Make A Pine Or Bamboo Soap Holder
With all the hand washing going on in my home at the moment, I need to make a soap holder to keep the soap from getting soggy and soft.
16/01/2021
With all the hand sanitising going on, the soap in my bathrooms doesn't have a chance to dry out before it's in use again. I have never washed my hands so much in all my life and I have been trying to think of ways to let the soap dry out between hand washings. Think it's a good time to make a soap holder so that the bar of soap doesn't have to sit on the side of the sink or on top of the bathroom vanity.
The bar of soap in the two bathrooms at home never gets a proper chance to dry out in-between all the sanitising hand washes. Not only is there not a place to put the soap down, I need to make a soap holder to stop the soap from going soggy.
Everyone is washing their hands more than ever before and I prefer to wash my hands when at home to take a break from all the sanitiser that gets sprayed on them whenever I go out. I used to have a soap dish and soap rack down the line, but these have fallen away over time and now the bar of soap sits either squashed in next to the tap or on the countertop.
I have browsed around for some great ideas
for making a soap holder and I am going to look
at my scraps to see if I have a piece of bamboo
leftover from previous projects. If not, I will
probably use pine, meranti or saligna depending
on what's available. Fancy making your own soap
holder? Let's get started...
HOW TO MAKE AN EASY SOAP HOLDER
The soap holder project I have decided upon is an easy one that you can make using either pine or bamboo or other hardwood for that matter. It's inexpensive to make, so you can make one for all the bathrooms in your home, and they look so good you can even give them as gifts.
YOU WILL NEED:
Scraps of pine or bamboo for the sides of the soap holder
6 to 8mm pine, bamboo or hardwood dowels**
Waterproof wood glue
120-grit sandpaper
** There are plenty of suppliers who stock dowels in a variety of woods, but do be careful. There are so many wierd and wonderful suppliers that pop up these days - make sure yours is in South Africa.
TOOLS:
Drill/Driver plus assorted bits
6 to 8mm wood bit (as per size of dowels)
Ruler and pencil
Couple of quick clamps
HERE'S HOW:
As mentioned above, you can use pine, bamboo or hardwood for this project. If you use pine, keep in mind that the soap holder might not last as long as the other two materials. If you regularly apply wood oil, it should last longer. But pine is cheap and making this soap holder won't cost you much, so you can always make a few and replace them when necessary.
1. Cut the pieces for the side to the desired length. The overall dimensions of the soap holder shown here are 120mm wide x 160mm length. You can, of course, vary this if you use a larger or smaller soap.
2. Use a ruler to mark the location to drill the holes for mounting the dowels. The size of the holes will be determined by the diameter of the dowels and you only drill to half the depth of the side pieces. Allow about a 10mm gap between the dowels, but again. this can vary. Just as long as you leave enough room for the soap to drain nicely. DO measure twice so that everything lines up perfectly when you put the pieces together.
3. Cut the number of dowels you need to the required length, allowing extra for inserting into the sides.
4. Sand all the pieces nice and smooth before assembly.
5. Place one of the sides on its side and place a bead of waterproof wood glue in each hole. Not too much, you don't want the glue to ooze out and make a mess.
6. Push the dowels firmly into the holes. You can gently tap the end of the dowel with a wood or rubber mallet to ensure a tight fit. Put this side piece aside and leave overnight.
7. Now you can turn the remaining side piece on its side, add a bead of waterproof wood glue and pop in the dowels. Once everything is in place, clamp firmly and leave overnight for the glue to dry.
Finishing
To extend the life of your wooden soap holder, apply wood oil to protect from moisture. I prefer to use Howard Feed-N-Wax as it's a product I use regularly for all my wood furniture and accessories, plus I love the fresh orange scent after using. Apply Feed-N-Wax as part of the normal cleaning routine and, even though you have used pine, it should last a long time. I buy my Howard products from Takealot because the price is the best on offer.
