Gaye Levy
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For a number of weeks I have been bragging about my homemade, almost free, DIY soft soap. Surprisingly, only a couple of readers had called me on the fact that I have been sending out teasers, one right after another.
So okay, no more teasing. Today I am going to share with you my DIRT CHEAP SOFT SOAP.
And by dirt cheap, I mean as low as 80 cents or less for a gallon jug of the stuff. Now I like a bargain as much as the next person, but this is so good and so cheap that I am wild and insanely crazy about it. And the best part about it is that I only had to purchase one item to make up a batch of this wonderful stuff – namely a bottle of vegetable glycerin.
So how did I do it? Let me share the basic recipe.
How to Make Dirt Cheap Soft Soap
The basic ingredients of Dirt Cheap Soft Soap are bar soap, water, and glycerin. In addition, you can add some essential oils for fragrance but that is totally optional and not needed if you start out with scented bar soap.
Ingredients:
1 cup grated bar soap
10 cups water, preferably filtered
1 tbl glycerin
1 – 2 tsp essential oils, optional
Directions:
1. Grate the soap.
I used my Cuisinart for the first two batches which was pretty wild. The soap grated up up into a fine powder that floated about my kitchen. It smelled heavenly – clean and fresh – but it looked like smoke. In subsequent batches, I used an old fashioned box grater. I grated a full-sized bar of Yardley Oatmeal and Almond soap in less than 5 minutes.
2. Place the grated soap flakes into a large pot and add the water and glycerin.
I used filtered water (what I call Berkey water) because I did not want strange odors in my soap. And our tap water does smell like a hot tub if you know what I mean – pretty icky.
3. Put the pot on the stove and turn the burner up to a medium heat.
After about a minute, you will see the flakes dissolve. This happened a lot quicker with my Cuisinart soap – say about 1 minute – but the grated soap only took a minute or so longer. At this point I took my whisk and whipped up my brew into a heavenly, bubbly froth. You probably do not need to do this but I had read on forums where the some homemade soft soap was more like snot (sorry) and I did not want that!
I whisked away and practically doubled the quantity of soap in the pot.
4. Set your homemade soap aside to cool. Let it sit overnight or for a few hours at a minimum.
Dirt Cheap Soft Soap (which I named, by the way) will get thicker as it cools. I have found that different soaps thicken differently. Some got too thick so I simply added more water the next day and whisked it up some more to blend it all together.
5. Pour your Dirt Cheap Soft Soap into containers.
For each batch I used 2 re-purposed 1/2 gallon apple juice jugs as storage containers. I used a funnel which helps a lot. I then used the juice jugs to fill my counter top soap dispensers.
Tips and Hints
The cheapest way to make this soap is to use freebie bars of soap that you have saved over the years from hotel rooms or in my case, cruise ships. I always take these little travel toiletries with me when I check out since I did pay for them, right? So maybe they were not exactly free but you know what I mean.
I also used some scented gift soaps that were given to me years ago. I do not use bar soap at all so these have been languishing in a box under the sink for ages. The latest batch was made using a bar of Yardley Oatmeal and Almond bar soap that I purchased at the dollar store.
I did add about 2 teaspoons of lavender essential oil to the hotel/cruise ship soap version but the scented soaps retained their pleasant smell without the need for anything else. And even the hotel soaps smelled nice but I happen to love lavender so there you go.
Different types of soaps may produce different results. Do not be afraid to add more water if your soap is too thick. And also, don’t feel that you need to have fluffy soap. I just happen to like it that way. Experiment and have fun with it.
The quantity may vary from batch to batch. It may be the soap, the humidity, the whisking – who knows? Expect some variability and go with the flow.
I have not tried it, but if you are using a high-quality bar soap (perhaps one of those gift soaps), you may be able to leave out the glycerin. Like I said, I have not tried it and the glycerin was cheap enough.
