Turning Bar Soap into Liquid Soap

Use this method to make your own hand soap, body wash, face wash, and even dish soap! For dish soap, I recommend using a bar of antibacterial soap that contains no moisturizers, such as Dial antibacterial (see below for price breakdown). For a good multipurpose soap, use Dr. Bronner's. It's organic, fair trade, made in the USA, and can be used for everything from washing yourself, your floors, your carpet, your pet, your dishes, or even your clothes.  

Personally, I'm a big fan of Dr. Bronner's. Although a little does go a long way, it is still insanely expensive. I used to buy Dr. Bronner's liquid soap in both the 16 oz size and the 32 oz size (for those of you who don't know, Dr. Bronner's famous liquid castile soap comes in a plethora of sizes). If only I knew then what I know now. I could have saved so much money, saved the world from all those plastic bottles, and still enjoy the same exact product. Let me give you a break down of their prices:

Dr. Bronners Magic Pure Castile Liquid Soap

*prices gathered from Dr. Bronner's website as of December 23, 2012

**price per ounce has been rounded to the nearest cent, except in the case of the bar soap

By now you're probably thinking one of two things. 1. "Wow! That is a remarkable savings!" OR (if you are a Dr. Bronner's snob) 2. "I dilute my Dr. Bronner's liquid soap to a 1:10 ratio, so I'll just keep spending a little more to save myself the hassle." Well, I have news for you, soap snob... the liquid soap made from a bar is much thicker than the store bought liquid soap and it too can be diluted. It's the consistency of egg whites (FAR thicker than the premade liquid soap). I use about 1-2 tablespoons of homemade liquid soap to a quart of water to clean my entire kitchen (floors included). Also, the process of making liquid soap from a bar is far from being a hassle. It's so easy a child could do it and it takes just a few minutes of your time.

Want to go even cheaper? Here's a breakdown of various dish soap prices versus the liquid soap made from a bar of Dial Antibacterial. The liquid soap made from the bar is also a great choice to use as hand soap and even body wash.

*prices gathered from Walmart's website on December 23, 2012

**price per ounce has been rounded to the nearest cent, except in the case of the Dial bar soap

Now that I've thoroughly convinced you with these shocking prices, let me show you just how EASY it is to turn ANY bar of soap into liquid soap. 

I purchased the soap for less than advertised on Dr. Bronner's website, at $3.99 a bar. 

This makes the final batch 3.1¢ an ounce.

First you're going to want to choose your bar of soap. If you want to use it for general household cleaning, look for something without moisturizers and possibly a bar that's antibacterial. If you want to use it as a face wash, choose something gentle, fragrance free, and if you can, something with tea tree oil (great for keeping your skin clear). If you want to make combination baby shampoo/baby body wash, I recommend Dr. Bronner's unscented soap, as seen above. If you want to use it as body wash for yourself, choose anything you want!

In this tutorial, I'll be using a bar of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in their ever-popular peppermint variety. It smells great and I use it for everything.

First, you're going to want to grate the entire bar using either a food processor or a hand grater. Using a hand grater takes a few minutes and will leave you with a tired arm, but the result is well worth it.

In a large pot, heat water. The amount of water will depend on what kind of soap you are using and how dense it is. As a starting point, use one cup of water per half ounce bar of soap. For example, if you have a 5 ounce bar of soap, you'll need to measure out 10 cups of water. A bar of Dr. Bronner's is very dense. While using the above soap-to-water ratio will work, the resulting soap would be the consistency of dough. Therefore, with Dr. Bronner's bar soap, I like to use 3 cups of water per one ounce bar soap (15 cups water with a 5 ounce bar). If your soap turns out too thick, additional water can always be whisked in.

 nearly dissolved!

Add the grated soap and stir until completely dissolved. Once you can no longer see any pieces of soap, shut off the burner and allow the mixture to sit for 8-12 hours to cool and thicken. I like to make the soap in the evening so it can be left alone and allowed to set overnight. This prevents me from checking on it every 15 minutes and wondering when and/or if it'll turn out. Just so you know, it ALWAYS turns out. It's really amazing how it goes from being a thin, watery liquid to a thick, gel-like substance.

The finished product will be much thicker than any liquid soap you are used to (like I said earlier, it'll be the consistency of egg whites). If it's too thick for your liking, more water can be whisked in. Once you've reached the desired consistency, you should pour it into a large, air-tight container such as an empty milk jug or vinegar bottle. A funnel helps make this pouring process easier. From there it can be used to refill soap dispensers throughout your house. Liquid soap has a very long shelf life (years), with vegetable based soaps lasting substantially longer than animal fat based soaps. Having said that, liquid soap may separate, thicken, or discolor with time. Simply shake to mix/soften and it'll be brought back to life!

Resulting liquid soap