I’ve been using and making foam soap for years and years. Every once in a while, when I try to use my soap, the foam soap dispenser won’t work at all. It’s become completely clogged! More often than not, I discover this clogged soap dispenser when I have raw chicken on my hands… of course! I’ll try to push down and pump out the soap, but nothing happens. The pump is stuck, clogged with old goopy soap. Yuck. After some trial and error, I figured out the best way to clean out your foam soap dispenser!
I know this is riveting stuff, and that’s why I’m here – to share incredible, amazing, err…practical tips with y’all!
If your foam soap dispenser is stuck down and you can’t push it to get your soap out… it’s time to perform surgery on your soap dispenser. Â Even though soap is “clean”, the build-up from continued use just clogs everything up. Today, I’m showing y’all how to take it completely apart, deep clean and then reassemble. To start with, you want to take it apart over a dish towel, drying mat, place mat – any large surface area that you can carefully lay the dispenser’s parts out on. You NEVER want to do this over the sink. Never, EVER. There are small parts you don’t want to lose!
Unscrew and remove the pump part first. Â Then pull hard to remove the nozzle. Â Next, pull off the ring – you will need to use your whole body for this part – this is where things tend to get sticky. Pun intended! The soapy goop can lock up the dispenser and it will take some real effort to get this part off. Â Lastly, take off the middle part – just twist, pull and wiggle until it comes apart. You’ll notice that down in the bottom of the air chamber there is a ball bearing. This ball bearing is essential to the soap dispenser working properly.
If you lose the ball bearing – your soap dispenser won’t work!
Now that you’ve taken the soap dispenser apart, you want to wash everything with super hot water. No soap, y’all! 🙂  We are deep cleaning with heat and water only. If you have lots of gunk, you can use a toothbrush, toothpick, bottle brush, etc. anything that you’d like to help get the build-up out of the hard to reach places in your soap dispenser. After you’ve thoroughly rinsed out the air chamber and all the parts, you will reassemble the soap dispenser. Replace all the parts, taking care to put that ball bearing right in the small hole in the air chamber.
Here is the quick video I made to show y’all just how easy it really is!
I have used the same soap dispenser in one of our bathrooms for over 2 years and it still works like a charm! This method is the ticket to keeping things moving in your foam soap dispenser. And the best way to make sure you aren’t constantly wasting money buying a new foam soap dispenser every few months!
Quick Recipe for Homemade Foam Soap
1/4 cup Castile soap (I love Vitacaost gloBaby, Unscented)
10-12 drops essentials oil (Thieves or Peppermint and Orange are my favorites!)
Water
Foam Soap Dispenser
Any ole’ foam soap container will work! Carefully add your soap and essentials to your foam soap dispenser. Top off with the water. Don’t fill all the way to top, leave a little space! If not, when you replace the pump lid, it will overflow. Shake gently to combine. Make sure your soap is clear! Other soaps with moisturizers added that have more of a milky look seem to clog the dispenser more frequently.
You are amazing! I took mine apart and cleaned it just like you suggested…never thought about a ball bearing in it. Unfortunately, my soap dispenser is only a week old…shouldn’t have a problem that quickly…I previously used an old Dial soap dispenser for over a year with no problem. But I loved your take-it-apart approach…I had done that previously, but not gone the extra mile to the ball bearing.
Thank you!