The basic recipe can be doubled or cut in half or even fourths. I have had the same success no matter what.
Cost Breakdown
At $6.46 for 4 ounces, I probably overpaid for the glycerin since you can purchase a full 16 ounces online for a lot less. No worries, that still works out to 80 cents per batch and next time I will purchase a larger quantity to bring the cost per tablespoon down. (Remember, there are 2 tablespoons to each fluid ounce).
The 4.25-ounce bar of soap made up 1 1/2 cups of grated soap so with each batch I had some leftover for next time. Working the math though, I come up with .67 cents per cup of soap (assuming you paid a dollar), so the total cost for a full gallon using purchased soap was $1.47. Compare this to the cost of a one-gallon jug of “Softsoap Moisturizing Hand Soap” at Costco for about $11.
The Final Word
The Survival Husband simply loved this stuff from the get go. I had no idea he felt our day to day name-brand soft soap was drying and rough. Go figure. And me? I feel like a chemist when I stir up a batch and the clean up is a breeze. It is soap, after all.
The other thing I want to mention is that Dirt Cheap Soft Soap is my name for this stuff. I made it up and I think it fits.
I would love to have you try this and share your comments and experience with the rest of us. Let me know how it all works out.
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
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Bargain Bin: If you are planning to mix up some Dirt Cheap Soft Soap, check around your home. Chances are you already have everything you need except, perhaps, the glycerin.
NOW Solutions Glycerin 16-Fluid Ounces: Compared to what I paid, this is a real bargain. I have been purchasing the NOW brand of essential oils and have been very happy with them, even though they appear to be budget prices.
NOW Foods Lavender Oil: I tend to use cheap essential oils in my soap products since their use is for smell only. (Come on, really. The soap goes right down the drain!) Pick you scent. I happen to like lavender but seems to me that peppermint, orange or rose would work wonderfully as well.
Yardley of London Naturally Moisturizing Bar Soap: The Yardley soap worked well and can be found at the dollar store but the available scents are limited. Amazon or even your local drug store will have more variety.
Box-style Hand Grater: As easy as it was to use the Cuisinart, it just felt “better” to grate the bard soap by hand.
OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Funnel and Strainer Set: This is the set I have in my kitchen. OXO products are known for their quality and usability. And here is a hint. If you purchase an OXO product and don’t like it, send them an email or give them a call and they will refund your money. I bet you did not know that!
Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds Liquid Cleanser: I know that Dr. Bronner’s Magic Castile soaps have a cult-like following but I prefer the Sal Suds. I call my DIY cleaner “Sudsy Sal”.
Soft ‘n Style 8 oz. Spray Bottles: I happen to like these smaller bottles and you can not beat the price for a set of 3. Likewise for these Pump Dispensers.
Umbra Vapor Glass Soap Pump: I have been collecting glass pump bottles for years but you can also use re-purposed – you guessed it – soft soap bottles.
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44 Responses to “How to Make Your Own Dirt Cheap Soft Soap”
I’ve made homemade soaps in the past as a hobby and you can use different oils; almond, olive, coconut, glycerin even vitamin e oil. Different oils have different properties. I will probably be trying this out soon to help cut costs some. I have 4 different foaming dispensers in the house plus the kids go through “body wash” like crazy. You can easily use regular soft hand soap for foaming dispensers, simply use about 1/3 soap to 2/3s water. Depending on the soap it might be too thick or thin, just add more soap if too thin and more water if too thick.
Thanks for sharing this Gaye.
I am going to try this today, but I don’t have glycerin. I read another recipe that calls for 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Have you tried this? I was also thinking of adding some moisturizer, but maybe the olive oil would be enough. Thanks for all the ideas everyone!!
Glycerin serves as a moisturizer so olive oil might work. Seems to me, though, that it would smell. Be sure to let us know how it goes.
