A Tiny-but-Brilliant Way to Stop Wasting Soap

Ashley Abramson
Ashley Abramson
Ashley Abramson is a writer-mom hybrid in Minneapolis, MN. Her work, mostly focused on health, psychology, and parenting, has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, Allure, and more. She lives in the Minneapolis suburbs with her husband and two young sons.
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updated Feb 9, 2020
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Credit: Joe Lingeman

Whether you’re washing your hands a lot more (it’s cold and flu season, people!) or you’ve been spending your winter weekends doing all the meal prep, you may feel like you’re constantly reaching for some sort of soap. Obviously, soap is good and necessary. But did you know that your average soap dispenser probably doles out far more soap than you need for a thorough wash?

A few excessive pumps of soap here and there can quickly add up, which ultimately means you’ll have to buy more soap sooner. Buying more soap, more often means less money in your wallet, and if you use a disposable dispenser, it’s also more plastic in the world. Lose-lose! To help you cut back on your soap waste, we have a small-but-totally-brilliant tip. Ready?

Credit: Joe Lingeman

Use a Rubber Band to Stop Wasting Dish and Hand Soap

First, find a relatively wide rubber band (otherwise, you’ll be stuck using several). Then simply wrap the rubber band around the neck of the dispenser until it’s tight enough that it inhibits the pump a little. The idea is that the rubber band limits the soap output because it keeps the pump from pressing all the way down. It allows for just a little bit of depression and squirts out just the right amount of soap.

No rubber bands on hand? No worries. You can accomplish the same thing with just about any hair tie you’ve got lying around. Just make sure it’s wrapped around the dispenser tightly enough to reduce the soap output.

Depending on how you look at it, this hack could cut your soap usage in half or double the lifetime of a single bottle — a win, either way! Another positive: All you’ll need to make the magic happen is something you probably already have in a junk drawer or your home office.

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