Homemade Foaming Soap

This super easy way to save money! I love Dawn Direct Foam dish soap so I went to my good friend Pinterest to find a way to keep my foaming dish soap while saving money and I found exactly what I was looking for!

So here is the deal:

You will have to buy the real thing once because you need the direct foam pump bottle. Then, instead of buying the refills buy whatever scent of regular dawn dish soap you like (actually, it doesn't have to be Dawn brand that is just what I did because I had some on hand). Fill the empty direct foam container about 1/3 of the way full with the soap, then fill to the fill line with water. Make sure that you do not have the water on pressure too high because you don't want to fill the bottle with bubbles. Use a knife to gently stir as to not create bubbles. Once you feel it is mixed well put the direct foam pump top back on and poof! No literally, push the pump and poof comes the foam!

I just tried this one out and was SUPER happy to see that I will be saving money!! 

Here is how much money:

30.9 fl oz for $5.64 at Walmart

This will refill the 13.5 oz Direct Foam pump bottle 2.28 times, that makes it about $2.47 per refill. Side note: Why 2.28 refills in a bottle, Dawn? Why not an even 2? Just curious...

56 fl oz for $5.64

This will make about 12 refills for the 13.5 oz  bottle. That makes it about .47 cents per refill! That saves $2 per refill! I know you probably only refill it 6-10 times a year (depending on how much you hand wash) but every dollar counts and if we find other ways to save, it WILL add up!

In other awesome foaming soap news:

According to The Frugal Girls, you can do the same thing to make foaming hand soap, which my kids seem to think makes hand washing much more fun. And stretches those refills to save cash! I am going to buy some hand soap foaming pump bottles tomorrow! ;)

One more random use for Dawn:

While I am on the subject of Dawn soap, I want to share a super cool trick my hubby found last year. If your dogs have fleas, bathe them with regular Dawn soap. The fleas will literally flee. The soap kills them on the spot. Start at your doggie's head/neck and work your way down because the fleas will try to run for "high ground". Maybe we are weird around my house, but we think it is fun to watch the fleas run and get all washed off. We were SHOCKED at how many there were! EWW! Dang Houston flea infestation!

Happy foamy cleaning! ;)

AH-MAZ-ING Soap Scum Remover

I will start by saying that this is not the best smelling cleaner ever, but HOLY SHINY SHOWER BATMAN! Light a candle because this one is SO worth it! I found it on Pinterest of course on this site. We have really hard water here in the big dirty city ;) and I never get all of the soap scum out of my shower unless I scrub for hours with a magic eraser (which gets demolished with one shower scrub). I tried this and I am pretty sure that I have never seen these showers so shiny. 

Here is what you need: 

 12 ounces of white vinegar and 12 ounces of Dawn soap

Heat the vinegar in the micro until is it hot (not boiling). Add the Dawn soap stir until mixed then pour into a squirt bottle. I added some lavender oil to mine hoping to make it smell better. It still smelled pretty strong so I wouldn't waste your time with it. 

Just spray this on your shower and let it sit for a little while then scrub it off, rinse and enjoy you shiny new shower! :) A couple tips:

 

This may have been going a little over board. When I tried to wipe it off with a wash cloth it kept getting too soap and took me a good while to clean off. The second time I did this I sprayed less then used a cleaning brush to spread it around before letting it sit.

I recommend a brush like this to scrub it. The first time I used it, the soap scum was so bad that I had to scrub some, but the second time was more like maintenance and took less work. It was amazing to do one section and then rub my finger on it to feel how smooth it was compared to the soap scummy area that I had not done yet. This one definitely makes it onto my list of favorite homemade cleaners.

Homemade Alternatve to Chlorox Wipes

This is one of my favorite homemade cleaners. I LOVE the convenience of Clorox or Lysol wipes so I was THRILLED to find alternatives on Pinterest. I actually combined a couple of recipes to get the cleaning power and smell that I wanted. Here is what you need:

1/2 cup of water

1/8 cup rubbing alcohol

1 T. Dawn dish soap (*author says to only use Dawn)

A few drops of Tea tree oil

Container (I just saved a Lysol wipe one, but you could use a baby wipe container too)

Cut up men's undershirts

I filled the container about this full of my "wipes" which I LOVE that I can wash a reuse! That saves money and eliminates wastes! 

 

I love the smell of tea tree oil so that was appeal, but did it clean well??? YES! Here is a before and after picture of where my very messy daughter sits to eat. :)

 

I really love these and think that they work well, but I had to put the to the "husband test". He agree that they work well with one comment of thinking that it did not feel wet enough. I think that they are fine, but next time I may put less wipes next time. If you find that a wipe is too dry you can wet it with a very small amount of water. If you use too much water they get too soapy.

I normally will do a cost comparison here, however since the wipes are washable and reusable, there is just no comparison, it is obvious that this will save tons!

 

Since I decided that these are for sure something I will repeat, I wrote the recipe on the container. Happy cleaning  all of you money and Earth saving DIY friends! ;)