How to Pick the Best Kind of Soap!

The links in the post below may be affiliate links that support our current homesteading needs and the cost of building this business at no additional cost to you! We try to support small business owners on Etsy and Ebay sellers first, and then bigger companies that offer the most zero waste products. Read the full disclosure to learn more and find out what your purchases are supporting. 

"Oh, I wish I was a little ______ of soap; oh I wish I was a little ______ of soap! For I'd slippy and I'd slidy, over everybody's hidey; oh I wish I were a little ______ of soap!

Today we're talking about soap and how to choose the most affordable and eco-friendly option for your family. So, ultimately the question is:

Which is better, bar soap or liquid soap? 

Short Answer: It depends on what you mean by better. 

Homemade bar from scraps

Homemade liquid hand soap from scraps

Which kind of soap lasts longer? 

According to this article, we use about 7 times more soap when we use liquid soap vs bar soap. Score? Bar soap, 1-0. If you want to get the most use out of your bar soap, then try these 8 ways to make soap last longer.

Which kind of soap is cheaper?

Bar soap is cheaper than liquid soap per oz and don't forget how much more we use liquid soap. This effect is multiplied several times when you offer foaming soap vs bar soap, particularly to small children. A 4 oz bar of soap can be as cheap as as $.50. A 7.5 oz bottle of liquid soap usually costs around $3. That's over 3 times more expensive!

Story-time to show the foaming soap appeal: For the market research portion of this post, I decided to make my own foaming hand soap. We still have about half of a bottle of foaming soap from the previous owners of our house. I decided to use it up and reuse the container for the homemade foaming soap once it's empty. I move the bars of soap around and collect the small soap scraps for later. I place the foaming soap in the main bathroom. 

UG1 notices the change and asks why (She's 4, enough said.) I say that we're going to use this soap in the main bathroom until it's gone. She tells me she has to use the bathroom now. I obviously let nature dictate this scenario. Once she's finished she says she has to go again. Now I intervene and tell her only to go when she actually needs to. I then let her know the big secret that drinking more water makes you need to visit the restroom more frequently. She's now perfectly hydrated throughout the day and uses the main bathroom as much as possible. Oh, and her hands are ALWAYS clean. Foaming soap wins the appeal, but bar soap wins the score for cheapness. Score? Bar soap, 2-1.

Which kind of soap produces more waste?

Liquid soap requires manufacturing and shipping a new plastic bottle every time you buy, then requires resources to have it recycled, and finally gets thrown "away" where it degrades very slowly but never fully breaks down. Bar soap and DIY liquid soap (from bar soap) need less packaging, either paper, a sticker, or nothing at all, especially if you buy it locally. If it has a paper wrapper, it can be recycled several times before being composted. If it has a sticker, than the non-recyclable sticker is still less wasteful than an entire bottle for liquid soap. Bar soap scraps can also be made into another bar of soap, liquid soap just clings to the bottle. Bar soap wins the score for less waste. Score: Bar soap, 3-1

Which soap saves you more time?

Interesting thought, right? If you make your own liquid hand soap and use the homemade liquid as concentrate for foaming liquid hand soap, then you will save money. One batch of liquid soap refill is enough to make 64 bottles of foaming hand soap. (Which is over 5 years of foaming hand soap for as little as .50.) 

If you buy liquid hand soap, you spend time driving to the store, shopping for, and unloading a liquid soap refill every month at home. After refilling your soap bottle, you also have put the refill bottle in the recycling bin and take all of your recycling to the curb (which takes up more space and thus requires more frequent recycling hauling too). 

If you make one batch of soap concentrate for foaming hand soap, you spend time driving, buying the bar, unloading it, and making it every 5 years (maybe 2 years with small children who get kicks out of using the foaming soap), recycle either one piece of paper/sticker every five years or get your bar unpackaged. Much less driving, shopping, unloading, recycling and hauling time. Bar soap/DIY liquid soap win the score for time savings Score: Bar soap, 4-1

Keeping that in mind, here's how to recycle your bar soap scraps, make liquid soap from bar soap, and make foaming soap from bar soap: 

How to remake bar soap from scraps- 

Soap scraps

a little bit of water

a mold

a cheese grater

a cutting tool

a pan for melting

Grate your scraps of soap and cut up the remaining scraps into chunks.

On the stove, melt your grated soap by adding a small amount of water.

The soap will start to clump and become sticky as it melts.

Scoop the melted, gummy soap into your molds.

Let cool and remove from molds. Set the molds aside and let them cure for three days or until the soap is no longer tacky.

How to make liquid soap-

A 4 oz bar of soap

A knife, cheese grater or food processer

Four cups of Water (1 cup for every oz of bar soap)

A pot

Empty foaming soap dispensers or other liquid soap dispensers

Grate or finely chop a bar of soap into flakes. 

Bring water to a boil on the stove.

Then, turn off the heat, and add your soap flakes. Stir to melt the soap. Continue stirring until the mixture is fully combined. At this point the mixture will be very liquidy.

Allow the mixture to cool for at least 15 minutes. Then, stir it again. The soap should be slightly thicker now.

Allow the soap to cool for another several hours or overnight.

Stir to check the consistency. If it seems too liquidy, reheat it and add more soap flakes. If it seems too thick, reheat it and add more water. The moisture content varies from one brand of bar soap to the next, so you'll probably have to do a bit of tweaking to get your recipe just right.  Label the container you store your liquid soap in.

If you don't have foaming soap dispensers, then pour your soap into your soap dispensers, and enjoy. 

If you have the foaming soap dispenser, keep reading:

Fill the empty dispenser about three-quarters of the way full with clean, warm water. Warm water helps to get the soap mixed in.

Pour one tablespoon of liquid hand soap into the container.

Screw on the lid/pump and shake vigorously to mix the soap and water together.

Pump the dispenser a few times to get the foaming started and enjoy your cheaper, plastic-free and less wasteful soap! 

Shared at:

Bouquet of Talent Party, Inspiration Galore Party Project, Nifty Thrifty Party, Inspiration Monday, Makers Make Party, Mix It Up Monday,Creative Corner, Creative Gallery, A Round Tuit, The Scoop Link Party, Clever Chicks Bloghop, Lou Lou Girls' Fabulous Party, Project Inspire, Totally Terrific Tuesday Link Party, Home Away From Home Party, Inspire Me Tuesday, Love Learn Bloghop, Share It Tuesday, Urban Naturale Blog Hop, Creative Muster Party, Homestead Blog Hop,Wow Us Wednesdays, Wonderful Wednesday Blop Hop, Homesteader Blog Hop, Wine'd Down Wednesdays,Wise Woman Linkup, Wow Me Wednesday, Artsy Fartsy Link Party, Think Tank Thursday Link Up, This is How We Roll Thursday, Simple Homestead Bloghop, What to Do Weekends Party, Pretty Pintastic Party, Home Matters Party, Friday Feature Linky Party, Friendship Friday, Dear Creatives Linkup, Simple Saturdays Bloghop, Dare to Share Linkup, Saturday Sharefest, Share One More Time Party, Create Bake Make Party

How do you waste less soap in your family? Share your tips in the comments below!