25 DIY Soap Dispensers to Upgrade Every Sink

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Nobody redecorates a kitchen and then looks proudly at the plastic bottle the soap came in. That bottle is the loose thread in the whole room, and DIY soap dispensers are how you pull it. Every idea here starts with a container you already own or can buy for a dollar: a pint mason jar, an empty whiskey bottle, a pickle jar, a cruet from the back of a cupboard. A pump lid goes on top, and after that it is whatever you like. Paint the jar white and cut a vinyl decal. Frost the glass with etching cream so it never peels. Swap in a foaming pump and stretch one bottle of soap for a month. Wrap the whole thing in jute and glue a shell to the front. Some take ten minutes, some take an afternoon, and every one of them links back to the person who worked it out.

1. Mason Jar Soap Dispenser With a Vinyl Decal

A pint mason jar painted flat white, fitted with a black soap pump lid and finished with a cut vinyl decal that reads wash your hands in that clean farmhouse lettering. Crafts by Amanda wipes the jar down with rubbing alcohol first so the paint grips, then lays on two coats of white craft paint, letting each one dry all the way before the next. The tutorial includes a free cut file. Pick a jar with at least one completely plain side, because embossed glass fights the transfer tape, and use permanent vinyl since this thing lives beside a running tap.

Get the full tutorial at Crafts by Amanda.

2. Easy DIY Soap Dispenser from Liquor Bottle

The fastest project on the list and the one with the best payoff per minute, because the bottle has already done the design work. An empty liquor bottle keeps its label, a soap pump goes in the neck, and the whole swap takes about two minutes. It suits a rustic or farmhouse kitchen without looking like a craft, and it costs nothing beyond the pump if the bottle came out of the recycling. Rinse the inside with hot soapy water and let it dry completely first, because trapped spirits will scent the soap for weeks.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

DIY Soap Pump Dispenser From Liquor Bottle

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Have you ever noticed that alcoholic beverages come in the prettiest bottles? So after the booze is all gone, you can turn these pretty bottles into something functional. And this liquor bottle soap dispenser is one of its many uses. Loving the color on this one too!

3. Wash Your Hands Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

The same idea as the first jar with a different hand on it, and the pairing is deliberate, because the two versions show how much the lettering changes the mood. The Country Chic Cottage paints a pint jar white in two coats, cuts a wash your hands design from permanent vinyl and lifts it into place with transfer tape. Asked about sealing the paint, she says she skips it entirely and lets permanent vinyl do the work. A free SVG comes with the post. Choose a jar with a plain panel and the decal will sit flat rather than bridging over embossed glass.

Get the full tutorial at The Country Chic Cottage.

4. Faux Etched Glass Soap Dispenser

Frosted glass without the acid, which matters if there are children in the house. Pretty Handy Girl uses frost paint, a translucent white medium that mimics etching, masked off with removable tape over a dollar store dispenser. The technique detail worth stealing is the applicator: foam makeup sponges instead of a brush, because they are far more compressed and leave fewer bubbles, and the medium gets rolled rather than shaken for the same reason. One coat is enough. Peel the tape while the medium is still wet for a clean edge, then cure it, either air drying for twenty one days or baking at 350 degrees for thirty minutes.

Get the full tutorial at Pretty Handy Girl.

5. Easy DIY Nautical Dish Soap Bottles

Blue dish soap in clear glass, which is the entire trick, because the color does the decorating before a single craft supply comes out. Must Have Mom uses an olive oil bottle with a pour spout and a handled cruet, then wraps brown jute twine around the cruet handle, knotting at the base, winding to the top and knotting again. A small wood tag tied at the neck turns it into a housewarming or hostess gift. The spouted bottle is the practical one for squeezing straight onto a sponge; the cruet pours into a filling sink.

Get the full tutorial at Must Have Mom.

6. DIY Beer Bottle Soap Dispenser

Three brown bottles on a wicker table, one bare with its label showing, one wrapped in jute rope from base to neck, one dressed in rope and white lace. There is no cutting or drilling here at all. The pump can be a new one or a salvaged head from a lotion bottle, and a dab of hot glue keeps it from spinning in the neck. Both bottle and pump get scrubbed in very hot soapy water and dried before assembly. A fully rope wrapped bottle eats about one and a half packs of jute, so buy two.

Get the full tutorial at There's a Shoe For That.

7. Pickle Jar Soap Dispenser

Proof that the jar does not have to be a mason jar. Mox and Fodder takes an old pickle jar, measures the diameter of a pump pulled from a plastic soap bottle, and drills a matching hole in the metal lid with a power drill. The lid then gets a coat of leftover chalkboard paint. The step people skip is trimming the pump straw so it sits slightly shorter than the jar is tall, which is what stops it bottoming out. Superglue holds the pump to the lid, left to dry fully before the lid goes back on.

Get the full tutorial at Mox and Fodder.

