces air into the soap as you pump it out.
Is it Better Than Regular Soap?
Aside from the fun of having your soap being pre-foamed for you, foaming soap is actually better in many ways than regular liquid soap. Here's how:
- People use less soap when dispensing it from a foaming dispenser. This makes it more economical and means that foaming soap lasts longer.
- People use 15% less water to lather with foaming soap so that's less water use which is environmentally friendly. If you only use water to rinse your hands and don't add water for the initial hand washing, using foaming soap will save 45% of the water used during traditional hand washing.
- Using foaming hand soap reduces the amount of soap you use for each hand washing which in turn means you get more hand washes out of each package. This means you're reducing the amount of packaging used.
How to Make Foaming Soap
- Mix 1 part liquid soap with 4 parts water in a foaming soap dispenser.
- Slowly mix by gently turning soap dispenser until incorporated.
You can actually use 4 or 5 or 6 parts of water. The more water you put in the more cost savings you'll have but the less foamy the soap will be.
You can use any foaming soap dispenser you have. Obviously you can use refill any store bought soap dispenser you have like I've done here.
But if you plan on doing this a lot I'd recommend getting a nice, heavy glass foaming soap dispenser. You can get 2 glass dispensers for $20 on Amazon. They're solid and heavy, so when you're down to the last bit of soap your dispenser won't flip over or tip like the lightweight plastic dispensers sometimes (always) do.
To mix the water into the soap you just have to do it slowly and gently. Just tip the container back and forth slowly until the water is incorporated with the soap.
I wasn't even going to do this tutorial because it's so logical and so easy but I thought the same thing when I did a post on How to Peel a Peach. I figured everyone knew how to do that to and as it turned out … they didn't.
If the screw top of your foaming dispenser fits other jars with a screw on lid that are more attractive, then you could attach it to that the same way I did in this billion year old post Pouring spouts and Bottles.
If your foaming dispenser screw top is an odd size then you can just slip the whole thing into a nicer container so it's hidden. If you can be bothered. My dispenser actually fits into a black ceramic vase perfectly. It would have been great if I'd taken a photo of it. But I didn't. Cause I'm not quite as geniusy as we thought just a few paragraphs ago.
DIY Foaming Hand Soap
Foaming hand soap is just watered down regular soap. Here's how to make it.
Materials
- Liquid hand soap
- Water
Tools
- Foaming soap dispenser
Instructions
- Add 1 part of liquid soap into soap dispenser.
- Pour 4 parts warm water into soap dispenser.
- Make sure there's at least 20% air at the top of the dispenser. (in other words don't fill the container completely)
- Gently agitate dispenser to emulsify the soap and water.
Which in terms of brain size puts me right up there with your average nut hiding squirrel.
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Janet Timinsky
Okay Karen, live the foamy soapy thing. However, can you do the tutorial on how to add the pin it button, etc. like Bobbie asked as well? I have been trying to figure that out as well. Explain both ways you mentioned, but for people that have had a previous lobotomy. We want to know and I know you can't go without telling the rest of us how! Love ya and thank you, thank you.
Rondina
I'm out the door for some galvanized pipe elbows with double-sided, screws. Then I'll make the soap.
Maggie
Sounds like a great way to save some cash while making your bathroom look fabulous!
Julie
i will attempt a bathroom reno but i'm afraid of making my own foaming soap. thanks for this!
Jenny
My husband and I do this! So easy and cost effective. :)
Now please excuse me while I go shovel the snow we got overnight. D:
Alex
I had no idea you could peel a peach....huh.
Jamie H.
I liked this post - but was actually more interested in learning how YOU would peel a peach...I assumed with a potato peeler (seeing as I like eating fuzzy peaches). Dunking it in hot water!!! Seems nutso, but obviously is the way to go! Thanks for the new info - in both posts :D
Shelly Young
I love to make peach pie, and the hot water dunk is exactly how I peel the peaches! Been doing it that way for decades. I just make a little shallow score at the stem end, criss cross style, then dunk the peaches. The scored part causes the peel to lift just a bit, and makes the peaches even easier to peel.
Marguerite W.
Hi Karen, Just got in from a squirrel mastermind class & found this site. 😉 I'm loving it.
The foaming soap recipe is so timely & sensible. I, too, don't understand why some people don't take the whopping 5 minutes (or less) to make this for themselves. Oh well, Se la vie. Happy I found you. Thank you for the chuckles & info. New subscriber, here. Best wishes from a fellow genius/not genius. 🌼
Karen
Welcome Marguerite! ~ karen
Stephanie Hobson
For me, it's knowing that I have soup in the freezer. One of the most comforting things in the world. lol
And the foaming soap tutorial is the bomb.
Lynne
Give your empty Bath & Body Works foaming soap dispenser a rinse, fill it with water until all the foam spills out, tip some water out and add a few gulps of liquid soap (the large containers of soap made for refilling). Put the top back on your dispenser and give it a shake to mix. Simple, and I use the moisturizing cream soap.
Nancy Blue Moon
Thanks..I like the foaming soap and I will do anything to save money..well..mostly anything..
Leslie
Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!!!
I have spent many hours feeling sorry for myself because I can't find refill bottles of foaming hand soap. With my sensitive skin, I vastly prefer the easy-rinsing properties of the foaming hand soap (read as "I'm too lazy to rise"). Plus that, the little plastic bottles of foaming hand soap are kinda spendy and I hate not being able to reuse them so I just don't buy new ones (I've got a fleet of empty foaming dispensers under my sink).
