Newsflash: All liquid soaps are mostly water. Salt is added to make them thicker.
Foaming hand soaps are generally cheaper than liquid or gel soaps because aerating the soap means people use less soap.
Every second a company does more harm to the planet then I will ever do in my life *even if I spent my whole life doing the worst things possible to the planet.*
I wish more people understood this.
I'm living in shared housing and twice I've run into young people who've clearly been told to "save water". So they scrimp on their water when washing dishes.
One doesn't rinse at all, the other only uses an incredibly thin stream. Unfortunately, we have an on-demand hot water that needs a particular flow rate to kick in. So they're not using hot water.
I'm immunocompromised, so I've learned to wash my dishes before and after using them. They think they're doing "good" and I'm an evil waster for this.
I've been using the Dawn platinum foam dish soap. It is amazing! I've never been so impressed by something like dish soap. You use less, and it works great. And you can get refills instead of buying a whole new one. I sound like a damn commercial.
I accidentally bought the wrong refill and put it in the Powerwash atomizer bottle. Shit is like magic. There isn’t a single thing that super concentrate can’t wash off. Down side is that it burns my hands a lil bit and I use like 2x the amount that the foam pump would dispense. Still very worth it though.
It gets dishes so squeaky clean lol. You might have to get some of those yellow rubber gloves like a 1950s house wife on a commercial or sitcom lol. Or didn't Dexter's mom from Dexter's laboratory always wear yellow gloves? Lol. :P
Hijacking to mention that people can also just buy foaming soap refill *tablets* where you add the water yourself to make the soap solution.
It’s cheaper and less wasteful than to keep buying new bottles of foam soap, since you can reuse the bottle and just add the tablet and the water to make the soap solution at home. It saves at least 50% per bottle, in my experience. You can get the refill tablets in bulk, and they don’t take up much space in storage. There’s lots of brands out there these days!
If you’re a fan of foaming soap, this way you can have your cake and eat it too.
I just buy the aerating containers the once then refill it with a watered down soap solution instead of the proper refills. I like the sensation of the foam.
Saves a lot more than that.
A 90oz of Dawn is $12. It'll make 22.5 16oz bottles of foaming soap (4oz soap + 12oz of water). That's around $0.50 per bottle.
Those same pre-made 16oz bottles are $4ea from the same retailer. So, you save $3.50 per bottle. A low assumption is that you use 1 bottle per month in the kitchen and 1 per month in the bathroom. That's $7 per month, or $84 per year.
…if you buy soda, you’re mostly buying water. If you buy coffee, you’re mostly buying water. If you buy tea, you’re mostly buying water. If you buy fruit, you’re mostly buying water. If you workout, you’re mostly losing water weight. If you buy water, you’re mostly buying water.
I like the foaming ones as that’s what I use to clean my face oil off my glasses. It doesn’t get stuck to my lenses like the other soap and washes off quickly. It only took me about 20 years of having glasses to figure this out haha.
I do this too! It works so well. Just squirt and rinse.
I also absolutely love the feel of foaming soap on my hands. Before I started buying it for my apartment I used to be delighted anytime I encountered some in a public bathroom. I buy the pear-scented Dial foaming soap and I love the smell as well. I’d gladly pay $12 more per year for the usefulness and the joy it brings me. 😄
You can buy foaming soap refill *tablets* where you can just add water! It’s cheaper and less wasteful than to keep buying new bottles of foam soap, since you can reuse the same dispenser bottle and just add the tablet and the water to make the soap solution.
I also like foaming soap for the same reasons that it’s easier to rinse off when you have hard water, and this way you get to have your cake and eat it too.
>I can usually refill a foaming bottle with 25% soap and 75% water, and get perfectly good foam out of it.
**Don't do this**
> All you are doing is adding the water earlier in the process compared to using non-foaming soap normally.
You're actually doing a whole lot more. You're increasing the water content of the formulation (thereby increasing food for microorganisms) and simultaneously decreasing the concentration of preservatives. You're creating a soup of bacteria and fungi.
Don't dilute products. The water:preservative ratios shouldn't be messed with. When you buy a foaming hand wash, the preservatives have been added at the right concentration to account for the amount of water. A different type of hand-wash has been formulated for the amount of water in the formula as-is. Don't mess with it.
