I think it was about a year ago when I first heard of Mrs. Meyer’s. Maybe it was from Nester. I can’t remember. All I know is that I was convinced I had to sniff her cleaning products the next time I went to Target.
Then last year I had a life-changing experience when I used Mrs. Meyer’s Basil scented liquid hand soap for the first time.
I jest. My life was not changed. However, my hands were clean and smelled lovely. I wasn’t impressed when I noticed the price tag on Mrs. Meyer’s products, so I went on with my life unscathed.
Then one day as I was browsing Pinterest, I stumbled across this link from The Farmer’s Nest. Something about making a gallon of soap from one bar of Mrs. Meyer’s? Hmm…must check this out! So the other day I experimented with her method.
Here’s how it went:
Number 1: Gather your supplies.
Pictured here is:
Glycerin (I got mine at Walmart next to the band-aids)
Cheese Grater
8 oz. bar of Mrs. Meyer’s soap (I used the Lavender scent)
Number 2: Sniff soap.
Optional: Waste time editing picture of yourself sniffing soap.
Number 3: Grate soap.
Here’s my beautiful bar of soap…partially grated.
If you look closely and don’t sniff, it looks like a nice pile of mozzarella. See?
Number 4: Fill a large pot with 1 gallon of water and add your soap shavings.
Number 5: Add 2 tablespoons glycerin and turn heat to medium-high until soap is completely dissolved.
Number 6: Let cool for 10-ish hours.
I let mine cool for way too long (as in, about 24 hours) and my soap was hard when I got to it. No worries. The Farmer’s Nest is there for people like me. I just borrowed my neighbor’s beaters (thanks, Priscilla!), added a tiny bit of water, and beat my soap until it was back to a soap-like consistency.
Number 7: Pour into a soap dispenser.
The rest of my soap is currently in an old milk jug. But I’m planning to move it to a bleach bottle (as soon as I finish my bleach) so the soap won’t “eat through” the thinner plastic.
Now, for my verdict: I really love the smell of this soap. It’s the best smelling soap I’ve ever had. But next time I make it, I might try 2 bars (16 ounces) of soap to my 1 gallon of water. I find I have to use 2 pumps of soap in order to get a good lather. Other than that, I love it! And goodness…what savings!
Thanks to The Farmer’s Nest for the fabulous inspiration!
p.s. Some people have had a hard time finding Mrs. Meyer’s bar soap. I found the best price at iHerb. The lavender soap was just $4.80/bar and I got free shipping after $20. Plus I found a code online that let me take $5 off my order. Score. If you decide to go through iHerb, feel free to use this code to get $5 off your order: QIW166. Plus, it will help me get more Mrs. Meyer’s bars in the future. Double score.
P.P.S. I originally published this post in 2012. Many things have changed in the last 8+ years, not the least of which is this: I don’t make liquid soap from bars anymore. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is that it was time consuming and the money saved didn’t warrant the time spent, in my humble opinion. If you are looking for a good deal on Mrs. Meyer’s lovely scented soaps and are, like me, not interested in grating soap bars, buying glycerin, etc., then I heartily recommend you check out Grove. They offer special deals on hand soaps (as well as a lot of other cleaning products), and it ships right to your door. (No soap grating required.) You can order from them and get a free gift by ordering from my affiliate link here.
This is really cool and its good to know how to turn bar soap into handsoap. We dont have target in Canada (although we ARE finally getting them in 2013! Yay!) so I have never heard of this particular brand, but I am sure the same could be done with other lovely bar soaps like the delicious ones they have at The Body Shoppe. I will bookmark this idea for future use. Thanks!
I like to use the bottles that make the soap foam. This way I just add a little dish soap to water and, TADA, instant foaming hand soap. You could do that with the Mrs. Meyers dish soap, too. I use her concentrated all purpose cleaner and love it.
Awesome! I love that stuff 🙂
so I had never heard of Mrs. Meyer’s until I saw it on YHL a few days ago. What makes it special? is it organic?
the SMELLLL makes it special!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMopf42ZwBg&feature=relmfu
Hi! I found you through Money Saving Mom. This would be fun to try! Thanks for sharing!
I love Mrs. Meyer’s stuff, it smells so good, I am tempted to try and eat it! Only kidding, but it is lush!.. You are correct the price is way to high, I may have to try this.
