Comments on: One Small Step: Refillable Liquid Hand Soap

By: Gudrun

Gudrun — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:17:46 +0000

I avoid antibacterial soap – I read somewhere once that it is not that great. Finding non-antibacterial soap has become a pleasant past-time, as most mfgs add it to their product.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:08:22 +0000

To refill our sons’ soap dispenser, we make soap “slime” out of those little bits of bar soap that are hard to use up at the end of a bar. Our four-year-old shoves the bits into the dispenser, adds a little water, and shakes it up. It’s extra slimy, a gross-out factor which appeals to the boys. They don’t appreciate most froo-froo smelling soaps anyway.

What do you know about soaps labeled “anti-bacterial”? Isn’t all soap basically anti-bacterial? Does the label “anti-bacterial” indicate something about specific chemicals added?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:21:27 +0000

Holy! I’m so glad that most (maybe all) of you already use refillable soap containers! That’s great. Navi; kids are odd huh. You know they do have refillable soap pumps made especially for homes that can be mounted on walls — that would allow you to use the refillable pump while stopping your son from taking it. As long as he’s not handy with a screwdriver.

Angela, I agree but at our house bar soap gets everywhere. I use glass containers in my house but the same plastic one for refills. The best way to buy bar soap is with no packaging at all. Most co-ops sell locally made soaps that aren’t packaged.

Thanks everyone for visiting

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:03:52 +0000

We use the refillable liquid soap. However, if you stop and think about it – using the bar soap is even better because the cardboard that it comes in can be recycled. Thus never having to use plastic to hold your soap again!

By: GP

GP — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:55:04 +0000

we go through a ton of it here innkeeping Thanx

gp in montana

By: Emma

Emma — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:59:07 +0000

I’m new to your blog and it looks great. Good tip!

By: navi

navi — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:53:10 +0000

unfortunately my son takes off with all our soap dispensers (he has a thing for tapping on bottles – we really don’t need to buy him toys – just clean out the empty bottles…). We tend to end up with one that gets transported between the bathrooms/kitchen, or we just end up using dishsoap. The last time I got a bulk container of soap it disappeared… Bar soap isn’t an option, as the aforementioned son tries to eat it….

I probably should spend the time and money on the natural food stores, anyway, though, not just for the benefit of the environment, but for the benefit of my son’s digestive tract…

By: Lindley Alston

Lindley Alston — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 04:17:22 +0000

It is always a bonus when helping the environment saves money as well. I like our decorative dispensers better anyway, so we just fill them back up with the big bottle of soap every time!

By: Caryn

Caryn — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:42:24 +0000

We also use refillable hand soap (the big one from Costco). We also try to recycle, buy local and organic, use g diapers…

By: lace

lace — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:25:11 +0000

This is a great idea. We sometimes refill and sometimes throw away. I would like to get better at that.

I have just purchased a Klean Kanteen and have stopped buying plastic water bottles. I couldn’t believe how many of those we went through in a week or so. Now we use a brita filter and use our refillable water bottles.