How to Make Your Own Liquid Hand Soap Refill Solution

*DISCLOSURE: I only recommend products that I would use myself. This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I may get a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my Disclosure for more information.

Why Should I Make My Own Liquid Hand Soap?

With all of the hand washing happening right now, we are using so much liquid hand soap!

Now, I know that liquid hand soap isn’t THAT expensive.  However, I don’t like to spend more money than I have to on anything, even if it is a $1 bottle of soap.

Also, I like to use refillable soap dispensers to reduce our use of plastic.

How Can I Make My Own Liquid Hand Soap?

Of all the many “recipes” out there (and there are MANY), they all have one thing in common: you have to grate a bar of soap.

I don’t know about you, but graters are not my friend.  I always manage to cut myself. My husband finally bought me a cut resistant glove to use! It’s like chain mail for your hand. I feel knightly.  There should be more stories about female knights….. Sorry, I got distracted.

General Recipes for DIY Liquid Hand Soap Include the Following Steps:

  1. Grate Bar of Soap.
  2. Boil water.
  3. Dissolve Grated Soap in Boiling Water.  *You can get all fancy and add essential oils and herbs.  This Mama is too impatient for all of that!
  4. Let Sit and Cool.
  5. The Newly Formed Gel-like Solution Can Now Be Used As Liquid Soap Refill.

*If you haven’t seen recipes for how to make your own liquid hand soap, you can find a great one Here from OriginalHomesteading.com.

What Elsa Can I Do With a Bar of Soap (besides the obvious)?

Yes, I meant to say Elsa…you’ll see why if you keep reading 🙂

 

Have you ever tried the Ivory Soap Experiment?

The first time I did this experiment was about 7 years ago.  My Goose loved it!  The movie Frozen hadn’t been out long and like all little girls, she was obsessed with all things Frozen.

Basically, you put a bar of Ivory (yes it MUST be Ivory) in the microwave for 2 minutes and watch what happens.

I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but the soap fills with air and puffs up.  It can then be crumbled easily into tiny bits.  It is a lot of fun and makes your microwave smell clean.  *See how Angela does it here at Teachingmama.org.

Guess what, Frozen fans? The microwaved Ivory soap makes the perfect fake “snow.”  My Goose loved playing with this stuff.  *Helpful Warning: the little particles can get up your nose and make you sneeze.

Wait, What?

If I do the Ivory Soap Experiment, I have a bowl full of tiny soap particles.  Even tinier than what I could get from grating the same bar of soap. (And a LOT less painful)

If I have tiny soap particles, I can make my own liquid hand soap refill soultion.

I say, let’s kill two birds with one bar of soap!

AHA!  I can use my “snow” flakes to make my own liquid hand soap and save the skin on my fingers! (and a little money)

So, How Did I Make My Own Liquid Hand Soap?

  1. I microwaved a bar of Ivory soap for 2 minutes.
  2. Then, I crumbled it into tiny pieces (let it cool first!).
  3. Next, I used an empty liquid soap refill bottle and filled it with my soap flakes. I rolled a paper plate into a funnel to get the soap in the bottle easily.
  4. I then filled the bottle (slowly) with water, and let it sit. *Notice I did not boil any water!
  5. After it thickened up, I refilled all of my hand soap bottles!

There may some separation and some larger chunks that don’t dissolve.

I ended up with 80oz of liquid hand soap refill solution! From one bar of soap! No grating and no boiling involved!

You can do the math, but making your own liquid hand soap will save a lot of money.

Steps to microwave a bar of ivory soap, crumble it up, and mix it with water to make liquid hand soap

Your Turn

Now it’s your turn to give it a shot!  When you try it, let me know how it goes!  Share this post with all your frugal friends and don’t forget to pin it so you won’t forget it later!

Hand Soap Pump with Wash Cloths 5 Simple Steps to Make Your Own Liquid Hand Soap

18 Comments

  1. Kaitlin

    This is so cool! Thanks for sharing such a neat and easy idea.

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      Thanks 🙂 This DIY hand soap is a lot of fun and solves several problems all at once!

      Reply
  2. Christa

    This is a great sustainable option! It’s definitely something I would like to add into my sustainable lifestyle. Thank you! 🙂

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      You’re welcome 🙂 I love that this DIY liquid soap keeps me from buying so much extra plastic!

      Reply
  3. Paige

    Oh! I can’t wait to try this!

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      It’s fun, entertaining, and serves several purposes! I hope you enjoy making your own hand soap 🙂

      Reply
  4. Ine

    This is very handy 🙂 thank you I will give this a go

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      Handy 🙂 I see what you did there! I hope it goes well for you!

      Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      I hope you can make your own liquid hand soap soon!

      Reply
  5. Casey

    Oooh I’ve been meaning to try making my own soap so this came at the perf time! Thanks for the tips!

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      You’re welcome Casey! I hope you have fun making this soap 🙂

      Reply
      • Anna

        Interesting! I would never have thought that making soap would be so easy! I am going to experiment today ?

        Reply
        • Lifebetweenthedishes

          I hope you enjoy making your own hand soap!

          Reply
  6. Sarah

    Very cool idea! It can sometimes be hard to find the liquid soap these days and this is a great alternative. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      Thanks Sarah! Yes it can be hard…it has been helpful to have this alternative 🙂

      Reply
  7. BETH ELKASSIH

    I love this! Do you have a recipe for hand sanitizer?

    Reply
    • Lifebetweenthedishes

      Thanks 🙂 I don’t have a recipe for “hanitizer” (as we call it in our house). I’ll have to find one and try it out. Maybe that’ll be my next post 😉

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Lifebetweenthedishes Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome!

Hi! I'm Misty, the imperfect Mama behind Life Between the Dishes.  My goal is for you to find tools, tips, and resources here to help you maintain sanity through daily mom life!

Stay In Touch!