Wednesday, June 6, 2012

DIY Pump Soap

Do you make your own laundry detergent? It's a simple process, very cheap, and makes the clothes smell absolutely lovely - once you've experienced clean, fragrance free clothes it's hard to go back!

But this post isn't about laundry detergent.

It's about pump soap.


Lazy pump soap.

But what do they have to do with each other, she asked expectantly? Well, young listener, wait and see....

When you make laundry detergent, if your really cheap (like me) instead of buying pre-grated soap you go for the hard bar stuff, which is less expensive.

Then you grate it yourself. Since I don't have cast iron hands and can't grate to nothing, I am always left with teeny soap ends.


I use these to make pump soap.

Grab the ends and throw them (or place them gently, I won't mind) into a small container with a lid. An old jar will do.


Cover them with water, and let them sit for ages. Aaaaaages ages. A month should do it. (Told you it was lazy. Find something useful to do while you wait. I wouldn't suggest just watching it, you'll get hungry.)

Every so often, give it a good shake. After a while, it will start to look like this:



When most of the soap lumps are lovely and soft, decant them into a large jug. Add a dash more water, then get those hands in there. Smoosh the lumps until they are mostly gone and the mix is starting to become a uniform consistency. It's fun! Be sure to stop and admire the soap webs between your fingers. Hello, aquaman!

Ready to be smooshed (it's a technical term.)

After a while, you will be tempted to crack out a blender. DON'T. Well, unless you want your kitchen covered in bubbles, in which case by all means, carry on.

Instead, grab a strainer and a bowl, and run the mix through it. I push the soft lumps through with a wooden spoon. If there are any hard lumps remaining, don't worry, just put them back into the soaking jar for another month. (See? Lazy.)



Now take a look at your mix. Does it need more water to run smoothly? If so, add it now, and stir it in gently. Then pour it into a pump bottle. I wanted to use my funnel, but Panzer found it first. (I used the jug instead.) The pump bottles I use the are ones left over from buying commercial pump soap.


And there you have it! Lazy, easy, cheap pump soap, made with nothing but time and leftovers. I will be sharing my homemade laundry soap recipe tomorrow, so feel free to follow along if you're interested.

Thanks for visiting!


Nature's Nurture


29 comments:

  1. I think this is a great idea, but the soap ends perplex me: I grate soap for laundry liquid also, but I never have leftovers! I don't have cast-iron hands either. My days are spent in an office, which certainly isn't callus-building work. Every now and then I do chip a fingernail whilst grating, though. :(
    ~S.

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    1. I must be soft... or else my soap is hard and I am uncoordinated! I grated too many finger ends and chipped too many nails to be confident grating to the end. How do you do it? Please analyze your mad skillz and report back...

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    2. I grate slowly?
      I honestly have no idea.
      ~S.

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    3. Ah ha! I grate madly, usually trying to fit in soap making between lunch and the kids naps, with two dogs and two kids bumping my legs and asking for biscuits... that may have something to do with it!

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    4. I grate on Friday nights whilst watching the telly. It doesn't take very long at all - 15 minutes and another weeks' worth of grating is done. But I don't grate like a crazy lady. I did to begin with, but I kept catching my nails and that really annoyed me. So I slowed down and I still seem to get it all grated within the same amount of time.
      But then I don't have kids to occupy, and the dog-son is quite content to nap in his bean-bag whilst I grate my soap.
      ~S.

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  2. Thank you for this. I have some left over handmade soap "bits" and didn't want to throw them out. Now I know what to do with them. ; -) I grate my fingers to when grating soap and I have left overs so you aren't alone.

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    1. Good to know it's not just me! I suspect Sorcha may be extremely coordinated...

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  3. Argh!! Now I want to make laundry powder just so I have soap ends to make pump soap. But I have a giant bag of soap nuts for my laundry, so... :(

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    1. Apparently you can simmer soap nuts to make pump soap. 25g in 500ml for 10 mins.

      Do you like soap nuts? I've been thinking about getting some.

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    2. Yeah, but its thin like water. Good for laundry but far too runny for hand soap or dishes.

