Introduction: Make a Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

About: I'm a 29 year old guy who's passionate about building and fixing things, sometimes if they aren't even broken. I get a great sense of enjoyment out of creating, designing and building new things. I also love t…

We've all seen those mason jar soap dispensers at expensive home decor stores or at little markets or online or wherever. My wife has always wanted one, and I figured I could make one pretty easily and for a fraction of the cost of one you would buy in a store. Actually, it was free to build!

What you'll need:

-A mason jar with lid

-An old plastic soap dispenser (just the cheap ones you buy anywhere)

-Some soap

Tools/Supplies:

-Hot glue gun

-Drill (drill press is preferable if you have access to one, but not necessary)

-Hole saw (size depends on the diameter of your soap dispenser's threads)

-Hobby/box-cutting knife

-A round metal file

-Sharpie or other marker

-Awl

-Clamp of some sort (to keep the mason jar lid from spinning when you drill the hole in it)

-Primer and paint (optional, but recommended)

Let's get started!

Step 1: Gather Supplies

First thing that you need to do is get your mason jar and old soap dispenser. If you don't have any mason jars, they can be found all over the place for next to nothing. Garage sales are a great place to pick them up. Failing that, try calling up your grandma and ask if she has any delicious preserves for you in the cold cellar :).

Remove the lids from both your mason jar and soap dispenser. I washed my soap dispenser pump just to get the old soap out and have it nice and clean. Don't throw away the soap dispenser plastic bottle, we'll need it later! Set the jar aside for now.

Step 2: Drill Your Lid

Now, get your mason jar lid and mark the centre with a Sharpie or other marker and make an indent in the mark with an awl.

Use your plastic soap dispenser bottle to determine the size of the hole you need to drill. You can measure it or just grab a few hole saw bits and compare them to it.

Next, clamp the lid and drill a hole where you marked the lid. I used a drill press, but you can just as easily use a hand drill. The most important part is the clamp because otherwise your lid will just start spinning as soon as you try to drill it.

Step 3: File Off Burs

After drilling your hole, you may notice some sharp, jagged metal bits all around the edge of the hole. Just use a round file to get rid of these and make everything nice and smooth.

Step 4: Cut Neck Off of Bottle

Now, just use your hobby or box-cutting knife to cut the neck off of your plastic soap dispenser bottle, leaving a bit of extra material around the base.

After cutting, just sand or file around the base a little bit to rough the plastic up a bit. The glue will adhere better this way.

Step 5: Glue Lid and Prepare for Paint

I first sanded the lid with some 400 grit sandpaper. You don't have to go crazy and sand every last nook and cranny, it's just so the primer will stick better.

After sanding, wash the lid in water and dry thoroughly.

I then used a tiny bead of hot glue on the underside of the edge of the mason jar threaded lid section and secured the two lid pieces together. I couldn't take a picture because the glue sets so quickly.

Step 6: Prime and Paint

Now just set your lid down and spray a coat of primer on. Hold the can of primer between 6 and 10 inches from the mason jar lid and spray in fast, sweeping motions. Don't spray it on too thick or the paint may run. Allow it to dry for at least an hour before painting.

Then, just use the same technique for painting as you did priming. The paint will most likely need more time to dry than the primer. Give it a few hours.

Step 7: Secure Pump to Lid

Next, you need to hot glue your plastic bottle neck to the underside of your mason jar lid. First, feed the neck up through the hole you drilled and then hot glue it from the underside.

Then screw on your pump. I used a rubber washer as a spacer and also to make a good seal on top.

Step 8: Screw on Your Lid and You're All Set!

Now, simply fill your mason jar with soap and screw the lid on! The nice thing about having the threaded base of the original plastic soap dispenser attached to the lid is that if the pump ever fails, you can simply unscrew it and replace the pump without having to totally redo your lid.

I hope you enjoyed this Instructable!