Thank you for sharing
Hi there! Great recipe! Question – does it make 1 gallon of soap?
Thanks!!
I too am obessed with this hand soap! Oh my I love it a lot! The hubby refuses to use it since its so fragrant! But for my kids and I we love it. Can’t wait to make a foaming soap with it!
Thanks for sharing. Glad you found it helpful!
I have been making liquid hand soap for a year or more now. I love it! I do 1 cup of grated soap (about 1/2 a bar) to 10 cups of water with 2-4 Tablespoons of Glycerin depending on how silky I want the soap to feel. When I want a smaller batch I do half that recipe.
I think you will find that doing 2 bars of soap will not change the lather factor. You may be able to prove me wrong, but what makes soap lather are chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate and others.
Many health-conscious people say these chemicals are dangerous and unhealthy. Our skin is our largest organ and although it’s a barrier, it absorbs a lot of things we put on it. Since chemicals and toxins can be absorbed and enter our bloodstream through the skin, I have been making a lot of my own soaps and other personal care items.
I have read that the foaming chemicals were added to commercial soaps several decades ago so that people would feel they were getting a more thorough cleaning. Consumers appeared to like the foaming action and began to purchase commercially made soaps instead of making their own. I’m glad, as Americans, that we are getting back to the basics a little bit by making our own. 🙂
Thanks for blogging about your experience! Have fun on your soap making journey!!
Hey! Yes – it does! Thanks for stopping by!
Do you know how to duplicate Mrs. Meyers room freshener?
How fun! I bet this would work with my homemade soap; I’d been wondering how to make it into handsoap since it smells so wonderful, like strawberries.
And the first time I grated soap, my children thought it was cheese. I told them it was soap and that it would taste bad, but they persisted in wanting to try it. Being the mother that I am, I let them try it. I think next time they’ll believe me!
This may be a dumb question. If the soap can set up in the pot if left to cool too long, won’t it set up in any storage container you use for the extra you make? Do you have to add a little water and shake it or beat it to get it back to the right “liquid soap” consistency before you can refill you soap dispensors?
Thanks!
When making a gallon at a time, I’d recommend using boiled, filtered water or distilled water. Otherwise there’s a good chance you’re going to be growing some undesirable stuff in your soap by the time you get to the bottom of that gallon of soap! You may not see it, but it will be there. Yes, an extra step/expense, but do you really want to slather bacteria as you “clean” your skin?
I’ve never tried this brand of soap. However, I had a surplus of Neutrogena glycering soap that I decided to turn into liquid soap following this process. I made two huge batches. I was only doing this once. I had a terrible time getting it to gel. The second day after setting I added more grated to each batch. At least this time it got thick. I’m not pleased with the outcome. I don’t know if it was that particular soap or not. It is very stringy to get out of the soap container. One of my sons actually commented on knowing that I was trying to be frugal but not particularly liking this soap I was having us use. Only 2 more gallons for us to go through. Thankfully for him the dial deals have come up lately and I’ve gotten several bottles for him to take to college when he leaves this fall! I would have also liked to use this in my pump containers but can’t mix it and get it to come out of them at all. Any ideas on what went wrong with my process. The good thing in this whole experience is that as I was my hands probably 100 times each day working with all of the kids that I haven’t had any of my eczema on my palms with this soap.
Wow, I am SO doing this!!! Do you have to use Mrs. Meyer’s or will any bar soap work?
I think any soap should work – just make sure you grate 8 ounces. thanks for stopping by!
🙁 so sorry the Neutrogena soap didn’t turn out for you! I don’t know exactly what went wrong, although I know some other people have had a hard time doing it with other brands. Glad that it at least helped clear up some of your eczema!
Thanks for the tip, Betsy! Yeah – for sure wouldn’t want to be slathering bacteria all over myself! 😀
That’s not a dumb question, but I bet I have a dumb answer. I don’t know. 😉 lol! Mine did “set” in the pot, but after I beat it up and added a little more water, it hasn’t hardened in my dispenser. anyone have a clearer answer? 😉
mmmm…strawberry soap! sounds luscious – esp during summer!!
Hi Carolyn! No, I don’t…her products sure smell fantastic, though!
