How to Refill a foaming hand-soap container

This is a method to expand the lifespan of your foaming liquid hand soap (and container).

The foaming hand soap containers in question have a little disclaimer on them stating not to refill them with regular hand soap or they will clog. This is indeed true, however I've noticed a lot of people either throwing away the empty plastic container (what a waste!) or refilling it with regular hand soap, after which they just don't work.

The process is incredibly simple - the foaming pump works because it injects a bunch of air into a small amount of soap as it pumps. Most hand soap is too viscous to accept this air, and it just causes problems. Solution? Make a solution! Water down the soap!

Step 1: Choose a soap

I went with whatever we had around - apple body wash. It's hard to make out in the picture, because of the colour - but I've filled the pump container with about 1/5th soap, then fill to about an inch from the top with water (to prevent overflow when the pump is inserted)

Tip: Add the water slowly, so as to not agitate the soap too much - if it mixes while you're adding water, you will have a hard time getting it to fill without overflowing with suds everywhere.

Comments

[aymans]

Nice Instructable! I found using distilled water works best for not clogging up the pump as tap water creates deposits over time.

[MsJan]

BEWARE...Fragrances can cause cancer and other illnesses. There is not much on the grocery shelf that is not toxic to humans. These big companies are only interested in taking our money and not keeping us healthy. Do your research before using toxic products. I now make my own hand soap using glycerin. They look better than what you see at store and cost less also and I feel so clean I almost squeek. I give these away for gifts and now my kids expect me to send them to them all the time. Body Wash is also toxic. The scents are not natural but made with chemicals. Try going Organic when possible. When you make choices to wear these toxic products you not only make the choice for yourself but for all those around you. I already have became very ill due to people wearing perfume so I know now how it effects us.

[frollard]

*not saying I don't believe you, I'm allergic to most fragrances, but I am skeptical of any unsubstantiated claims, especially when so brash.

[MsJan]

If I have not became so so ill from these I would not be trying to warn others. Stay Healthy.....

[frollard]

Please provide evidence of these open ended statements, or an alternative recipe that works in a foaming soap container. Preferably both.

[MsJan]

I have stopped using the foam but if I really thought that is what I needed than I would stop in at whole foods or a health store to find out what they had. Whole Foods can answer so many questions. They have a trained girl at mine that can help with so so many questions.

[applejuice]

I have found that watering down Dr Bronners liquid castile soap works great diluted in an old foam soap dispenser. No SLS, makes the soap go further, and my kids find it much easier to rinse off than conventional hand soap. :)

[ed409]

Yes, I too use Dr Bronners peppermint soap in my foamer. The result is soooooo nice!

[escapefromyonkers]

off topic but asked in forums couple times can anyone direct to to an ible on making a scent solution to use to refill those glass glade scent plug ins? i should measure the EL usage today with a killiwatt, i think it should be small.

[frollard]

if I recall they are about 0.5-1 watts...being electric they have to write it on the outside of the box.

As for refilling the chemical, its nasty stuff, not a clue what is actually in there.

[gk1651]

I've often wondered how this could be done. I love the foamy soap and not wasting the bottles. Yay!

[bmohr]

Very nice. I've tried this in the past, but never seemed to get the ratio right. Now with the extra knowledge, it's time to try again. A tip on the agitation. Sometimes I would put a marble or ball bearing in the bottom of the container to help with the mixing. I guess a small shell or two might even work better.

Thanks!

[frollard]

Great tips -- the trick is it can't be too viscous; so less is more!

[PurpleHel]

If you put the water in first and then add the soap, it foams up a lot less in my experience. You have to be more careful with leaving the right amount of room for the soap tho.

[frollard]

It's not too bad so long as you don't add water from a tap that aerates the input -- nice slow pour and it works great :)

[dchall8]

I like it. You didn't really get into the economics of this, but the foaming soap refill costs about the same per ounce as the same scent of the non-foaming soap. So when you mix your own, you get about 4x as many handwashings for the money and the same soap scent. I've also used Dawn dishwashing liquid with pretty good results. I mix the soap in a separate container so the foam can settle out. I put about 3 ounces of the hottest water I can into the container first. Then I put the soap in and agitate that until it seems to be mixed but not foamy. Then I slowly fill the container with hot water trying not to generate foam. My process with the hot water might be extra trouble. There is one problem you might watch out for. My first foaming soap dispenser seems to collect soap inside the translucent top. That might be part of the problem with why the plunger isn't working right. I've disassembled and reassembled several times to drain it. If you decide to disassemble your plunger for any reason, THERE IS A TINY STEEL BALL inside. If you lose that critical part, you can recycle or find other uses for the useless plunger parts. Also when reassembling, push on the large plastic cup until it snaps into place. Another possible problem is this. After refilling with a different soap (I used Dawn dishwashing soap in a hand soap plunger), the plunger doesn't seem to move as easily. I switched to refilling with the official brand of foamy soap refill and it works better. I've also tried Wal-Mart's Equate brand of foamy soap refill with good results. I'm trying different things with different plungers and have not really duplicated the problem I had with the first one.

[frollard]

One thing you can do if the plunger gets a bit sticky, use a little more water, and add some glycerine (available from the pharmacy), only a half teaspoon or so should do the trick. "When you refill that way is the foam really soft like a brand new foam pump, or is it just like thos bubbles you get when you clean dishes :-\ ?" No, it comes out like shaving cream.