8. DIY Minnie Mouse Soap Dispenser

A white pump bottle with a black Minnie silhouette and a pink glitter bow on the front, staged beside rolled towels and a pair of sequined ears. Pink Cake Plate strips the label off a shop bought dispenser with Goo Gone, washes every trace of residue away, then measures the front and sizes the design to two and a half by two inches before cutting. Black vinyl goes on first, transfer tape removed, then the glitter bow on top, and a coordinating ribbon ties at the neck. About ten minutes, and the residue check is the part that decides whether the vinyl sticks.

Get the full tutorial at Pink Cake Plate.

9. Dollar Store Mason Jar Snow Globe Soap Dispensers

Three jars with tiny Christmas village figures glued to the bottom and glitter suspended in clear soap, so every pump sends a snowfall drifting past the skaters. Mad in Crafts superglues the figurine bases and holds each one down with tongs for a few seconds, then lets the glue cure for an hour or two before any liquid goes near it. Use a small amount of glitter, since too much hides the scene entirely, and stir it in with the pump rather than shaking, which clouds the soap with bubbles. The lid insert will rust over time; a proper mason jar pump lid solves it.

Get the full tutorial at Mad in Crafts.

10. Easy DIY Mason Jar Soap Dispenser Foam Pump

A before and after pair: a plastic foaming hand wash bottle on the left, a blue quart mason jar wearing its pump on the right. Crystal and Comp traces the bottle opening onto the flat lid, opens it with a step drill bit and finishes the cut with kitchen scissors, then slices the top off the plastic bottle lid with a craft knife and pushes that collar through the hole, hot gluing where plastic meets metal. Two warnings from the tutorial are worth repeating: the cut edges are sharp, and metal shavings fly, so keep children well out of the way.

Get the full tutorial at Crystal and Comp.

11. Nautically Inspired DIY Soap Dispenser

A disposable foaming soap bottle wrapped from cap to base in jute twine with a single seashell glued to the front, which is how a throwaway plastic bottle becomes a coastal bathroom accessory. Akram’s Ideas anchors the twine end with hot glue at the ridge under the cap, winds downward, and puts a dab of glue in every few turns so nothing slides. Pick a shell with a flat back so it sits tight against the curve. The same wrapping works with metallic cord or a small charm if shells are not the look.

Get the full tutorial at Akram's Ideas.

12. Embellished Soap Dispenser

Two mason jars with pump lids, crusted around the rim with glass gems and polished stones, and the lid is where all the work happens. Fashion Bulb draws a circle on the flat lid to match the pump, punches a ring of holes inside it with a nail and hammer, then joins them up with pliers and widens the hole until the pump fits. A utility knife takes the top off a plastic Dial dispenser, and that collar is hot glued under the lid. Spray paint goes on last, then deco stones, seashells and beads.

Get the full tutorial at Fashion Bulb.

13. Mason Jar Foaming Soap Dispenser

A blue Ball jar dispensing a neat dome of foam into an open palm, which is the whole selling point of a foaming pump in one picture. Pretty Handy Girl cuts a one and a half inch hole in the lid with a spade bit, finishing with a sharp utility knife when the bit binds, then drops in the plastic collar from an old foaming soap bottle and screws the ring down over it. Her soap is roughly one part liquid soap to four parts water, or even less soap. Seal the cut metal with clear nail polish or clear coat, because it will rust.

Get the full tutorial at Pretty Handy Girl.

14. Soap Dispenser With Chalkboard Tags

Three gallon drink dispensers lined up on a washer, filled with detergent, color safe bleach and fabric softener, each wearing a painted chalkboard tag on twine. It is the laundry version of the idea running through this whole list. Simply Designing drills a hole in cheap wooden shapes, gives them two coats of chalkboard paint and leaves them to cure a full day. Then the step everybody skips: rub chalk over the whole surface and wipe it off before writing, or the first label ghosts forever.

Get the full tutorial at Simply Designing.

15. New and Improved Mason Jar Soap Dispensers

The rare tutorial that is a correction of an earlier one, and that is exactly why it is useful. After a few months of daily use the first version had two faults: the pump worked loose, and the punched hole in the lid rusted. The fix is metal pumps in satin nickel, matching galvanized lids, and a metal punch set to make a clean round hole rather than a torn one, with the pump epoxied to a rubber stopper on the underside so it cannot move. The painted jars held up fine, with a few tiny scrapes, as long as nobody takes a scouring pad to them.

Get the full tutorial at Our Lovely Bungalow.

16. Painted Soap Pump

An oil rubbed bronze pump bottle with a cream monogram letter on the front, sitting on a granite counter, and nothing about it says it started as a supermarket soap bottle. House of Hepworths pulls the labels with Goo Gone and a scraper, sprays a base coat of paint made for plastic, then adds regular oil rubbed bronze spray over the top for depth, with a brownish metallic on the pump head for contrast. The plastic specific primer is the load bearing step, since ordinary spray paint bubbles on plastic. Allow about two hours between coats.

