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One of my favorite DIY money-saving hacks is to refill my foaming hand soaps. Instead of tossing the empty bottles out when they’re used up and buying new ones, I just make my own foaming hand wash refill. It only takes a minute and it’s super easy to do!

Foaming Soap – It’s Just Watered Down Liquid Soap!

Many years ago I learned that foaming soap refills were not the big mystery I thought they were. In fact they were really nothing more than watered down liquid soap. A foaming soap dispenser mixes air with the liquid to create the foam. Straight liquid soap won’t work as a refill because of it’s thicker, gel-like consistency. BUT – if you take that liquid soap and add water, Ta-Da! You’ve just made your own foaming soap refill.

And you don’t have to be too particular about the type of liquid soap either. At different times I have used the different soaps shown below (dish soap, castile soap, or hand soap refill), and all of them have worked. You don’t have to be too fussy – you can use what you have!

Foaming Soap Recipe – How Much Soap vs. Water?

So now that we know the trick for a foaming soap refill is to simply water down our liquid soap, exactly how much should we water it down?

The good news is you can just eyeball it and really don’t need to get out any measuring tools. However a good rule of thumb is a ratio of about 1 part soap to 3 parts water. The photos below will show the steps of how I refill a common size empty foaming soap container. I’m using a 7.5 oz foaming hand soap bottle from my local grocery store (Meijer).

Step 1: Pour in the liquid soap. Start by adding some liquid soap to your empty foaming soap bottle. You want about a 1/2″ to 3/4″ in the bottom of your container. This will be about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of liquid soap.

Step 2: Add Water. Next you will slowly add water to the container. Leave a little bit of space for when you screw the top of the container back on. This will be about 3/4 cup or so of water.

Step 3: Screw on the top and gently mix. Finally, screw the pump top back onto the bottle. Slowly tip the bottle back and forth to gently mix the soap and the water.

And that’s it – you made your own foaming soap refill and it was so easy! You should find that your DIY refill makes a nice foaming soap when you use it.

Optional Foaming Soap Refill Add-Ins

So the basic homemade foaming soap refill is just a matter of mixing some liquid soap with water. However you can add a few extra ingredients to make your mixture just a bit more special.

Add-In Idea #1 – Glycerin. If you’d like to make your foaming soap refill more nourishing for your hands, you can also add in a tablespoon of vegetable glycerin, an ingredient that’s helpful for moisturizing dry skin.

Add-In Idea #2 – Essential Oils. You can also add some fragrance in your homemade foaming soap refill by using a few drops of essential oil. Some skin-friendly ideas are lemon, lavender, orange, or peppermint.

If you’d like a more plain looking bottle, currently the Dial Foaming Hand Soap has a very plain bottle (shown in the photo above). There’s just a small logo near the bottom, but no large label.

And if you’d like a more colorful soap, I’ve used dish soaps in the past, such as lemon-scented dish soap that’s a yellow color, and when watered down in a foaming dispenser create a nice pale shade of liquid.

Of course you’ll be saving money too because instead of refilling a bottle with liquid soap all the way to the top, you’re only adding a little bit and then using water. It’s a great way to stretch your liquid soap!

See more 2 ingredient ideas here – – > DIY 2 Ingredient Ideas