Save Money - DIY Liquid Soap!

Pinterest.  My new obsession.  That site is seriously turning me into the thriftiest mother on the block.  While there are lots of different things you can look up for ideas (parties, weddings, recipes, crafts, etc...), my favorite thing has been to discover DIY household items or natural cleaning methods.

I just got done making 2 liters of liquid soap from one .97 cent bar of Yardley.  I was so excited that Yardley was the cheapest bar soap, because I really like the smell of the English Lavender.  I discovered later though, that I could have gotten it about .30 cents cheaper at Walgreens!  I'm still learning.  But, I can't complain about getting 2 liters of liquid soap for >$1!  Actually, if I had used the whole bar (you'll see in the recipe) than I would have had 3 whole liters.

I got the idea off Pinterest (of course!) but I believe the original source is Savvy Housekeeping. It is very simple.  1 cup of soap flakes, 10 cups of water, and 1 tablespoon of liquid glycerin.  That's it!  Ok..well that's not it..it takes a *little* bit of elbow grease.

Take your favorite bar of soap (or any that you just have lying around) and grate it.  A regular sized bar of soap should give you a cup and a half of soap flakes.  Melt one cup of soap flakes in 10 cups of water over medium-low heat along with the glycerin.  Stir until it melts.  Take it off the heat.  It will be very watery.  It needs to cool down.  Mine is currently sitting in the fridge as I type this.  It is supposed to thicken up to a typical liquid soap consistency.  I'm pretty excited about it.  And I'm loving the smell of lavender in my house.
Intial cost was a bit more than if I had bought a jar of liquid soap, simply because I didn't have all the materials on hand.

2 bars of Yardley soap: $1.94
6 oz Glycerin: $2.98
2 jars (for holding all the extra soap) $3.94

For a total of a little over $8.  But I won't have to buy the jars again and I won't need the glycerin for a long time.  I only made 2 liters with my supplies today, but I have enough to make 4 more liters.  That's a lot of soap.  You do the math.  No, really.  You do it.  Because I'm terrible at math and there's no way I'm going to sit here and figure that out for you.  All I know, is it is a money SAVER!  And that makes me giddy.


Let me know if you're into these types of posts, and I'll post more about my money-saving-going-green adventures.  I love sharing this kind of thing, because it's so easy and who doesn't want to save money?

Update!  So the soap definitely thickened - to a snot-like consistency, which is what many of the readers of her blog had issue with,  It doesn't bother me so much.  I tried beating it to get it to a creamier texture, but it didn't seem to do much good.  Perhaps I didn't mix it long enough.  You can play around with it and see what you get!

I cut up the Yardley box and mod podged it to my plastic container to spruce it up a bit!