Author Topic: Soap scraps  (Read 3967 times)

Leisured

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Soap scraps
« on: May 23, 2019, 01:31:46 AM »
I use cakes of soap in the bathroom, and eventually the cake gets too small to be useful. Once I accumulate two or three small cakes, I put them in a cup, and heat the cup in a double boiler, that is two saucepans, where the one on top receives steam from the lower. After about half an hour, the scrap soap in the cup has liquefied and molds to the shape of the cup. Remove the heat, allow to cool, and dig the new larger cake out of the cup.

lizzzi

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2019, 05:24:31 AM »
When my soap bar gets small and thin, I break it in half and wrap the halves in cling film. I keep them with my travel supplies and use them in hotels/motels. I like to use plain, pure Ivory soap--motel soap can be nice, but it is usually fragranced or fancied up in some way--I like my basic old Ivory.

Davnasty

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2019, 08:30:59 AM »
I take the small scrap and squeeze it against the new one while wet. As it dries they adhere.

Not a perfect solution as the shapes don't always fit together easily and they can still break apart on the first few sticking attempts, but right now I've got a 4 layered multi-color bar going.

I've considered some sort of melting process but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Blue Skies

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2019, 09:27:42 AM »
I also just squeeze the thin/old one against a new one and eventually it sticks. 

letsdoit

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2019, 10:26:23 AM »
you guys are like my soul mates

A mom

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2019, 04:20:02 PM »
Put a bunch of soap scraps together in the foot of an old sock. Knot the end. Voila!

SunnyDays

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2019, 12:39:54 PM »
I use bar soap in the shower and when it gets too small for that, I put it by the sink for my face.  When it gets reeeeeaaaally tiny, I throw it into the toilet, let it sit awhile, then use the toilet brush to clean.  Never have a useless remnant that way.

powskier

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2019, 05:24:00 PM »
I'm just happy hear you are all  using bar soap and not buying wasteful and expensive single use plastic bottles with liquid soap. Seriously , thanks for not adding more plastic waste to the planet.
Sorry for the thread hijack. Yeah I just firmly press the old piece into new bar.

Fi(re) on the Farm

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2019, 05:32:21 PM »
I use the bar until it gets really small and then wrap it in mesh, usually a bag from citrus fruit that I tie closed. I use it in the shower. We also pump soap (have a disabled kid who loves foamy hand soap) but we buy the refill bags instead of a new bottle every time.

John Galt incarnate!

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2019, 06:21:02 PM »
I use cakes of soap in the bathroom, and eventually the cake gets too small to be useful. Once I accumulate two or three small cakes, I put them in a cup, and heat the cup in a double boiler, that is two saucepans, where the one on top receives steam from the lower. After about half an hour, the scrap soap in the cup has liquefied and molds to the shape of the cup. Remove the heat, allow to cool, and dig the new larger cake out of the cup.

I can't remember the last time I purchased a bar of soap.

I was my body and hair with shampoo.

I use liquid dishwashing detergent to wash just about everything else.

Leisured

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2019, 07:20:06 AM »
Thank you for your replies.

I have just remembered an old Army trick for washing dishes. Get an old tin can, punch holes in it, fit a loop of wire and hang it over the tap into the kitchen sink. Fill the can with bar soap, or soap scraps, and fill the sink with hot water running through the can.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2019, 07:13:27 PM »
I also just squeeze the thin/old one against a new one and eventually it sticks.

When you always use the same kind of soap, this is super easy and not even obvious.  They have to both be wet.  Everything else mentioned is too much like work.

Kris

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2019, 07:45:33 PM »

Leisured

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #13 on: May 28, 2019, 12:40:40 AM »
Thank you for the tip, Kris. Did not know such things exist.

Davnasty

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #14 on: May 28, 2019, 07:58:07 AM »
I'm just happy hear you are all  using bar soap and not buying wasteful and expensive single use plastic bottles with liquid soap. Seriously , thanks for not adding more plastic waste to the planet.
Sorry for the thread hijack. Yeah I just firmly press the old piece into new bar.

The next question is, where can I buy bar soap without the plastic and paper packaging?

...and I'm not paying $5/bar at a farmer's market for fancy soap.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2019, 01:53:36 PM by Dabnasty »

SunnyDays

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #15 on: May 28, 2019, 01:07:57 PM »
[ where can I buy bar soap without the plastic and paper packaging?

...and I'm not paying $5/bar at a farmer's market for fancy soap.



Try a bulk food store - they often have more than just food.

seemsright

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #16 on: May 28, 2019, 02:58:18 PM »
I'm just happy hear you are all  using bar soap and not buying wasteful and expensive single use plastic bottles with liquid soap. Seriously , thanks for not adding more plastic waste to the planet.
Sorry for the thread hijack. Yeah I just firmly press the old piece into new bar.

The next question is, where can I buy bar soap without the plastic and paper packaging?

...and I'm not paying $5/bar at a farmer's market for fancy soap.

A while back I went on a entire tangent to use what we had on hand. My hubby insisted on saving all of the bacon grease we ever had. I do not even buy bacon very often but there were mason jar after mason jar in the fridge. So I did a bit of googling and figure out I could use that fat for soap. My hubby did not think it could work...but it reality it was just lard. So I melted it all down, strained it, added some lye (use google to get the percent right) and whipped it together in my stand mixer. I poured it into a cardboard mold and let it cure for a bit then cut it into bars and then let those cure for a while...man that was the best soap ever. It was a fun project that I had and the cost was stupid low and I still have some lye leftover for future batches.


six-car-habit

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #17 on: May 28, 2019, 03:43:02 PM »
We also pump soap (have a disabled kid who loves foamy hand soap) but we buy the refill bags instead of a new bottle every time.