Get the full tutorial at House of Hepworths.

17. Blue Mason Jar Foaming Soap Dispenser

A blue pint jar with a brushed nickel foaming lid, standing on a white sink with a little dish of soap beside it. The recipe is the interesting part rather than the build, because this one mixes its own: one cup of distilled water and a quarter cup of castile soap, which together reach the ten ounce mark on the jar, stirred, then about fifteen drops of essential oil. The mixture should look watery with a few bubbles on top, and that thinness is correct, because a foaming pump needs it. A little vitamin E oil helps in winter.

Get the full tutorial at Back Porch Bliss.

18. Fabric Covered Soap Pump

Almost every other project on this list starts by making you decant the soap. This one does not. A scrap of yellow and green floral cotton is decoupaged straight onto a big pump bottle with white glue thinned one to one with water, working from the bottom up and clipping the fabric to let it lie flat around the curves. The threaded lid area gets masked off before three coats of acrylic sealer go on, and the pump head is painted gold. One afternoon, from a fabric scrap that was already in the cupboard.

Get the full tutorial at The Salty Knitter.

19. Olive Oil Bottle Dish Soap Dispenser

A tall square olive oil bottle filled with green dish soap, etched down the front with the words dish soap and fitted with a metal pour spout instead of a pump. Lil Blue Boo cuts the lettering from vinyl contact paper, and notes that a design this simple could be cut with a craft knife just as easily as a machine. Etching cream goes on thick over the stencil and comes off after a few minutes per the packet. One reader found the soap poured too slowly, and the maker’s answer was to thin it with a little water.

Get the full tutorial at Lil Blue Boo.

20. Whiskey Bottle Soap Dispenser

The full size bottle version of the same idea, and the difference in presence is obvious side by side. Heavy square glass, a label people recognize across a room, and a slim chrome pump in the neck is the entire build. Green With Decor is clear about the one thing that matters when choosing a bottle: pick a screw top rather than a cork or pop top, because the pump then threads straight in and stays put, and anything else drags a drill into the job. Keep the label on or scrub it off.

Get the full tutorial at Green With Decor.

21. Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

Two plain Ball jars with dark lids, one wearing a bronze foaming pump and one a clear plastic one, and the most useful thing here is the comparison of methods. The Frugal Homemaker opens the lid three different ways, with a drill, with a nail and hammer, or with wire snips, and goes with the nail, bending the torn metal back underneath. Hot glue around the pump seals the join and covers the raw edge so it does not rust. Her warning is about paint: plastic pumps chip unless the spray is made for plastic.

Get the full tutorial at The Frugal Homemaker.

22. Flavored Syrup Bottle Soap Dispenser

A coffee syrup bottle is a very good soap dispenser and almost nobody thinks of it. Dwellings by DeVore saved an empty Torani bottle, bought the matching syrup pump for around two dollars fifty, and made a vinyl soap label on a cutting machine. The brand matters here and she says so: a pump that fits a Torani bottle did not fit another brand she tried, so stick with the one the pump was made for. The labels take some elbow grease to remove. A ready made vinyl label from an online seller works just as well as cutting one.

Get the full tutorial at Dwellings by DeVore.

23. DIY Dispensers from Glass Bottles

The cheapest entry on the list, because it buys nothing at all. The Red Chair Blog works out that any glass bottle with ridges at the neck is a candidate, and that the screw on pump tops from commercial products often fit them exactly. A lime juice bottle took the pump top from a bottle of Trader Joe’s hand soap, straw length included, and a sparkling cider bottle took the top from liquid dish soap. Glass cannot be squeezed, so a dish soap top has to be shaken out. Finding the right pairing takes trial and error, which is half the fun.

Get the full tutorial at The Red Chair Blog.

24. Etched Glass Soap Bottles

Two restaurant style oil dispensers in pink, one etched with an H for hand soap and one with a D for dish, fitted with metal pour spouts. Lulu the Baker cleans off every label and trace of adhesive first, applies a die cut vinyl stencil, then paints a thick layer of etching medium over the design with a brush. Five minutes later the bottle goes under running water with the vinyl still stuck down, and the brush helps the coating away without rubbing. Two of them in a basket with a tea towel is a very good hostess gift.

Get the full tutorial at Lulu the Baker.

25. Coke Bottle Soap Dispenser

A vintage Coke bottle with a silver pump, the whole thing costing about two dollars. Keep Calm and Decorate uses a smaller bottle at roughly eight inches tall and a salon pump pulled from a Suave shampoo or lotion bottle, and she is specific that she has only tried that brand and prefers the silver pump. The pump screws straight onto the bottle’s opening with no glue or fasteners at all. The only real work is trimming the tube, which she did by eye, holding it against the bottle rather than measuring.

Get the full tutorial at Keep Calm and Decorate.