      I love them. I find it more effective to boil them and get soapy liquid than to just chuck them in the wash, but they work just as well as bought powder, and they don't leave things water repellent, which is good. Also don't need any sort of fabric softener - I don't even use vinegar anymore.

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  4. Very impressive. Where on earth do you get these soap bars? Now I'm waiting with bated breath for tomorrow's post so that I can make both laundry liquid and the lazy hand pump soap!

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    1. I get them from the supermarket! Sunlight soap, or the generic brand (the Woolworths ones have the same ingredients, I don't know about the other supermarkets.)

      I make laundry powder, not liquid. To make the liquid, you need to boil things, and have buckets of storage space. The powder is the same strength but far simpler to make and store. See you tomorrow!

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  5. goodness what are soap nuts.....and what soap do you use Mrs Accident, is it velvet? I must get my gear out and make some more powder....I like to use it for my towels...

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    1. Soap nuts? Well, have you ever seen a bar of soap that hasn't been neutered? They tend hump the furniture. And the left overs have to go somewhere...

      But really, they're just berries with saponin in their skin.

      I use sunlight!

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    2. Just berries with soap in them!!!!! Why havnt I heard of these...I have seen 'soapy nuts'...cough , cough...but berries...for goodness sake, I will be googling that for sure.
      Okay, yes, sunlight, thats what I meant, where did I get Velvet from...I must have had a nana moment.!

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  6. I make liquid soap very similar to that but, in the Crookwell (or Canberra) unheated winter bathroom, it gels so stiff I can't get it out of the pump. I diluted it and it gelled again as soon as it cooled. So far I've got 10 litres of liquid soap from half a bar of Sunlight and it is so thick in the storage bottles (3 litre milk bottles) that I CAN'T GET IT OUT!!!!
    HoHum, I'd better must wait until Spring to use it....

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    1. Goodness! I haven't had that problem yet... I suppose a hot water bottle for a soap container would be overkill? Lol

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  7. That is hardly lazy - all that grating...lazy is me, the hardest part for me is quartering a lemon lol I am phasing out pump soap atm due to some over-zealous handwashers going through a bottle a day and breaking the pump action within five minutes...I reckon I should hire them out as bomb difusers, they can ruin anything with even the slightest mechanical slant within moments!

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    1. Well, strictly speaking, the laundry powder is the unlazy bit, the pump soap is *very* lazy!

      I phased out pump soap in the kids bath due to overzealous pumping. (Does that sound dirty to you, too?)

      My uncle was a serial mechanical ruiner... But now he's quote literally a rocket scientist. You never know, it might be a sign of future success!

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  8. What, are we one some sort of similar wavelength lately or is it just normal for housewives to be obsessed with soap-in-a-hand-pump? hahaha... but seriously this is a great idea. I AM going to start making my own soaps and this is a great tip to use up those bar ends and save your fingers from grater death. Thanks!

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  9. Interesting twist to the homemade hand soap. Let it be! The soap does all the work for you... Genius.

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  10. I love this. I'm giving it a go. I have some fancy soaps that have been sitting in the cupboard for ages which would be just right for this. Great idea!

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    1. That would be relly nice, actually, using lovely soap to start with. make sure you break it up into smallish chunks before you soak it, otherwise it will take forever to soften!

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  11. Mrs. A, this is the first time in a long time that I've read a post, and every single piece of it was brand new information for me! I also make my own laundry detergent, and hate, HATE grating soap all the way down to the end. But I've kept at it diligently because you know, waste not, want not, and all that jazz... I NEVER would've thought to throw them in a pail with some water. This is brilliant! Thanks so much for linking up this week at Tiny Tip Tuesday!

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    1. Glad to be of help! Thanks for holding the linky, I always get the most interesting information!

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  12. Wow...i always have those soap bar bits left over after grating to make detergent...what a fantastic idea! I have been wanting to do some pump soap for ages but wasn't sure what to use. Thanks for sharing...what an excuse to stop grating my knuckles off every time i make laundry liquid...yaaay. Hmm, it really is the little things in life isn't it....

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    1. Grating knuckles is The Worst. It actually put me off making the laundry powder for a bit, it was literally costing me blood, sweat and tears... But not now I have a good excuse to leave the ends :)

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  13. What a great idea love it will definitely try it thanks Jodie.

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