Creat liquid soap from bar soap

[Darbla]

This is probably not something you want to sell, but I don't so I'm sure others of you here are just looking for recipes for your own use too, and more ways to use up that hoard of FOs you have!

http://familyoffarmers.blogspot.com/2011/11/liquid-hand-soap-diy.html

Cheese grater (from the dollar store)

2 Tablespoons of Liquid Glycerin (found in the band aid section at any drugstore or grocery store)

1 - 8 oz bar of soap

1 gallon of water

Step 1:

Grate the entire bar of soap

Step 2:

Fill a pot with 1 gallon of water and add the soap shavings.

Step 3:

Add 2 Tablespoons of liquid glycerin and turn the heat to medium/high and stir until the soap dissolves.

Step 4:

Step 4 is a picture on that web site above of what it looks like at this point (basically just soapy water).

Step 5:

Leave it alone to cool for at least 10-12 hours. It begins to cloud up after 3-4 hours.

Step 6:

After it has cooled completely around 12 hours later it will harden and look like liquid soap.

Step 7:

If the soap is harder than it should be you can take some beaters and blend it while adding just a little bit of water until the consistency is more like liquid soap.

Step 8:

There you have it....Liquid Soap!!!

Step 9:

Now you can refill your empty bottle of liquid soap with your gallon of refill.

This is a fool proof project that results in huge savings. For my favorite Mrs. Meyer's Basil scented soap

1 bar at $4.99 produces over $50 worth of liquid hand soap!!! I'd say that's worth the 20 minutes it will take you to make it yourself. The hardest part about this project might be finding and choosing your favorite bar of soap. Mrs. Meyer's is kind of tricky to find. It can be ordered on their website or your can special order at your local health food store.

*I also made liquid body wash using this same recipe.

* In a cute dispenser this would be a great handmade Christmas gift!

{UPDATE}

I have had many emails regarding runny soap. Because I have had the opposite problem both times I've made it while using different soaps I can't give you a tested remedy. What I have read on the internet is some soaps have extra moisturizer in it making it harder to set firm, Dove being one of them. I read that you can heat the water back up and add more soap shavings and allow it to cool again, once cooled if it still hasn't set you can whip it in a blender. If this still doesn't work then google until you find a solution to your particular situation.

* Texas folks I have found Meyers bar soap at Central Market but not Whole Foods.

* The soap can be a snot-like consistency, gross description I know but it still works.

[Pam W]

Thx for the recipe & the link. I have a 1/2 batch cooling on the stove :-} I did add a couple oz of mango butter just for the fun of it.

Once it cools down some, I think I'll filter it thru some cheese cloth - after grating the soap, I discovered I'm missing a big chunk of fingernail...lol

[Kitn]

thanks for sharing that, I am going to try it.

[Pam W]

Snot is an understatement......lol

[Stella1952]

I do something similar with my soap scraps. It IS the perfect recipe for homemade snot. If you tell kids that it's snot soap, they will wash their hands in it more frequently...

BUT if one is making a lot of it (I only make small amounts at a time), seems like some preservative to prevent bacterial growth would be a real good idea...

[CareBear]

yes indeedy, Stella. you are absolutely correct. diluted to that degree, it's plenty friendly to mold and bacteria.

[Pam W]

I did add some Germall Plus to the small batch that I made - it wasn't really that small - even cutting the recipe in half, I still ended up with over a liter. It will take my household of 3 quite a long time to use this up.

After the mixture had set up, hands felt kinda draggy after rinsing so I reheated slightly & tossed in some Babassu oil & the Germall. Now it actually feels moisturizing.

[icecold]

Can the liquid soap made from this be made into foaming soap? Does there need to be a preservative?

[jeanie353]

Can the liquid soap made from this be made into foaming soap? Does there need to be a preservative?

So far just about any soap I've tried in the foamer works pretty good. Sometimes the amount of added water has to be adjusted to preference.

Anything that has water should have a preservative in it, imo.

I ended up taking the soap I made this way outside for car washing, grill washing, etc. I thought I had it fixed to get rid of the snot but it came back and grosses me out.

Don't know if you are interested in this but BB carries a soap paste in a castile (or bastile) and also one they say has high suds. I did get both, made both and they aren't too bad. A lot more expensive than the other way though. Oh, I also added a little liquid silk to both for a little more glide.

HTH and GL

[Darbla]

I'm finally trying this myself today after posting that ages back. :rolleyes2 But I had to use up all the liquid soaps I already had (including shampoos I didn't like for my hair) so that took a bit and I had to save up soap leftovers anyway. I'm halving that, but gosh it looks awful thin at this step 4/soapy water stage. I don't see how this can ever thicken up, so can some of you who did this assure me?

I'm adding Phenonip and some moisturiaing oil, per y'alls excellent suggestions.

[Darbla]

Success! I ended up adding extra soap flakes (actually Dove type moisturizing "soap") and boiling it down to where it was about half as much, but it's a nice liquid soap now.

[Ivy]

This is an excellent idea. Thank you very much for the recipie (smile).. Hubby had been asking me to do something with his left over soap slivers ( he saves everything) for a while now... And trust me, dial soap does NOT melt down in a double boiler and or microwave lol