DIY Foaming Mason Jar Soap Dispenser
DIY Healthy Home
July 31, 2013
Some of us just like mason jars. We keep all of our loose teas, baking powders, and spices in them. We sprout grains in them. We put our toothbrushes in them. We drink from them. We get giddy when we learn that a limited edition blue vintage-style Ball mason jar is released. We giggle at this mason-jar-turned-chalice and secretly hope our sweetie will buy it for us for our upcoming birthday (hint hint).
OK OK, so I’m using the collective “we” here when I should just be saying “I,” but I know I’m not the only one with an affinity for these classic all-purpose jars.
This DIY mason jar foaming hand-soap dispenser is yet another fantastic and practical use for your favorite mason jar.
What you will need:
- A pint-sized mason jar
- A foaming hand-soap pump
- A regular jar lid that fits your jar – I used a lid from a used jar of coconut oil
- A wooden kitchen spoon (or some other cylindrical object that is hard and you don’t mind potentially scraping up a bit)
- One or two rubber bands
- A hammer and nail*
- A box cutter*
*Please be very careful!
Directions
- Remove the cardboard liner from the underside of the jar lid.
- Using a twist-tie, measure the circumference of the pump dispenser at the point where it will be inserted into the jar lid. Simply tie it around the pump and slide it off.
- Using a permanent marker, trace the outline of the area on the lid that will need to be cut out, centering it on the lid.
- Do the same for the cardboard lid liner.
- Hammer small holes into the lid along on the traced line (see picture below).
- Using a box cutter, cut the space between the holes. There will now be a big hole in the lid, approximately the size necessary for the pump to slide through the lid.
- Cut a hole in the cardboard liner slightly smaller than the traced outline. Then cut small slits out to the traced line (see picture below).
- Roll the handle of the wooden cooking spoon along the inside edge of the hole in lid, which is currently very rough and uneven. This will push the rough edges inward and underneath.
- Insert the pump through the hole in the lid, and then slide the cardboard liner back on the underside of the lid (see picture below).
- Wrap a rubber band around the pump dispenser, right underneath the lid. Push it snugly against the underside of the lid (see picture below). If there are any gaps where you think soap might be able to leak out of the dispenser toppled over, tie another rubber band around the other to thicken the barrier.
- Fill the jar with an all-natural foaming hand-soap (check out my DIY antibacterial & moisturizing all-natural foaming handsoap!) and screw the lid onto the jar.
- Say “I’m so clever” while admiring your handiwork!
Not sure!
You can also use hot glue to secure the pump to the lid.j
Just a few thoughts on the pumps. . .
1. If you wanted the pumps in bulk quantity (as opposed to just a couple). . . You could place an ad in your local *Free-cycle* (Go to freecycle.org (I believe its *.org*) ). . .
2. If you only want a couple… the cheapest place I have found to get them is *Dollar Tree*. . .of course, there, you get the whole dispenser, with soap included. . . (I would just find another use for the contents & use my own recipe!)
3. You can try usplastics.com . . . they have way too many items to even think of listing here.
Hope this info helps someone!
Angel
What a brilliant idea! Well done.
Love this idea, but I didn’t want to cut the metal lids. So after searching for a while, I found this link http://www.onedreamdesign.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=7_28 – it has pre-cut lids, and soap pumps for converting Mason jars into soap dispensers. The other commenter mentioned http://www.bottlesandfoamers.com which has the nice foaming pumps.
It depends on how diluted or concentrated the EOs are in the recipe you are using.
I think this is a great idea, but isn’t the tubing plastic? will that effect the oils? Sorry, I’m new to oils….
Hello! I was wondering what the “cardboard liner” was. Is it the metal underside lid that already comes with the mason jar itself? Thank you in advance, I love this idea!
Yay! So happy to hear it 🙂