Hey KC, thanks for the info! It is nice to be able to make our own stuff – it’s kinda neat to know the process behind it all too! thanks for visiting!
Rachel, that’s exactly what I want to try next! I love foaming hand soap because I love seeing the bubbles. 🙂 yea for being a kid at heart, huh? 😉
sure thing, Michelle! I really love her geranium scented products, too!
Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth! Would love to hear about your experience if you try it! 🙂
sure thing, Robyn. thanks for the visit! 😀
DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO MAKE FOAM SOAP? WHAT RATIO OF WATER TO DISHSOAP DO I USE? THANKS IN ADVANCE
thanks!
KC – I’m just wondering what you use for dishwasher detergent. Do you have any kind of ‘make your own’, or something you have found that is more healthy for the environment? I am concerned about the chemicals we use as well and everything that we wash down the drain may not be filtered out, therefore it has a chance to make it back into the city water we drink.
Hey Brie! The ratio of water and soap depends somewhat on your “suds preference.” Start with a foam dispenser, fill with approx 1 inch of liquid soap, then fill the rest with warm water. Stir or shake until thoroughly mixed. After suds have subsided, use like normal. If you like it “suds-ier” try a little more liquid soap next time. Hope it’s helpful!
I love this idea. Got u from moneysavingmom.com dDo you have a deoderant recipe? My grandson who will be 13 in August is experiencing more b. o. than we can handle!! Thanx.
Hi Peggy! So glad you stopped by! I have never personally tried homemade deodorant, but I did find a recipe with a good review here. Hope it’s helpful!!
So glad I saw this!! I recently discovered how to make my own laundry detergent and am interested in increasing those savings to hand soap/shampoo ect. Thanks for the info!
sure thing, Mandy! glad it was helpful. thanks for stopping by!!
I make mine using Avon bubble bath. I mix 40% bubble bath & 60% water in a foam soap dispenser, put the top on and gently rotate until it’s mixed. You can get the bubble bath on sale for $4.99 for a 24oz bottle quite often, and you can swap scents whenever. I’ve been doing this for years, and would never dream of using any other hand soap! It works great and leaves your hands smelling wonderful. They have seasonal scents as well.
I too am a visitor from MSM. I was reading a post in your recipe section and you mentioned a recipe binder. Is it one you devised or a purchased one? I’m always looking for ways to improve & organize my plethora of recipes which tend to cause me grief & anguish…well maybe not grief…but definitely anguish when trying to locate a recipe I know I clipped from somewhere at sometime.
Hey Linda! I found my binder at Sam’s Club but organized it using this method. Thanks so much for stopping by!!
I take old soap slivers and a bit of water and run it through my food processor. I tried glycerin once before, but did not like the “feel” of it afterwards when I washed my hands. Perhaps I need to get used to it?
hey Cheryl! Not sure what the difference in “feel” is. way to go in making your own!
Canadian tire has this brand, but only in liquid, it’s being phased out completely here. I think it’s this same recipe from another site that I plan on trying soon, but I’ve got glycerin dial I found at walmart to try, hoping it works. Wanted to try a cheap bar before trying anything else. The glycerin was a bit harder to find than I expected, but was also found at walmart in by the band aids, 100ml for just under $5.
I’m having trouble finding glycerin! Do you think it’d work without?
Hey Amy! Soap without glycerin is more drying to your skin. I found some near the pharmacy section in Walmart. Or maybe check online? Our maybe just use extra lotion? 🙂
I used this recipe with some Yardley soap found at the Dollar Tree. The recipe went well, filled an empty gallon milk jug. Then the jug Sat for about a month while we were finishing up our old soap. I pulled this soap put and it was solid. However, I put it in a blender in batches and added water to smooth it out. In the end my one gallon turned into two gallons, but fine by me. Just a tip. I’m about to do it again with some lemon – verbena oatmeal soap.
thanks so much for sharing your experience, Penny!
Do you know to how replicate the Mrs. Meyers Laundry Soap?
Hi Stephanie! No, I’m so sorry, I don’t know how to do that. 🙁
Whenever I need to grate soap…. I zap it in the microwave… It expands and gets crumbly… Way easier than grating! (Use it for homemade laundry detergent). I would think it would work here too.