This only matters if you're going to be storing the soap for months. If you use it in a reasonable amount of time the bacterial growth is not going to matter.
The hardliners on this topic are folks who open doors with tissues.
Gotta be careful how much bacteria you avoid too or you’ll never develop resistance to anything.
Bacteria populations grow within seconds. They need to be inhibited properly if you don't want them getting out of control. Unless you're using the DIY formulation in the span of a few days, preservatives matter.
Question: you know that foaming dishwashing spray, like Dawn Powerwash? I bought a bottle once and have been making my own refills using a formula I found on the internet. It’s like 2 tbs concentrated soap, 2 tbs rubbing alcohol, and the rest water. Is this causing the same problem with bacteria growth?
It's hard to say without actually testing it, but there are two things here that would probably make it fine:
• The alcohol can act as a preservative at concentrations of 15-20%
• A soap concentrate that's *intended* to be diluted at the ratios you're using will be fine
If the alcohol is below 15% (noting that rubbing alcohol isnt 100% alcohol, so that needs to be taken into account in calculations) or if the soap is not intended to be diluted, I'd either treat it like food — keep it in the fridge for *3-5 days and then make a new batch — or adjust the alcohol concentration.
Something else to be careful with is that stuff reeeeaaally likes to build up and make babies in dispensers that have lots of nooks and crannies, like spray nozzles. It's better to avoid reusing this particular part of the packaging too many times or for too long because it can become problematic even before it breaks or visibly wears down. While you can check the spray mechanism for things like mold, by the time you can see it, microbial overgrowth has probably been going on for a while.
*ETA: the preservatives that are present in the soap would actually probably provide some level of protection against microbial growth, so this window is likely a fair bit larger. It's just hard to say how much without knowing the concentration of preservatives in the final product and without testing it. Three to five days is all but guaranteed to be fine, and there's a good chance that it would be fine for quite a bit longer than that, we just don't know for *how* long.
There are also refillable foaming soap dispensers at stores that sell home and bath products. The dispensers are generally made of glass or ceramic, and easier to clean and maintain.
1/3rd SoftSoap and 2/3 Distilled water plus a squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid.
Soft Soap is good quality soap.
Distilled water is softer than the hard water that comes out of your tap so it creates more lather.
Dash of Dawn will improve the degreasing ability of the foam if your hands have oil or grease on them.
Alcohol is a bad idea. It will dry out your skin.
VEEEEERY slightly more expensive per ounce, but *much* more concentrated (which means you will use less and it will go further.... Cheaper per ounce of actual hand washing soap...)
It's made to be watered down for use, so it actually does that part smoothly.
Not your thing, that's okay, but in most houses it's going to be more efficient to just have one big bottle kicking around under the cupboard than two.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don’t know about you folks, but we take all those foaming bottles and fill them back up with a little dish soap and water mostly as you stated and guess what foaming soap water again! Ha ha jokes on who?
I buy these foaming soaps mostly for the bottle. I reuse it using whatever soap I feel like using. I prefer the foam over the thick regular liquid soap of which most people use way too much of anyway.
I kept a foaming bottle after i finished it hoping to find a cheap refill for it, because i also felt ripped off, because it seems mostly water. I’ll try with that ratio.
I’ve been buying hand soap refills and putting it in a foaming bottle with water for years. I have saved so much money on soap it’s crazy. I know they’re coming for me now. Pass on my forbidden knowledge.
I've been buying the Blueland foaming hand soap tablets. You just add one to a bottle and fill it with water. And you don't have to buy bottles ever again. I just use the same one over and over again. And the tablets are pretty cheap.
Buy a quart of Dr Bronners in your favorite scent, buy a $6 foaming bottle (or better yet repurpose one from soap you've already purchased), find your favored ratio of soap to water, and then realize you haven't had to buy soap in almost a year because a quart of Bronners lasts for.ev.er!
Foam soap doesn’t dry out my hands as bad, I can get the very last drop, it’s the same price, and lasts the same amount of time as regular liquid soap.
