Recycle soap residues: 5 creative ideas

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Recycle leftover soap
5 creative ideas

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Claudia Enders

by Claudia Enders

Simply throwing away the leftover soap bars would be a shame … with just a few simple DIYs you can use the soap leftovers sensibly – we have put together 5 ideas for you.

As soon as a bar of soap becomes very small it falls apart more and more. These small soap residues are only partially suitable for hand washing and are therefore often thrown away. But that doesn't have to be the case: Even small soap residues can be recycled! Here we have simple instructions on what to do with leftover soap residue.

Tip: However, if you always buy the same soap, you can simply warm up the small remaining pieces with a little warm water and rub them against the new large bar of soap. So they combine to form one big piece.

Recycle soap residues: ideas & instructions

1. Fill the soap sachet with leftovers

Small soap sachets e.g. B. made of sisal is available in every well-stocked drugstore. Alternatively, you can of course crochet a small sack yourself – the only requirement is that it is relatively close-meshed. The loose bars of soap are filled into the soap sachet and can easily be foamed in it.

2. Melt the soap residue to make new soap

You can use the leftovers to make a new bar of soap yourself with little effort. This takes about 15 to 20 minutes.

That's how it's done:

  1. Use either a knife or a grater to crush the soap residue and pour it into a heat-resistant bowl.
  2. Melt the soap residue over medium heat in a low water bath until the soap has a creamy consistency (don't let the soap get too hot!). If necessary, add a small sip of water (caution: not too much).
  3. Mix everything well so that the different soaps mix together. If you want, you can add dried flower petals (e.g. lavender) and soap dye. For an additional caring component for the hands, a few drops of vegetable oil can be added, such as B. olive oil or almond oil. Essential oils also ensure a pleasant smell – but only use them very sparingly as the soap should not smell too strong!
  4. Then pour the liquefied soap into the mold: silicone molds, for example, are suitable for this.
  5. Let the poured soap harden for about two days – and your new bar of soap is ready!

3. Remove unpleasant odors in shoes with soap residue

Take a piece of kitchen paper, place the bar of soap on it, and put it in a shoe. You let it rest there for a few days. In this way, unpleasant odors can be prevented in footwear.

4. Make liquid soap yourself from soap residues

Manual:

  1. Chop up the soap residue with a kitchen grater and collect everything in a saucepan.
  2. Now add twice the amount of water.
  3. Melt the soap residue on medium temperature. Keep stirring with a whisk. If necessary, add more water so that the soap becomes liquid enough.

Note: Since the liquid soap does not contain any preservatives, it has a limited shelf life.

5. Cleaning agents made from soap residues

Note: Only curd soap is mainly suitable for this recycling.

Dissolve about a teaspoon of curd soap in 250 milliliters of lukewarm water while stirring. For a stronger effect, you can add a teaspoon of baking soda and a dash of lemon juice to the cleaner. And you've already made an environmentally friendly all-purpose cleaner yourself!

Looking for more practical household tips? Here you can find out how you can recycle leftover candles, how you can make your own food coloring and how lime can be removed.

If you wanted to exchange ideas with other people about do-it-yourself questions, then take a look at our community.

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