DIY Foaming Hand Soap

I recently made the conversion over to foaming hand soap from the usual gel formulation. It spreads easier; it washes off better; and the five year old in me loves the bubbles. An article that I read months ago said something about it being better for your pipes as well. Unfortunately, each pump pulls out a greater volume — try both dispensers and you'll see. Why does this matter? Cost.

I'm a little obsessed with eco-friendly products and conservation, so two of my favorite product lines are Method and Seventh Generation. Method has a wide array of scents and colors, but 1 litre of gel hand wash costs the same amount as the foaming solution, and both are significantly costlier than, say, Softsoap. This presents a good place to cut a few corners.

Step One: Fill your foaming soap dispenser partway with your choice of gel hand wash.

Step Two: Fill to top of container with water, leaving space for the foaming mechanism. Screw on pump and shake to mix.

Some places have recommended a soap-water ratio of 1:6, but I used something closer to 1:4. It's all a guesstimate anyway, so experiment until you get the foam consistency that you want. Keep in mind that any colors in the soap will get diluted to a barely-there tint.

And there you have it. In all honesty, this project probably only saves you a quarter or so a month, and that's being generous. I feel oddly triumphant over the commercial powers that be, however, so I suppose that that counts for something.

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DIY Windowsill Planter

This week, I came across urban planters at The Sill, courtesy of Birchbox. Since I don't have $90 (guesstimating shipping here) to burn on little succulents, I decided to take a more hands-on approach.


Step One: Purchase houseplants from Home Depot.

Cost: $4.26 per plant




Step Two: Assemble household supplies, i.e. clean gelato container, waiter corkscrew, old cardboard, and Leatherman knife. Purchase craft paint from Hobby Lobby.

Cost: $3.50 per can of spray paint


Step Three: Use corkscrew to poke drainage holes in the bottom of the gelato container. (This is the true advantage of this process, as commercial planters often have only the one, large hole at the bottom.)



Step Four: Use file from Leatherman knife (or any metal file or sandpaper) to scratch up the side of the container. This will help the paint to adhere to the plastic.




Step Five: Spray paint onto the container. I sprayed down half of the container first. Then I stuck my hand in the paint-free interior and rotated it so that I could tackle the other half. Folding back the cardboard makes the process much less messy; I was able to keep the paint from just about anywhere it wasn't supposed to go, though a little did get on one of my hands. I was able to peel it off my skin later in the day.

Step Six: Allow container to dry for 30 minutes. Flip it upside down by gripping the now-dry sides to allow the bottom edge to dry. Repeat process with lid (unless you want to keep it brown).

Step Seven: Transfer the plant to the new planter. Turn lid upside down to use as a draining pan. Enjoy!

Final Cost Breakdown:
Commercial cost: ~$30/plant DIY cost: ~$8/plant
Total savings: ~$22/plant

To increase cost savings, you can use leftover house or acrylic paint. Technically, the project costs another $4.80 for the pint of Talenti gelato, but I didn't include that since the container is normally considered a recyclable waste product.


And there you have it. Not exactly the same as the products on The Sill, but still colorful and happy. For the money that I saved, I can't exactly complain! I still have two more plants and some more empty gelato containers, so I'm planning to repeat the process in other colors later in the week.

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