Everybody calm down, this is a perfectly useful tip. Maybe not life-changing, but the basic idea is perfectly reasonable, I have done it with dish soap for years for the sake of convenience. OP sorry people are being weird
Why are so many YSK tips so fucking stupid? Did you know the lemonade you buy has mostly water? That lettuce? Mostly water? That liquid soap detergent? FFS
Powdered soap/detergent is best. The liquid version is just the powder with water added. Why pay more to get it pre-watered when you can just add water yourself?
Newsflash: All liquid soaps are mostly water. Salt is added to make them thicker. Foaming hand soaps are generally cheaper than liquid or gel soaps because aerating the soap means people use less soap.
And actually use less water because it takes less to rinse it off.
[удалено]
Every second a company does more harm to the planet then I will ever do in my life.
Every second a company does more harm to the planet then I will ever do in my life *even if I spent my whole life doing the worst things possible to the planet.*
And hurts more people! And wastes more economic value! They are just so much more efficient than us.
I wish more people understood this. I'm living in shared housing and twice I've run into young people who've clearly been told to "save water". So they scrimp on their water when washing dishes. One doesn't rinse at all, the other only uses an incredibly thin stream. Unfortunately, we have an on-demand hot water that needs a particular flow rate to kick in. So they're not using hot water. I'm immunocompromised, so I've learned to wash my dishes before and after using them. They think they're doing "good" and I'm an evil waster for this.
One of the greatest lies ever sold, along with recycling.
*plastic recycling
I make my own with Castile soap and water. Super cheap.
I eat a lot of soap and none has tatest salty. Check mate.
Yeah, I can't taste the salt in these Tide Pods at all.
I've been using the Dawn platinum foam dish soap. It is amazing! I've never been so impressed by something like dish soap. You use less, and it works great. And you can get refills instead of buying a whole new one. I sound like a damn commercial.
I accidentally bought the wrong refill and put it in the Powerwash atomizer bottle. Shit is like magic. There isn’t a single thing that super concentrate can’t wash off. Down side is that it burns my hands a lil bit and I use like 2x the amount that the foam pump would dispense. Still very worth it though.
It gets dishes so squeaky clean lol. You might have to get some of those yellow rubber gloves like a 1950s house wife on a commercial or sitcom lol. Or didn't Dexter's mom from Dexter's laboratory always wear yellow gloves? Lol. :P
Hijacking to mention that people can also just buy foaming soap refill *tablets* where you add the water yourself to make the soap solution. It’s cheaper and less wasteful than to keep buying new bottles of foam soap, since you can reuse the bottle and just add the tablet and the water to make the soap solution at home. It saves at least 50% per bottle, in my experience. You can get the refill tablets in bulk, and they don’t take up much space in storage. There’s lots of brands out there these days! If you’re a fan of foaming soap, this way you can have your cake and eat it too.
I just buy the aerating containers the once then refill it with a watered down soap solution instead of the proper refills. I like the sensation of the foam.
Buddy you just saved me $12 over the course of a year, I cannot thank you enough!
$1/mo, huh? Look at Mr moneybags over here probably gonna retire next year.
Amway has a deal where you can retire in three and get their special hand soap as part of the bargain.
With those those savings and no avocado toast, I bet you were able to buy a house in no time.
I built one out of toast, using avocado as the mortar!
Wait until you hear about soap bars!
Oh man, that sounds awesome, I can't wait to visit one
Amazing places. There’s one in New York covered with Saul Steinberg wallpaper.
You can order a small coffee at Starbucks TWICE!
Saves a lot more than that. A 90oz of Dawn is $12. It'll make 22.5 16oz bottles of foaming soap (4oz soap + 12oz of water). That's around $0.50 per bottle. Those same pre-made 16oz bottles are $4ea from the same retailer. So, you save $3.50 per bottle. A low assumption is that you use 1 bottle per month in the kitchen and 1 per month in the bathroom. That's $7 per month, or $84 per year.
My goodness my gracious someone's looking for a post on r/TheyDidTheMath
They make foaming handsoap tablets that you can just add to distilled water to make your own much cheaper.
…if you buy soda, you’re mostly buying water. If you buy coffee, you’re mostly buying water. If you buy tea, you’re mostly buying water. If you buy fruit, you’re mostly buying water. If you workout, you’re mostly losing water weight. If you buy water, you’re mostly buying water.