 My spouse buys a liquid soap called "pure castile soap"  in a 32 oz container, about 3 or 4 squirts, [probably an ounce or less] into one of the "foamy soap dispensers" and top it off with water.  Seems to be cheaper than buying the refill bags, which we did try for a time.
  I like the foamy soap for use at the sink, because i use less water rinsing than bar style.

afterthedark

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #18 on: June 02, 2019, 09:37:00 AM »
We also pump soap (have a disabled kid who loves foamy hand soap) but we buy the refill bags instead of a new bottle every time.

 My spouse buys a liquid soap called "pure castile soap"  in a 32 oz container, about 3 or 4 squirts, [probably an ounce or less] into one of the "foamy soap dispensers" and top it off with water.  Seems to be cheaper than buying the refill bags, which we did try for a time.
  I like the foamy soap for use at the sink, because i use less water rinsing than bar style.

I use a bar soap at one sink and have an old pump bottle at the other. The scraps of bar soap go in the bottle with some water to make liquid soap. Most soaps dissolve pretty quickly, although I think the remnants of a Dr Bronners Castile soap bar is still intact after weeks, I’m not sure why. I also buy a huge bar of olive oil soap for cheap, which I dissolve and use for liquid soap and laundry liquid.

TomTX

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #19 on: June 02, 2019, 02:41:24 PM »
I take the small scrap and squeeze it against the new one while wet. As it dries they adhere.

++

So not worth the effort to go use a pan on the stove (!)

sparkytheop

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #20 on: June 02, 2019, 05:02:57 PM »
At any time I will use a washcloth or mesh pouch, "glue" the slivers to a new bar of soap, or break up the slivers and put it in a soap dispenser with water.  I'll also take slivers of soap when I go camping or on a vacation (where it is unknown if the hotel has little bars of soap).

As an off-topic tangent, those little hotel bars of soap are a big contributor to my love of travel.  My grandparents had a drawer full of all the soaps they would bring home, at at each visit, I would get to pick one out to take home with me.  I loved looking at all the different labels and far off places printed on each one.

YYK

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #21 on: June 04, 2019, 09:42:35 AM »
Bar soap ftw!

The next question is, where can I buy bar soap without the plastic and paper packaging?

...and I'm not paying $5/bar at a farmer's market for fancy soap.

I'll agree with others that making your own is probably your best bet. I haven't done it myself but I'd like to try it.

debbie does duncan

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #22 on: June 05, 2019, 09:20:51 AM »
I save all soap scraps. When I have enough to fill an old silicon mould I heat some 'pour and melt glycerin soap ' and add it to the soap scraps. Makes a nice bar and lots of different colours to my speckled soap bar.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #23 on: June 22, 2019, 02:10:46 AM »
I use cakes of soap in the bathroom, and eventually the cake gets too small to be useful. Once I accumulate two or three small cakes, I put them in a cup, and heat the cup in a double boiler, that is two saucepans, where the one on top receives steam from the lower. After about half an hour, the scrap soap in the cup has liquefied and molds to the shape of the cup. Remove the heat, allow to cool, and dig the new larger cake out of the cup.

I have had the same issue with candles, where I also have stumps left. With candle stumps you can do the same trick: collect stumps, melt them carefully, remove remains of old wick and pour into a mold. But you have to add a new wick to it.

eostache

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #24 on: June 22, 2019, 06:14:38 PM »
I made a knitted soap bag that hangs in the shower. All the scraps go in it. Works great,

Zensu2019

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #25 on: June 24, 2019, 06:03:45 AM »
My extremely frugal farming grandparents taught me this one: get a cheap facewasher from the cheapest shop in town and then fold it in half, hand stitch one end and the side together, and then use whatever you have handy to put a resealeable close along the other end. (I had some old press studs left over from a sewing project that I used, but you can use hooks and eyes, buttons, drawstrings, whatever you like). They would then put the whole bar of soap in the folded over facewasher and then use that in the bath. When the bar of soap started getting really small, they would just open the top and stick the next bar in and close it again. You have to make sure to wring as much water out of the washer when you are finished as you can and to hang it up so it can air dry as much as possible, because if you leave it too wet the bar of soap inside goes mushy really fast and only lasts a couple of days. But if you do it right, you have a nice soapy washcloth to use and none of the soap ends ever get wasted. It also means you don't drop the soap in the bath or shower and have to go after it, only for it to slide everywhere.

meghan88

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #26 on: June 24, 2019, 06:17:59 PM »
I recall a visit to my ex-inlaws (outlaws, I guess) back when we didn't have a pot to piss in.  One of us melded the old soap sliver to the new soap and it was called out as being the most disgusting thing they'd ever seen.  Clearly, I was in the wrong family.

FI is truly the best revenge.

Anyway the current technique with Spouse 2.0 is to work those slivers down to nothing, or close to it, before attempting the meld.

nancy33

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Re: Soap scraps
« Reply #27 on: June 25, 2019, 08:58:33 PM »
I have a very large glass canning jar which I throw soap scraps Into.  Then I add water and it just sits there .  I add some liquid glycerin to the mix sometimes. I use it to refill liquid soap dispensers in the bathrooms. The soap dissolves over time in the jar.

 

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