We all know that kids like to use soap. Even as necessary as it is, it makes me cringe to think of the expense when soap gets wasted in the name of clean. Many moms have switched to the foaming hand pumps to save money by preventing their kids from overusing it. We’ve always used regular soap pumps because I buy them so cheaply. A few months ago we got our first foaming hand soap pump as a gift. Right after that Pary Moppins and Practically Virtuous talked about refills for them at our first joint frugal living class. I thought they meant refills to buy.
No- they meant to make your own refills! Turns out the first ingredient in foaming hand soap is water. Basically foaming hand soap is 1 part hand soap and 5 parts water. Just mix 2 TBS of hand soap with 2/3 cup of warm water in a jar. After it’s mixed well and the foam settles, you can pour it into your foaming pump. It may take a bit of experimenting with more or less soap depending on how hard your water is. Regardless it’s so simple and so inexpensive!
Just in case there are any other math nerds out there besides me….
These calculations are assuming that you buy your soap at regular prices and use 1 bottle every 2 months.
Cost per bottle (foaming or regular) = $1.99
X6
Cost per year to buy new bottles = $11.94
Cost per refill bottle (4 refills) $5.97
X6
Cost per year to buy refills = $8.95
TBS in 1 bottle of regular hand soap = 16
$1.99/ 16 = .125
Cost per year to make your own refills = $1.50
( .125 x 2 = $.25 x 6 = $1.50 )
$10.44 savings or 88% savings (assuming that you actually paid full price for your hand soap instead of $.50 of course)
I do this, too. We have a pump in the kitchen and the bathroom that I refill like this. I put the water in the pump first, then add the soap put the cap on and shake gently. Saves a step of mixing it in the jar, and when you add the water first, you don’t have the bubbles problem.
Thanks! We also just mix in the soap dispenser to avoid the extra step & we often use plain Dawn dish soap (from sales & avoiding many antibacterial soaps that might be contributing to antibiotic resitance). I don’t measure, just eyeball it & always try to refill before it actually gets empty.