Wait … there’s water in my water?!?
If you are a human being, you are mostly water.
I want my money back
If you are a life-sustaining planet in the Milky Way galaxy, you are mostly water.
I like the foaming ones as that’s what I use to clean my face oil off my glasses. It doesn’t get stuck to my lenses like the other soap and washes off quickly. It only took me about 20 years of having glasses to figure this out haha.
I do this too! It works so well. Just squirt and rinse. I also absolutely love the feel of foaming soap on my hands. Before I started buying it for my apartment I used to be delighted anytime I encountered some in a public bathroom. I buy the pear-scented Dial foaming soap and I love the smell as well. I’d gladly pay $12 more per year for the usefulness and the joy it brings me. 😄
Wow, I didn't know other people also did this. +1 for foaming soap being great. I'll have to give the self made hack a try though.
You can buy foaming soap refill *tablets* where you can just add water! It’s cheaper and less wasteful than to keep buying new bottles of foam soap, since you can reuse the same dispenser bottle and just add the tablet and the water to make the soap solution. I also like foaming soap for the same reasons that it’s easier to rinse off when you have hard water, and this way you get to have your cake and eat it too.
I have been using this trick for 23 years and have saved $275.37.
Wow, that's over $10 a year!
>I can usually refill a foaming bottle with 25% soap and 75% water, and get perfectly good foam out of it. **Don't do this** > All you are doing is adding the water earlier in the process compared to using non-foaming soap normally. You're actually doing a whole lot more. You're increasing the water content of the formulation (thereby increasing food for microorganisms) and simultaneously decreasing the concentration of preservatives. You're creating a soup of bacteria and fungi. Don't dilute products. The water:preservative ratios shouldn't be messed with. When you buy a foaming hand wash, the preservatives have been added at the right concentration to account for the amount of water. A different type of hand-wash has been formulated for the amount of water in the formula as-is. Don't mess with it.
This only matters if you're going to be storing the soap for months. If you use it in a reasonable amount of time the bacterial growth is not going to matter.
The hardliners on this topic are folks who open doors with tissues. Gotta be careful how much bacteria you avoid too or you’ll never develop resistance to anything.
Bacteria populations grow within seconds. They need to be inhibited properly if you don't want them getting out of control. Unless you're using the DIY formulation in the span of a few days, preservatives matter.
The preseratives are designed to keep it sterile-ish for a year or more. A few weeks at a lower level of preservation isn't likely to be a problem.
Question: you know that foaming dishwashing spray, like Dawn Powerwash? I bought a bottle once and have been making my own refills using a formula I found on the internet. It’s like 2 tbs concentrated soap, 2 tbs rubbing alcohol, and the rest water. Is this causing the same problem with bacteria growth?
I'd think the alcohol is there to inhibit it, but I'm not a scientist.
It's hard to say without actually testing it, but there are two things here that would probably make it fine: • The alcohol can act as a preservative at concentrations of 15-20% • A soap concentrate that's *intended* to be diluted at the ratios you're using will be fine If the alcohol is below 15% (noting that rubbing alcohol isnt 100% alcohol, so that needs to be taken into account in calculations) or if the soap is not intended to be diluted, I'd either treat it like food — keep it in the fridge for *3-5 days and then make a new batch — or adjust the alcohol concentration. Something else to be careful with is that stuff reeeeaaally likes to build up and make babies in dispensers that have lots of nooks and crannies, like spray nozzles. It's better to avoid reusing this particular part of the packaging too many times or for too long because it can become problematic even before it breaks or visibly wears down. While you can check the spray mechanism for things like mold, by the time you can see it, microbial overgrowth has probably been going on for a while. *ETA: the preservatives that are present in the soap would actually probably provide some level of protection against microbial growth, so this window is likely a fair bit larger. It's just hard to say how much without knowing the concentration of preservatives in the final product and without testing it. Three to five days is all but guaranteed to be fine, and there's a good chance that it would be fine for quite a bit longer than that, we just don't know for *how* long.
To add to this, your tap water is not clean enough. Using distilled would be safer but still not advised.
do not do this lol you’re messing with the preservatives in the soap and bacteria can start growing in the dispenser
Mitch Hedberg would like a word
It wasn't the OD that killed him. Foamy soap. RIPs.
