DIY Foaming Hand Soap – Who doesn’t like foaming hand soap. The problem is that you tend to go through it so quickly – especially if you have kids. Not to panic, there’s a really simple way to make your own foaming hand soap. It’s actually the container pump that makes the soap come out all foamy and lately I’m finding it hard to throw away perfectly good containers so why not be both frugal and environmentally conscious by refilling your old container. I worked it out and it cost less than a quarter to refill a container with this DIY foaming soap. This inexpensive soap is also perfect for the cottage, camping, or to keep near the garden.
The recipe for the DIY foaming hand wash is crazy simple. You take your container, you add some dish soap, some water and voila you’re done.
Materials:
- Clean container with foam pump (I used one from Bath and Body Works and removed the labels)
- Dish soap of your choice (I’m sure liquid hand soap would work too)
- Water
Instructions:
- Get an empty and clean foam pump container and fill it up between 1/6 and 1/4 of the way with dish soap.
- Fill the rest of the container with water (make sure you don’t fill it too much but leave space at the top for the pump to go in – otherwise it will overflow).
- Twist the pump lid on and give the container a gentle shake to make sure the soap and the water mix together.
- Go ahead and give it a few pumps and the foam should start coming out.
Pam
April 17, 2014 at 3:23 PM (7 years ago)OMG! It’s that easy?? What a cut in hand soap costs. Thanks for posting this! Can’t wait to try it out.
debby morge
August 3, 2017 at 3:01 PM (4 years ago)i love trying new recipes the castile soap is so nice,a couple of bottles last forever i’ve been adding distilled water and my own essential oils to change or add scent,very nice bed bath and beyond has some really nice foam pumps and plain or fancy bottles ,i give them for gifts,bar soap i make to but that’s another subject
Anonymous
April 17, 2020 at 11:18 AM (11 months ago)What?
Awesome
May 13, 2014 at 5:52 PM (7 years ago)Yesssssss
Julia
May 13, 2014 at 5:52 PM (7 years ago)So easy and cheap wow
Cydiegirl
October 21, 2014 at 5:54 AM (6 years ago)I just made this. It was incredibly quick and easy to make! I added a few drops of preferred essential oil for scent. How perfect and economical. Thank you!
Stephanie
January 10, 2015 at 10:47 AM (6 years ago)Great idea! Does the water and dish soap separate after sitting for a while?
Jamey
February 12, 2015 at 8:48 AM (6 years ago)Hi Stephanie,
No, we use this all the time and there’s never been any separation.
~ Jamey
Belinda
January 28, 2020 at 7:06 PM (1 year ago)Mine didn’t tourn out foam it is pure liquid?
Kat
April 25, 2020 at 2:09 PM (10 months ago)Hi, I can never get a used foaming soap container to work after I have cleaned it. Help?
Bonnie
February 17, 2015 at 1:09 PM (6 years ago)I used bottled water. Tap water has too many contaminates. Still crazy cheap!
Anonymous
February 5, 2016 at 11:31 PM (5 years ago)Do you also use bottled water to rinse the soap off your hands? Otherwise, that seems rather pointless.
Barry
April 17, 2020 at 1:03 PM (11 months ago)I love your reply to the person using bottled water!!
Diana
March 30, 2015 at 1:45 PM (6 years ago)I love the simplicity of this and it really helps to stretch a buck, been doing it for a while now.
Lydia
May 25, 2015 at 6:32 AM (6 years ago)I don’t think using liquid soap instead of dish soap works. My mother tried it once, and it separated. She’ll be happy to hear you can make it with dish soap though!
Linda
August 27, 2015 at 9:00 PM (6 years ago)thank you!! I used soft soap hand soap and it worked like a charm.
Bev
December 1, 2015 at 7:35 AM (5 years ago)I thought I was the only one doing this. It works so well, even with non-foaming bottles but that squirts out pretty fast.
Ruth
January 8, 2016 at 6:50 PM (5 years ago)I do this all the time, but I go to Marshall’s or a similar store and splurge on a very nice liquid soap (my one weakness) and only need a small amount to get lots of beautifully fragrant foam.
Good to see others are doing this, too.
Jamey
January 19, 2016 at 11:19 AM (5 years ago)Thanks Ruth. I’ve also been switching to some beautiful castile liquid soap and it’s lovely.
~ Jamey
mandy cat
February 2, 2016 at 12:11 PM (5 years ago)Even better, use Dawn Hand Renewal dish soap, with Olay. I used the lavender scented one to make a DIY version of Mary Kay Satin Hand sugar scrub this year for holiday hostess gifts (directions elsewhere on Pinterest, batch.) Much kinder to your hands than most dish soaps and still budget friendly.
Karen M.
March 5, 2016 at 12:14 PM (5 years ago)Thank you for this idea! I can’t believe how easy and inexpensive it was to do. Awesomeness. 🙂
Bernadette
November 21, 2017 at 5:15 PM (3 years ago)I do the soap all the time just boil the water and let it cool.
Jackie Mullinax
June 9, 2019 at 12:50 PM (2 years ago)Just made my 1st bottle for the kitchen using a Bath and Body Works empty bottle. It foams up like crazy! Love it and will keep on doing it, thanks so much for sharing this hack!
Kitty
April 20, 2020 at 1:00 PM (11 months ago)I’ve been doing this for years. Is a good way to save for dishwasher detergent.
Trish
April 27, 2020 at 1:04 PM (10 months ago)I love it!! I used Softsoap with pure water and added 5 drops of Myrr. Smells great. Thanks for the instructions.