It TOTALLY figures that the hand soap industry has figured out how to charge us MORE for the watered-down regular soap.
Thank you for this "obvious" post. It is going to be helpful at my house.
Lisa
I can't wait to try this, seems like it may not be a good idea to put the oil in the refill bag as it may start to get rancid before emptying. Has anyone tried it with creamy liquid soap? Also, Karen, I mis-type the word know the same way you did.....every single time I type it...weird.
LazySusan
For those concerned that watering down the soap dilutes the anti-bacterial qualities of the soap, you could wash your hands with plain water and get not much different results as using undiluted anti-bacterial soap, in terms of remaining bacteria on the hands. It's also been shown that there's not much difference between washing your hands with regular soap and anti-bacterial soap, in terms of remaining bacteria on the hands. The differences are minute. It's still better to use soap, just not incredibly better. I've been watering down hand soap and shampoo since I was a young woman, following the logic that if I use water to get it to lather, then it needs water to work better for me. The result has been that I use less soap at a lower cost. I don't seem to have a problem with it getting all over the place when pumping it. It just goes into my hand, which is over the sink. Foaming soap dispensers are something about which I was completely unaware. Completely. Never heard of it before. We live in the country. That's my excuse. I'll keep an eye out for a dispenser and try it, since I'm already watering down the soap, anyway. Looks like it would feel nice!
Sue
Well, since you mentioned that you were reluctant to do a post on something that seemed obvious but was actually helpful to a surprising audience, how about a post on how to navigate "Pinterest" - or, is it one of those things that if you're not intuitive enough to figure it out, you should delete the App from your IPad?
You can tell me. I can take it!
Foamy soap. Who knew?
Bobbie
Yes, Karen... how does one pin a website when it doesn't have a pin button? The world wants to know... ;-)
Nice report on the foamy soap. Dishwashing soap?... well, that'll work for me. Save some bucks too.
Karen
Hi Bobbie - To do that you just have to copy the link to the page that has the thing you want to Pin. Then in Pinterest you can "create a Pin" from the url. ~ karen!
Karen
You can also download a "Pin it" app for your computer that adds Pin It to your browser. ~ karen!
Deb from Maryland
Hallelujah! Thanks so much for the info. :)
Jennie Lee
And how does one put pictures of their own goodies and DIY projects on Pinterest? Obviously, you can, but...?
Alice
Umm, Karen, I hate to be picky -- but you do know "all riled up" usually means angry, don't you? That really confused me at the top of your post...
Nickelnog
Alice, I was going to post about being mis-led by Karen's being 'riled up' too. I'd put on my sunglasses in anticipation of her potential nuclear ire. But...Pizza in the fridge? Yay! Squirrels and nuts? Aww!
Wood fire in the middle of the day? I do it all the time! Home Depot now carries the 2″ galvanized pipe elbows with a double sided, screw in end? BEST. NEWS. EVER! How can she be angry about this wonderful stuff? Then I got it .. silly me. -Eileen
susan
rile (rīl)
tr.v. riled, ril·ing, riles
1. To anger or irritate. See Synonyms at annoy.
2. To stir up (liquid); roil. See Usage Note at roil.
Perfect with the second meaning. Never doubt Karen lol! But please tell me, why would anybody WANT foaming soap? It's found in a lot of washrooms and I never feel that I got all the bathroom germs off my hands with it. I don't want my soap to foam, I want it to clean!
Erin Hall {i can craft that}
You can also make a great o e using 1 c distilled water and 1 oz of castile soap plus essential oils for a custom smell more organic soap.
Lynn Johannson
Yep, Dr. Bronners castile soap diluted works great and the gallon I bought seems to be lasting FOREVER....
Debbie
I was intrigued with the post and now that I've read the comments, I'm excited. I may make my soap smell like wintergreen, one of my favorite scents. Or maybe lemon, or lime, or geranium! I love essential oils! My favorite household cleaner is vinegar with wintergreen or lemon oil. I know lavender is supposed to be calming, but it just isn't my favorite scent.
I haven't read the How to Peel a Peach post, but I do have the book and really enjoy it! It is a fun book.
Does anyone decorate used pump soap containers? If so, please share.
Laura Bee
Dollar store bling-on-a-sheet! https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/the-worlds-greatest-windex-dispenser/
Debbie
Thank you!
kari
I am of the population that actually knew how to do this, but it's the only thing of yours I have know how to do. I am just thrilled that I read the whole post and was reminded of how to cover up the ugly plastic container by slipping it into something more lovely. Thank you for that! You ARE the genius....always!
jainegayer
How did I miss the "How to peel a peach" post?
Ruth
I do the same thing, but - because adding water changes the formula of the soap - I add a bit of peppermint or tea tree essential oil to keep my mind at ease about 'bacterium breeding potential'. Love it! :-)
P.S. Between a brief bout of chikungunya and celebrating the fact that the end of the drought has come into view.... I have been rather quiet, but I'm still around.
Karen
Welcome back Ruth. I need to knkow what chikungunya is. ~ karen!
Ruth
'Affectionately' referred to as 'Chik-V' on the island, it is a mosquito-borne virus (so say the 'experts') that causes symptoms that appear to mimic chronic arthritis, along with fever, nausea and muscle pain. It's crowning glory is the itchiness (rash, in some cases) that arrives as it bids you goodbye. (That adieu is relative, since most folk are left with arthritic reminders of chik-v past)
It showed up in these parts in the latter part of 2013 and has swept the eastern end of the island like you would never believe. Islanders in the west are now doing battle too.
Fun times...