Jan 8, 2012

The DIY Diary: Liquid Soap

As you know, many of my Christmas gifts this year were made by hand.  While I really like the way the bath soaks and laundry soap turned out, I wanted to make a gift that would serve as a centerpiece to the other hand-made, non-knitted gifts.


Two very simple ingredients

I've mentioned before how much I love fragrant soaps and wanted to try my hand at making liquid soap especially after I found these beautiful glass soap dispensers.



Making liquid soap could not be easier or simpler.  Use your favorite bar soap -- I love Mrs. Meyer's and the scent of lemon verbena -- and grate the soap into a large pot.  Add nine to ten cups of water and two tablespoons of vegetable glycerin.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, until the soap flakes are fully melted.  Remove from heat and let cool.  






Pour liquid soap into bottles and voila!  One batch of liquid soap filled six of these dispensers and I still have enough left over to fill about another four bottles.  As my sisters said, just call me Laura from Little House on the Prairie




My sister's soap dispenser in situ


8 comments:

  1. I love Mrs. Meyer's, too, especially the lavender. I'm definitely trying this. Thanks for the recipe!

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  2. Very nice! I once tried making liquid soap from scratch with potassium hydroxide and this seems way easier :).

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  3. I'm pretty much in love with those dispensers, where did you find them?

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  4. Very clever idea, I would never have thought of doing that. And the dispensers are lovely.

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  5. Thanks, everyone. I was really so pleased with how the soap turned out and the dispensers were absolutely perfect. They were not hard to get -- Target! xo

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  6. How lovely and those dispensers are the prettiest I've seen.

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  7. What a wonderful idea Evelyn, your gifts are always so beautiful and thoughtful. Happy New Year to you too!

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  8. Wonderful outcome, Evelyn. Quite an adornment in any room.

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