Foaming hand soap

I don't know what it is about kids and foaming hand soap. I guess anything that involves bubbles is exciting - blowing bubbles, bubble gum, bubblebath. If I have foaming hand soap available, they will wash up enough to perform surgical procedures. This is a good thing. Kids hands get so dirty! Here is my tip on how to stretch & save on hand soap.

Purchase a foaming hand soap dispenser (emphasis on foaming) for each location you keep soap. Select a container that you will be happy with for a long time, because you will use it over and over as you refill it. Once you have used up the soap that came in it, the savings will begin.

Purchase a large (64oz) bottle of hand soap refill. Fill your empty dispenser halfway with soap and top it off with water. In my master bathroom, I had purchased a bottle that had light blue soap. When I prepared my refill, I added a drop of blue food coloring to create the same look. Shake the mixture well. It will separate some at first, but shake it a few times over a 24 hour period (just whenever you use it) and it will soon be mixed enough to stay in solution. It needs to be thin in consistency to work in the foaming dispenser.

We get a lot of life out of that large bottle of soap. It will last me at least a year. Because it is diluted, the kids can use as much as they want and I am still saving money. You have to make the upfront purchase of the foaming dispensers ($2-$5) if you don't already have them, but in the long run you save.

Always be thinking of ways to stretch what your are currently using to get a little more life out of it. These little things add up!