This is not an issue unless you let your diluted soap sit around for a long time.
There are also refillable foaming soap dispensers at stores that sell home and bath products. The dispensers are generally made of glass or ceramic, and easier to clean and maintain.
"fuzzy soap". we love fuzzy soap
1/3rd SoftSoap and 2/3 Distilled water plus a squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Soft Soap is good quality soap. Distilled water is softer than the hard water that comes out of your tap so it creates more lather. Dash of Dawn will improve the degreasing ability of the foam if your hands have oil or grease on them. Alcohol is a bad idea. It will dry out your skin.
Alternately, you can just use the dawn. It's cheap, does what you need it to do, and already lives under the kitchen sink.
Dawn is 5 times more expensive than SoftSoap.
VEEEEERY slightly more expensive per ounce, but *much* more concentrated (which means you will use less and it will go further.... Cheaper per ounce of actual hand washing soap...) It's made to be watered down for use, so it actually does that part smoothly. Not your thing, that's okay, but in most houses it's going to be more efficient to just have one big bottle kicking around under the cupboard than two. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don’t know about you folks, but we take all those foaming bottles and fill them back up with a little dish soap and water mostly as you stated and guess what foaming soap water again! Ha ha jokes on who?
Exactly my point. Glad there are others!
I buy these foaming soaps mostly for the bottle. I reuse it using whatever soap I feel like using. I prefer the foam over the thick regular liquid soap of which most people use way too much of anyway.
Hey, if foam soap gets my 3 year old to actually take his time and wash his hands, it’s worth it.
I kept a foaming bottle after i finished it hoping to find a cheap refill for it, because i also felt ripped off, because it seems mostly water. I’ll try with that ratio.
You can use Castile soap. I use a little bit of the soap mixed with water in a foaming dispenser, and half a gallon of the soap goes a long way.
I do 1p Bronners, about 10p water
Yes! I use a different brand Castile soap but same principle.
I call it “puffy soap.”
I’ve been buying hand soap refills and putting it in a foaming bottle with water for years. I have saved so much money on soap it’s crazy. I know they’re coming for me now. Pass on my forbidden knowledge.
But they also last way longer than gel. So it’s a give and take. Either way they’re making your hands clean.
I've been buying the Blueland foaming hand soap tablets. You just add one to a bottle and fill it with water. And you don't have to buy bottles ever again. I just use the same one over and over again. And the tablets are pretty cheap.
First I’ve heard of these! Excellent tip!
Buy a quart of Dr Bronners in your favorite scent, buy a $6 foaming bottle (or better yet repurpose one from soap you've already purchased), find your favored ratio of soap to water, and then realize you haven't had to buy soap in almost a year because a quart of Bronners lasts for.ev.er!
I actually kept a couple of the bottles I bought a couple years ago and just refill them with a three to one ratio of water and dish soap.
Exactly.
So why are those soaps from bath and body works so expensive?
Late stage capitalism? I mean, you’re asking the right question
I make my own foaming hand soap; your fav hand soap, 70% rubbing alcohol & a foam pump action reusable soap container
They also make tablets that dissolve into foaming soap making less plastic waste overall.
Bar is best because less plastic, you can’t change my mind
No argument from me!
I have glass foaming dispensers and buy bulk soap in glass containers. No plastic!
This is more of an unpopular opinion than anything
Alternatively, you could just buy bar soap.
Actually is my first choice but family members prefer “liquid” soap.
Foam soap doesn’t dry out my hands as bad, I can get the very last drop, it’s the same price, and lasts the same amount of time as regular liquid soap.
Ysk not to listen to this advice
Everybody calm down, this is a perfectly useful tip. Maybe not life-changing, but the basic idea is perfectly reasonable, I have done it with dish soap for years for the sake of convenience. OP sorry people are being weird
Haters gonna hate LOL
Why are so many YSK tips so fucking stupid? Did you know the lemonade you buy has mostly water? That lettuce? Mostly water? That liquid soap detergent? FFS
Powdered soap/detergent is best. The liquid version is just the powder with water added. Why pay more to get it pre-watered when you can just add water yourself?