Love the article. TKS! 🙂
I made soap according to directions. 1 cup grated soap (I used Irish Spring), 10 cups of water and 1 Tbls of glycerin, and heated on medium heat till hot & disolved… BUT my soap is not thickening! It is staying water runny. I even took a small amount out and put in the fridge to make cold instead of room temperature. HELP!
I do know that different soaps give different results. This happened to me with the batch I made this weekend (I am making extra soft soap for my friends) so I put it all back in the pot, added a tablespoon of additional soap flakes, and re-cooked the whole thing. I made sure the soap mixture was really dissolved this time.
I left it in the pot overnight just to see if it would thicken up and it did – perhaps too thick. I don’t know if it was the additional cooking or the extra soap that did the trick but I would give this a shot. If it is still not thick enough, keep adding soap flakes 1 tablespoon at a time and re-cook.
Be sure to report back in the results 🙂
I got it to work! First, I was expecting it to thicken as soon as it cooled. That was not the case. Maybe its a combination of time & temperature? I split the batch in to 3. 1/3 in the cooking pan, 1/3 in a plastic bowl left sitting on counter top, and 1/3 in plastic bowl I put in fridge. The one in fridge thickened first, but it turned to “snot” consistancy even after beating with electric hand mixer until frothy. I had frothy snot! The plastic bowl thickened next with a tiny bit of slimy froth texture. The metal pan thickened last. It was not slimy or snotty! It took the longest, but turned out the best 🙂 thank you for your help!
What are the ingredients in the soap flakes & bars you are using? I’ve looked many of those up & they are NOT good. You have to start with healthy ingredients from the bars & flakes, not halfway up the chain. Most have very unhealthy ingredients in them: sodium cocoate, polysorbates, fragrances, etc.
Do you just heat until the soap disolves, remove from heat and wisk? Thanks so much – love this money saving idea
Yep – that is all that you do. So easy and in brings out the inner chemist in you. Also, do not be afraid to experiment with scents/essential oils and different types of soaps.
thanks so much:)
I know that the foaming dispensers are popular but I have not tried one. While reading the forums, I learned that a “thinner” soap worked best with these so you may need to add additional water.
You can refill your foaming soap dispensers with regular hand soap you just add one or two teaspoons to the container and fill with water. the dispenser does all the work, so it’s a good way to stretch out your soap. I don’t see why you couldn’t make it work with this soap!
ive ordered a soap FOAMING dispenser. do you think this would work. just curious. wondered if maybe thats what you’re using. thanks for the recipe for DIRT CHEAP 🙂 susy
Thank you Survival Woman for sharing your helpful ideas and tests. I did make a batch of of this soap using the Yardley $ store brand soap bar. I got 1/4 less than your quantity…perhaps because I did not whip it beyond a small froth. Does the soap retain any of the antibacterial properties of the lavandar essential oil in addition to the fragrance?
That is an excellent question. My guess is yes – especially if you are generous with the amount that you use. And yes, my soap was pretty sudsy. Now the funny thing is that some batches stay that way while others settle down after a bit. There is no logic to it – which makes this so much fun LOL.
If you are buying soap, doesn’t this defeat the purpose? I am looking for a soap I can make that does not have all the chemicals that are in soaps. I did do some research and the chemicals that this government allows in our soap is seriously dangerous. I didn’t just see the word “chemicals” I looked up what those chemicals were and it is mind-blowing the dangers that are in soaps.
I’ve read multiple recipes along those same lines on frugal blogs. One just yesterday. I don’t think you should imply that people back off from using the name Dirt Cheap Soft Soap – you didn’t invent it, or the name.
A couple of things. I never claimed to have “developed” the recipe. And as far as the name, it may be used by others but I have not seen it. I really did make it up but claim no special rights to it 🙂
I don’t think she was implying she invented it and no one can use the name. I got the idea she was saying it’s just what she calls it, but you can call it whatever you want. Not everyone is greedy and out to be mean and nasty. We should give people the benefit of the doubt.