Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle bits of old soap?

By: dannsheila

dannsheila — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:30:48 +0000

I put mine in the garbage disposal. It cleans out all the yuck that builds up.

By: Lupa

Lupa — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:25:10 +0000

Fantastic! I’m foaming at the mouth… hic

By: SJ

SJ — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 05:54:24 +0000

If it’s frugality you’re worried about just stick the sliver onto your next bar of soap.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:18:47 +0000

Grate the soap make sure u dont just thrrow them in and put them in a blender with some water and jobs done.

By: Estelle

Estelle — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:15:35 +0000

I put slivers of almost-used-up soap in my cupboards amongst the clothes. I like to think this keeps fish moths away, as mentioned above, but it also makes the drawers and the clothes smell nice.

By: neil @ house clearance

neil @ house clearance — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:35:40 +0000

i think the best way would be to mash them together and or melt them as the other poster says and make more soap, i bet they look great with teh different colours

By: recycler

recycler — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:04:20 +0000

grate them melt them down and pour them into cookie cutters
they may be clumpy but worth it

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:15:52 +0000

My Mom used to have a gadget, a bit like a tea strainer with a lid. She put all the left-over bits of soap into it, and then she’d swish it around in hot water and use it for washing the dishes. No Fairy Liquid etc in those days – that was only for rich people!

By: Polly

Polly — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:01:51 +0000

My Grandmother would toss the small leftover soap pieces into the laundry to get the full bang for her buck!

By: Cipollina

Cipollina — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:06:45 +0000

I put several bits inside a washcloth (the kind you wear as a mitten), and use in the shower. This way I manage to use up every scrap.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:22:49 +0000

See – http://www.cleantheworld.org/operations.asp
It doesnt apply to home soap, but thought people might be interested.

By: kittykat

kittykat — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:20:25 +0000

Save your bits of soap (dry) in a glass jar until you have enough that equals about 1 new bar, then get 4 used dryer fabric softener sheets (or “rescue” some from the trash at the laundromatt). Make a little
“soap pillow” with double walls (for strength) on both sides. The idea is to sew all the way around the dryer sheets, enclosing the soap inside. This solves several problems: The soap bits do not need to be melded back into a single bar, it does not matter if they don’t match in shape, size, color, scent, or consistency, and it also recycles 4 of those dryer sheets. A small piece of velcro strategically placed would make it possible to keep adding more bits of soap to the pillow as needed.

By: Deedo

Deedo — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:09:17 +0000

I don’t have the patience to gather them for making a new soap, I usually just throw them in the washing mashine.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:27:19 +0000

Why don’t you just throw the soap in like a plastic cup and cover it with plastic sheet. Reuse it next time?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:17:40 +0000

haha!

By: Gulia

Gulia — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:01:27 +0000

Shred them, sprinkle with water a bit, squeeze or mold into some shape and you have new bar of soap.

By: airfresh1

airfresh1 — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:25:44 +0000

throw them in the trash

By: Elouise

Elouise — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:17:51 +0000

I put scraps of soap into boxes of books or papers that go into storage, or into the pockets of winter coats. They prevent fishmoths from eating paper and cloth and generally keep insects away. Likewise, I rub soap on the inside of cardboard boxes that are going to store things longterm.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:18:49 +0000

Acutally, the point for clean mud *technically* is to have inside your house and is something you can do when your not outside/ season permitting (because personally, I’m not going to send my kids out into the snow to collect frozen dirt to make mud.

Being that I’ve done this as a lesson for younger children (Preschool age), I’m aware of how this can be affective for understanding the scientific method (creating a basic hypothesis and experimenting with amounts of ingredients) as well as just something with a unique texture to play with (winds up feeling like a really thick whipped cream).

By: David

David — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:41:48 +0000

Take the scraps of bar soap and wet them. Then scrape the wood screws on the soap(make sure there is a thick coat). When you drill the screw in the wood, the soap acts as a lubricant and it won’t split the wood. I learned this when I was a young boy. Good luck.

By: Lillian Johnson

Lillian Johnson — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:10:01 +0000

Thank You soooo much for this!

By: jimmysmits

jimmysmits — Sun, 20 May 2007 21:05:58 +0000

Napalm. Use the little bits of soap in Molotov cocktails. The napalm effect is devastating and powerful.

By: pbs

pbs — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 08:05:10 +0000

They’re usually just the right size to wash your mouth out when you’re naughty. Chase it with some Scotch.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:44:13 +0000

My gran always kept the end bits of bars of soap in a jam jar until she had enough to make a new bar of soap. Her method was to put a pan of water on the stove, and put the bits of soap in a bowl over the water so it was gently heated. Then it was left to set in the shape of the bottom of the bowl. Normally it would be half the hard Fairy soap for scrubbing floors and half coloured soaps from the bathroom, which made it pretty and mottled.

By: Sack36

Sack36 — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 07:32:21 +0000

I wonder if this would work for making a dishsoap scrubber? Same procedure, just use to clean your dishes.

By: biffadigital

biffadigital — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:01:13 +0000

I never throw out old bits of soap. Soften down the very hard bits in a microwave. Use a very high sided container. Boil all of it down with some water in a pan on the hob. Cool down in an old margarine container.

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:56:08 +0000

My Granny sewed two small bits of thin foam together to make a kind of sponge envelope to keep old bits of soap in. I loved using it as a kid – very soft and made a great lather.You could probably make one out of those flat washing up sponges.

By: MB

MB — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 01:25:55 +0000

Put bits of soap in the plastic mesh bag that onions come in. Use a twist-tie to fasten closed. It’s great if your hands are extra-dirty from gardening, also helps kids hold onto slippery soap.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 03:35:33 +0000

I’ve been saving my bits to make my own laundry soap. The recipe I have calls for 16 cups baking soda, 12 cups borax, 8 cups grated castile or glycerin soap flakes, 3 taplespoons essential oil. Use 1/8 cup per load. I thought I’d save my old bits of soap to make my own soap flakes–save up until I had enough to grate 8 cups in my food processer.

By: Thad

Thad — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:47:52 +0000

I have seen it suggested at a frugal homemakers website about making liquid soap from leftover pieces. I don’t know the exact recipe but it was basically just put the soap pieces in a blender with some water. Then give it a whirl … I bet that you could get the right consistency with some trial-and-error.