# Great idea for recycling foaming hand soap dispensers! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 16, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614 "2006-03-16T16:51:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/1 "2006-03-16T16:51:43Z")
This is pretty mundane but I have to share a cool tip. Have you seen those hand soaps with the special pumps that dispense foam? The soap seems like a watered-down liquid soap (it’s not as thick), and the pump somehow mixes it with air and it comes out all nice and foamy. Here’s an example: [Bath and Body Works Anti-Bacterial Gentle Foaming Hand Soap](http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2204504&cp=2073251.2077087&parentPage=family) Anyway I have been using the Bath and Body Works hand soap and recently when I was finished with one, I thought I could reuse the dispenser for other types of products, but diluted with water, such as this: [Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser For Normal to Oily Skin](http://www.cetaphil.com/Products/Cleansers.aspx) (which is a really great facial cleanser.) So I filled the empty dispenser with half Cetaphil and half water, and voila! Out comes a thick rich foam and it’s just divine to wash my face with. Also, I think it would be perfect to create a shaving foam: just mix water with a moisturizing body wash. I love these foamy dispensers! Don’t throw the empty ones away - reuse them. And the best part is, you will save money because you don’t use as much product, there’s less waste. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/2 "2006-03-18T06:34:16Z")
That strikes me as potentially a bad idea. Cleansers and the like are nice soupy organic broths - the sort of thing that bacteria and fungi grow beautifully in. They are formulated with preservatives to ensure that microbial growth is kept to a minimum - but if the preservative ends up diluted, it may not be effective enough to stop bacterial growth, which might have bad effects on your skin. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/3 "2006-03-18T06:45:59Z")
Well, that’s why you wash the container before you fill it, **Excalibre**. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/4 "2006-03-18T06:50:16Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well, that’s why you wash the container before you fill it, **Excalibre**. No, it’s that when you fill it with something diluted, you may be reducing the concentration of preservatives in it to the point that they’re no longer effective. Sometimes things like that work on a threshold basis, and if you reduce the concentration too low, they won’t work. It’s bugs growing in the new stuff that’s the problem - the handsoap formulated for those bottles no doubt has enough preservatives to ensure that it works. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/5 "2006-03-18T07:05:15Z")
Oh, I get what you’re saying. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/6 "2006-03-19T01:09:35Z")
Pampered Chef sells this type of dispenser empty as a reusable product. Maybe you do need to use some care in terms of what you use it for. I always used mine with antibacterial dish soap. Got nice foamy handwashing stuff, never got any growth of anything strange. I probably didn’t save enough money so that buying them from Pampered Chef actually made sense, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/7 "2006-03-19T01:46:54Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > Pampered Chef sells this type of dispenser empty as a reusable product. Maybe you do need to use some care in terms of what you use it for. I always used mine with antibacterial dish soap. Got nice foamy handwashing stuff, never got any growth of anything strange. I probably didn’t save enough money so that buying them from Pampered Chef actually made sense, though. Just a wild ass guess here, but I am thinking that bacteria would not grow in a tub of **antibacterial** soap even if it was diluted. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/8 "2006-03-19T02:09:15Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > Pampered Chef sells this type of dispenser empty as a reusable product. Maybe you do need to use some care in terms of what you use it for. I always used mine with antibacterial dish soap. Got nice foamy handwashing stuff, never got any growth of anything strange. I probably didn’t save enough money so that buying them from Pampered Chef actually made sense, though. My stupid Pampered Chef ones don’t work very well. They work okay for awhile, then just spit out watery soap. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-idea-for-recycling-foaming-hand-soap-dispensers/348614/9 "2006-03-19T02:14:24Z")
the dispensers are great for cleaning things that don’t like to get wet. you can use foam on chairs, sofas, other cloth things that you can’t toss into a washer or get wet.