This Concentrated Product Puts an End to Wasteful Soap Bottles
An active household calls for quite a bit of soap.
This couldn’t be truer than in the case of Hip2Save reader Angela. When she realized just how much soap her family had been going through, she took matters into her own hands with a cost-effective solution.
In our crazy busy life with two active boys and a husband who is always working outdoors, I couldn’t keep up with buying hand soap. Luckily, I have come up with a solution for the endless amount of soap bottles we’ve been purchasing.
I make my own hand soap by filling a glass foaming soap dispenser with lavender-scented Castile soap and water—it’s so easy! I have saved so much money and we really love this soap more than most of the name brands. I also love using a reusable glass dispenser instead of throwing away all those plastic containers.
Castile soap is pretty much a powerhouse product!
In addition to using this concentrate to make your own hand soap, it can be used to make body wash, shampoo, dish soap, laundry detergent, household cleaning solution, and more!
Thank you, Angela, for sharing your frugal (and hygienic!) tip with us!
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How much water and soap do you put in there?
I do the same but I just reuse old plastic foaming soap bottles. I also add a little water to my dish soap bottles when they are low, swirl it around to combine with the soap and pour that into my hand soap bottles to use up those last bits that I can’t squeeze out.
How much do you mix it for the foaming pump? 50/50
I do about 1/3 soap and 2/3 water. Castile soap is somewhat runny so don’t go less than 1/3 of the container.
Problem with Castile soap, as much as I love it and how environmentally friendly it is, the problem is that it has this really intense waxy film feeling on your hands or body, that it makes the skin rough feeling of having residue.
I never have that problem. Do you have hard water? That may be the culprit.
I never have that problem either. Maybe try a different brand. I use Cove from amazon. My hands are so much softer with Castile soap
I have the same issue, I bought the bar of soap and the bottle of liquid and it make such a horrible film on my tub and the shower curtain.
Try cutting it with Distilled water rather than tap.
Check your water quality , or test washing your hands with distilled or RO water. Castile soap doesn’t leave any residue behind.
I use soft soap refill and do the same with foaming dispenser
I do this with scented dish soap. I put about 1/4” of dish soap in the bottom of a bath and body works foaming handsoap container and fill the rest up with water. It works great and is —a great way to save money!
I didn’t know that Walmart was selling their own brand of castille soap…will have to check it out!
Dr B’s is also amazing when used as shaving cream. One little bottle last for months!
How do you use it as shaving cream
I use unscented Castillo soap, vegetable glycerin and distilled water to mix up soap. Saves $$$$ and is fast. I scent with essential oils.
I do the same!!! LOVE IT!!
We use the castile soap for refills too, but reuse the foaming hand soap dispensers (better for my 3 year old… the soap doesn’t slide off of his hands). My problem is that after 2-3 times of refilling the foaming dispensers they quit working because the pump starts sticking closed. Any suggestions for a better foaming dispenser? We’re only using like 3 TBS castile and the rest water, so I don’t think the soap mixture is too thick…
I haven’t had that problem with mine. I got a package of 4 of them from Amazon and they work well.
Amanda – I read somewhere that hard water deposits are to blame for the sticking/clogged bottles and that using distilled water helps. I haven’t tried it myself, though. HTH!
To solve the sticking pump problem, I add a few drops of almond oil…any carrier oil will do. I also put in a small amount of vitamin E oil. I use 2 TBS of Castile and leave an inch or two from the top. Hope that helps!
Does this still kill the germs? That’s the only thing that makes me nervous- kids and potty germs
Soap doesn’t actually kill germs. They just wash away with the suds and lots of water. Unless you use antibacterial soap of course – and that is discouraged these days.
I think you have to add tea tree oil to the mixture to aid in killing germs.
Anna, you *really* don’t want your family to be using antibacterial soap — it contains triclosan which the FDA finally told manufacturers to stop using, but gave them time to comply. It’s a culprit in antibiotic resistant staph becoming so common — imagine a kiddo getting MRSA and having horrible boils that can’t heal because of that dang soap. The FDA noted that there is NO evidence that antibacterial soap gets rid of more germs than regular soap! The reason is how handwashing works: it just loosens the germs and sends them down the drain. Teach the kiddos to hum the “happy birthday” song to themselves all the way through, while washing their hands, and they’ll get used to washing for 30 seconds, which is what we all need to be doing to be effective hand washers.
Does anyone have any suggestions for using this for dish soap? I tried it but it is too liquidy and I felt that it wasnt washing the dishes as effectively as regular dish soap. I tried added salt to it to thicken but that didn’t help so much. Any tips on what you do would be greatly appreciated!
I really like this soap too, however it leaves a horrible soap scum in the shower and sink – much more than regular soap. I put up with it for awhile and eventually switched.
YES! I do about 40% castille soap and 60% water in upcycled Method foaming soap dispensers. Dr. Bronner’s leaves my hands feeling so CLEAN… without drying them out. I also use an old Method dish soap dispenser to refill with Dawn from Costco. I feel like these little tricks save a lot! 🙂
What?! Walmart has a castille soap I’m their brand?! I will check it out!
Do you use distilled water or just faucet water to mix with castile soap?
I have a reverse osmosis filter that I use, but before that, I used distilled water and a couple of TBS of the Castile soap. Leave an inch or two from the top. I like to add a small amount of carrier oil, such as almond, and a little vitamin E oil. I’ve been using this method going on 5 years and LOVE it.
For anyone looking to use this for household purposes, you might try Sal Suds by Dr. Bronners instead. It’s thicker and more concentrated than the regular castile soap. It only takes one tablespoon to mix up a quart-size bottle of spray cleaner (vs. 1/4 cup of Mrs. Meyers concentrate).