Foaming with Possibilities

This might just blow your mind. Okay, probably not, but it kind of blew mine. Did you know that you can make your own foaming hand soap!? You can, really! I just googled it last night. I literally typed in "how to make foaming soap." There were a ton of results but the first link I clicked on was perfect and I didn't need to look any further. Here's the thing, though, in order for this to work you should already have an empty foaming soap dispenser on hand, or at least the pump. Don't you love foaming soap? I used to buy mine from Bath & Body Works (only when it was on sale and usually with a gift card) but as you know, I have been trying to greenify my cleaning supplies over the last few years. I just hadn't tackled the hand soap department until now!

It would be a great greenish option to simply refill your old foaming soap dispenser with your homemade concoction, but I wasn't quite satisfied with that approach. Remember the lovely Mason jar soap dispenser I featured here a few weeks ago? Well, I took that idea and ran with it! The Mason jar dispenser was great, but it was a little bottom heavy for my taste, and I thought the base might take up too much room (especially on the pedestal sink in our half-bath). I immediately thought that the perfect size for the base of my dispenser would be, you guessed it, a Frappuccino bottle. Lol, you probably think I'm obsessed with the things. I'm really not, it just was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about the size I wanted. And since I already had some Frappuccino bottles on hand from my Craigslist plea for Little J's birthday (probably a few more than I needed thanks to a couple good Samaritans who delivered the bottles to me for free), I was set!

So let's get down to it. Thanks to Pinterest, I wasn't a pioneer on this upcycled soap dispenser journey. I had my original Mason jar inspiration and this other tutorial (both found through the amazing tool that is Pinterest). But then I kinda just went for it!

Making the soap dispenser:

1) I washed and sterilized this lovely soon-to-be-upcycled Frappuccino bottle.

2) Grabbed my hubby's power drill from the garage to make the hole for the pump. Obviously when you do this you'll want to be SUPER careful not to break the glass! I also recommend doing this in the garage or outside...something I didn't think about until I had metal shavings flying around my kitchen floor.

3) Used a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove excess metal to get the opening in the lid just the right size for the pump to fit snugly. I kind of used a twisting/rolling method to pull off the excess (sorry for the blurry picture!).

4) What I couldn't twist off I kind of just crimped down to the sides also using the pliers.  I eyeballed what size opening I would need, but you might want to be more accurate when you make yours by measuring your pump and drawing a circle on the lid for reference before drilling/plier-ing.

5) Placed the pump into the lid opening (it was a perfect fit!) and wrapped a rubber band around twice for extra security to hold the thing in place.

Making the homemade foaming soap:

1) Using the original recipe (from Food.com of all places), my adaptation included:

• 4.5 Tablespoons Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap (almond scented)
• 1 Cup Warm water (I popped mine in the microwave for 30 seconds)
• Combine soap and water thoroughly; do not shake (I stirred mine with a butter knife)

2) The test to see if it would work...success!

3) Admired my "new" (upcycled) soap dispenser :)

SO excited about this and plan to make a couple more (when the rest of the soap dispensers around the house run out)! I also plan to do something more decorative to the bottles (probably paint or etching cream will be involved, be on the lookout for those updates). I should add that you don't have to use Dr. Bronner's (although it is one of the most eco-friendly soaps available), any liquid hand or dish soap should do just fine. I think I will probably use my Method (cucumber scented) dish soap for the dispenser I make for the kitchen. The possibilities are endless! Just think how cute your homemade dispensers will be...and the LOADS of money you will save making your own foaming soap!

So what do you think? Are you going to give any or all of it a shot? If you do, please share! Upload your photos on Facebook or shoot me an email at simplegreenishliving@gmail.com. Happy upcycling and homemade adventures to you all!

09/29/11 - I'm linking this post up with "Your Green Resource"
on Live Renewed, Sorta Crunchy, A Delightful Home, and the Greenbacks Gal.