[loveangel94]

I just stumbled across your site. I had a foam soap dispenser and wanted to use some liquid hand soap that my son bought me for Christmas in it. I have seen the dispensers in the catalogs that will let you do that but wanted to see if my foam dispenser from the store would work. It did but not very well. I read your tips here and tried them and now I have a foam dispenser that works with liquid hand soap. Thanks for the wonderful tips. My son is always buying me liquid hand soaps as a gift and love the foam soap. It sure beats paying the price of the foam soap refill. Also I can use other soaps as well. I love the scents you can get with the liquid hand soaps in the different stores especially at Christmas time. :)

[frollard]

Glad you liked it! Enjoy your newly awesome(r) toy!

[ucanBanerd]

Thanks for spreading this around, I think buying the refill for these is a waste of money!!! I also use foaming soap dispensers to dilute the face wash i use tha't too strong for my sensitive skin. Also then you can make your hand soap whatever scent you want!!

[apinkpony]

Great idea suggesting reusing them for foaming face wash... (have you seen the new bottles than cost $10+ that are made to put your own water/soap combo in? Kidding me? This is so much cheaper!)

[inquisitive]

I like to add a shot of rubbing alcohol and mix it all up.

[Punkguyta]

Rubbing alcohol FTW! 99% or 70%??

[inquisitive]

Either, but if diluting the solution I tend to prefer the 90% is what I purchase; however, the friction and soap removing offending dirt will do the trick anyway. Hand sanitizers are predominantly isopropryl alcohol based with a couple things to make it seem more pleasant. I keep a small mister bottle of isopropryl alcohol at my cubicle for quick cleanups, first aid, and wrinkle remover.

[mbear]

Doesn't bleach kill everything? I wonder what would happen if you added a little bleach to the soap. Well, besides messing up your hands as the skin cells die.

[acer73]

It doesn't exactly kill the skin cells unless you soak your hands in there. But it does really dry them out. So you wash your hand to get exsess junk off then you rub some oily lotion back on them.

[mbear]

A Ha! So if you mix a shot of bleach into this stuff, it'll kill all the nasties (scientific term) and leave your hands alone. Good to know.

[ekerkow]

Just washing your hands with plain soap will get them as clean as washing with harsh chemicals. This is a fact that has been demonstrated by peer-reviewed scientific studies. Most of the cleaning action when you wash your hands is the mechanical action- rubbing your hands together and the water carrying dirt etc away- rather than any chemical action. Soap is nice to add for the degreasing effect. Unless you or someone you are in close contact with has a serious immunity problem, regular soap is all you should need.

[JasonQ]

Just chiming in here to totally agree with you. Much of soap's cleaning action is in fact mechanical, though soap itself does denature the outer membranes of germ cells, thereby destroying them. Hot water is a good idea too.

[gbisaga]

You, sir, are a genius! This works great. I used about 4:1 (Method foaming soap dispenser) and it now works again. Thanks for posting.

[frollard]

Thanks for commenting, its the little things that make life better :)

[jwggmn]

Rubbing alcohol is ok as far as I know...I use it as a non-toxic general bathroom cleaner (but don't drink it, lol)...in the kitchen I generally use vinegar (which you can - moderately)...

[jwggmn]

Anti-bacterial's in soaps (or most anything else) are not only ineffective but are terrible for the environment; they get in the water and can kill most anything that grows! Please keep this in mind...

[strout]

Thanks for the tip. I figured diluting it would probably work, but I didn't want to ruin my dispenser experimenting! I will probably use my sample size hotel soaps (that I always collect but rarely use) and add some vinegar to ensure bacteria fighting power. For those trying to go all natural, Castille soap (which I had an hard time finding when I was shopping for materials to make my own cleaning products but eventually located at a natural foods market) would be the eco-friendly route.

[kzoosoapguy]

You for sure don't want to add any rubbing alcohol. What you guys are missing is that you are still not even using real soap. When you buy most store bought "soaps" you are just getting chemicals that act like soap but will really dry out your skin due to the lack of glycerin. What you need is some refills made with real handmade soap which contains the type of moisturizers you need. I never understand why people don't learn about things they put in or on their body. We are putting up a new line of "refill only" foaming soaps at http://www.handmadesoapbar.com This way you can save money on not paying for the bottle, which in most cases is the most expensive part of buying more soap

[FoamSoap]

We supply foam soap pumps with empty bottles.  Users of theis site can take 10% off with your first order.

Enter coupon code: " instructables " at checkout.

http://www.bottlesandfoamers.com

Thank you. Kevin

[janwinje]

Thanks for the foaming soap idea, I should've known that! To ease your minds about bacteria, I bet a tablespoon of white vinegar added to the mix will solve that problem.

[wetnap]

Yea i've been doing this for a while, it wastes far less soap as most of the regular dispensers dispense a ridiculous amount of soap that coats your hands in a thick layer of goo, meant mostly to hasten purchase of more soap, its not economical, or environmental, and i find that it takes longer to wash off the goo and leaves more residue on your hands. i love these new foaming dispensers, brilliant idea.

[momof2inflbaking]

The instructions are perfect!! The measurements don't have to be exact. An approximate 4:1 ratio works fine. I recently purchased clear foaming dispenser bottles from eBay after my fancy liquid soap dispenser broke. Bed, Bath, and Beyond doesn't even carry a foaming dispenser bottle. And I didn't want anything to mount on the wall. So, following the directions, I now have a foaming soap dispenser. Since the liquid soap I have in the house was the large commercial size, it may be over a year before I have to purchase more liquid soap!!! To those who commented that refilling a foam dispensing bottle is more work then it's worth, I have one word -- LAZY! I followed the instructions & was done in less than a minute.

[frollard]

Thanks for the comments! It's true -- dead simple!