A great way to save money and help your dollar go further is to cut down on the amount of soap your children use in their bathroom. Little hands don’t know exactly how much they need to wash their hands. If you put a rubber band around the neck of the pump, it will cut down on how far they can push the pump down, thus cutting down on how much they use.
You might also consider watering down their shampoo. Kids can be so wasteful and a little bit really goes a long way.
Be sure to catch up on all the previous Let’s Save Some Money posts.
A few weeks ago my son (age 7) and I made saop for the soap pump by using a grater to grate one bar of ivory soap. We then melted down in the microwave with 3 cups of water. Once this mixture cooled we poured it into empty soap dispensers (makes 3 bottles with a little extra). We have sensitive skin and what better way to make the soap cheaply by getting the three pack of Ivory soap when it is on sale for $1. Use a coupon at a store that doubles and you have 3 bars for approximately 30 cents or so. The bottle we use in the kitchen I added a few drops of lemon essential oil.
Awesome idea! My DD9 is showering on her own and I know she has trouble with the giant sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner. I have saved some of these soap dispensers, so I will be using your brilliant idea. Thanks!!!
I am all about refilling the foam dispensers. As Miranda has mentioned, the above “foam recipe” works. I use whatever I have on hand & it lasts forever! All the freebie body washes, dawn hand washing liquid, you name it. Just dilute it & go. I keep about 15 different dispensers ( bathrooms) & refill them all at the same time, then just switch them out when they become empty. That way I am not constantly refilling them. I like the bath & body works soap dispensers & method ones. All freebies! You don’t have to use or buy a fancy one. I do try to stay away from the Creme soaps, those seem to leave a film in the bottle that I have trouble getting out.
I had one from Pampered Chef and on the directions it said not to use soaps with moisturizers. I always wondered why.
THANK YOU for sharing this! My 4 year old is SO wasteful with the liquid hand soap that as crazy as it sounds it stresses me out! This will save many battles and help me breather calmer at hand washing time :-) Thanks!!
I have put my daughter’s shampoo in a soap dispenser bottle. That way she knows one pump will do.
I need to do this for my husband as well as my girls LOL!!! Thanks for the tip!
This is an awesome tip! Thanks for sharing!
I have had to water down my laundry detergent because my teenagers use way too much. I have not diulted them so at least they won’t use it up as fast.
I use the Lysol No Touch Hand Soap Dispenser in the bathrooms and that allows for only the correct amount to come out onto my kids hands. It has worked great and I have had the same bottle of soap in their bathroom since May! I got them pretty much free using my coupons and a sale at Rite Aid.
I tried this too. I liked it for my kitchen. but I thought it gave too much soap for little hands. plus the replacement cartridges are almost $5 where I live not the cheapest. but I did like it. I really think its great for the kitchen when you are handling raw meat and don’t want to contaminate the soap dispenser.
I can see where you are going with this. I have not had to buy the refills yet and if I do I probably will at Rite Aid and use up rewards to cover the cost of it so I won’t pay much for those either. It keeps my counters clean and free of soap drippings so I find that as a plus. I guess its all opinion and what works best for you. I do think the rubber band idea is great and if I use a pump soap again I will definately be putting one on it.
I have the Lysol dispenser in all 3 of my bathrooms & my kitchen. I have not purchased a refill b/c i take a butter knife or something similar & pop the top then refill it will a generic liquid soap. I had refilled each this way about 2-3x’s ea & had not had any problems with it. Hope this helps.
This is exactly the reason I like foam soap for the kids bathroom. Problem being, its too expensive. This is the perfect solution! Thanks for posting.
I don’t know the “recipe” but if you have the foaming bottles, you can tranform regualr liquid soap into the foaming soap.
I love the foam hand soap too! It is expensive. I have a solution. fill up your foam soap dispenser 1/4 full with your favorite dish soap (I used dawn) fill the rest of the way with water, swirl or shake to mix and voila you have foaming hand soap. It works great. My husband was even impressed. It works great and I don’t have to worry about the kids using too much.
Thanks for posting the pic! I get it now. On the way to the bathroom with rubber band in hand. ;)