Soap dishes....

[kasilofchrisn]

Since I started making handcrafted soaps I realized I didn't have any soap dishes in my house.
And really didn't like the soap just sitting on the edge of the sink.
But I didn't want just an ordinary cheap Walmart soap dish for my handcrafted soaps.
So I decided to go with a friend and his niece to my local paint your own ceramics place.
My buddies niece is real artistic so I figured she would enjoy painting something there which she did.
I decided to paint a seahorse soap dish and I'm really liking it.
I have my eye on a starfish themed soap dish for next time.
Of course these aren't painted but glazed and have to be fired in a kiln to make them waterproof.
Anybody else make/paint paint their own soap dishes to go with their handcrafted soap?

 

[Obsidian]

I use to do ceramics as a kid but the shop closed a long time ago. I really enjoyed it.

I love the dish, seahorses are a favorite of mine. I would recommend putting one of those cheap rubbery soap drainers in the bottom though.

 

[artemis]

I would recommend putting one of those cheap rubbery soap drainers in the bottom though.

I agree. You can find mini ones at Dollar Tree and probably Amazon.

 

[Obsidian]

I get clear ones at walmart. They are good and sturdy.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

I'll have to look for one of those rubber things.
Are they just for keeping it cleaner?
I was thinking I could just occasionally wash it either by hand or in the dishwasher?
I'm also thinking now that my mom is back in AK from her winter house in AZ that I'll take her with me to make another soap dish.
I've already told her we are going to make some soap together.
She's never done it but seems genuinely interested in giving it a try.

 

[Lin19687]

Looks like Very Bad drainage for a Homemade soap.
You will be better off with something that has many holes for air flow and drainage.

I had a FM vendor that made ceramics approach me about teaming up with his dishes and my soap.
I had to decline and tell him that they dishes were not good for soap as they needed to have air flow.

For the next 2 months I had to make sure and tell people to have the soap in an open air thing, not a soap dish

 

[Nate5700]

I'll have to look for one of those rubber things.
Are they just for keeping it cleaner?

More for keeping the soap from sitting in a puddle of water in the soap dish and getting soft. I saw them at Walmart, called a "Soap Saver".

 

[IrishLass]

Yes- a soap saver! Your ceramic dish will be a perfectly fine soap dish as long as you put a soap saver inside the dish to hold up the soap.....or one of these "soap standles" I just saw on Amazon. Although if you get a soap standle, it looks like your soap will fall through once it's whittled down to a sliver.

I use soap savers in my decorative soap dishes. They work great.


IrishLass

 

[earlene]

That seahorse is so gorgeous. No, I don't do ceramics or make soap dishes out of wood or anything else. The only thing I have done is cut down soap savers to fit my travel soaps or to fit inside of the pretty dishes I buy at thrift stores.

But I do love an attractive soap dish. I always use some form of soap saver in the dish to keep the soap up above the drainage. For the most part, I don't put sopping wet soap on the soap saver, either. I tend to wait for it to drain a bit in my hand before putting it in the soap dish. This works pretty well and I rarely have pooled soapy water at the bottoms of my soap dishes as a result.

However, depending on how you place the soap in the dish, I think you have enough lift there, particularly in the tail area, to keep soap above minimal drainage. To me the ridges look like they might be high enough to allow for a bit of air flow, even without a soap saver. But I'd still get a clear soap saver to try it out, just in case.

 

[lenarenee]

Yes- a soap saver! Your ceramic dish will be a perfectly fine soap dish as long as you put a soap saver inside the dish to hold up the soap.....or one of these "soap standles" I just saw on Amazon. Although if you get a soap standle, it looks like your soap will fall through once it's whittled down to a sliver.

I use soap savers in my decorative soap dishes. They work great.


IrishLass

Well I had to see what the heck a soap standle was! I have no opinion on it - but sure was entertained many of the exuberant reviews and wonder if their friends wrote them. After all - it's not difficult to dry your soaps so the review about how this "invention" is a LIFE CHANGER....was a little over the top.

 

[earlene]

Well I had to see what the heck a soap standle was! I have no opinion on it - but sure was entertained many of the exuberant reviews and wonder if their friends wrote them. After all - it's not difficult to dry your soaps so the review about how this "invention" is a LIFE CHANGER....was a little over the top.

I saw the soap standle a couple of days ago on Amazon and thought the same thing about the reviews. It just pops up as a 'suggested for you' because of my viewing & purchasing history. But I also thought, 'too expensive' and 'I don't like it' anyway. But the video was interesting to watch.

 

[cmzaha]

I prefer wood soap decks made from pine which I can put in a fancy ceramic soap dish if I am so inclined to do so. I have had customers tell me their soaps last much longer using my wood soap decks.

 

[atiz]

Well I had to see what the heck a soap standle was! I have no opinion on it - but sure was entertained many of the exuberant reviews and wonder if their friends wrote them. After all - it's not difficult to dry your soaps so the review about how this "invention" is a LIFE CHANGER....was a little over the top.

I actually got a couple of these standles from Brambleberry if I remember right. They are okay but I would not say amazing and I don't use them any more. They tend to fall out of the soap during use which is quite annoying, and when the soap becomes little you can't use them any more. They work better for softer soaps than for harder ones (from harder ones they fall out very quickly). I used them to avoid stains on my soap from a wooden soap dish; they were okay for the purpose.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

I kind of figured the ridges in this soap dish might work well enough for drying my soap.
But I ordered some soap savers just in case.
I'm also thinking of eventually making a shave soap.
My local paint your own ceramics place where I painted the seahorse has some wide mugs that I think would be good for that too.

 

[cmzaha]

I used them to avoid stains on my soap from a wooden soap dish; they were okay for the purpose.

If you get plain unfinished pine soap decks they do not stain the soap nor the the soap stain the soap deck unless you are using some very heavily colored soap.

 

[DeeAnna]

Ladies around here like to crochet small round scrubby pads for washing dishes. They use that bumpy scrubby yarn you can buy at Joanns or other craft stores or they cut lengths of nylon net to use as the "yarn". I put a scrubby in a vintage dish or saucer to make a very nice soap dish. The water drains through the scrubby, keeping the soap nicely dry.

 

[atiz]

If you get plain unfinished pine soap decks they do not stain the soap nor the the soap stain the soap deck unless you are using some very heavily colored soap.

That's good to know, although somehow it hasn't been my experience. The wood soap dish I picked up was not varnished (I do think it was cedar and not pine though, so maybe that makes a difference), and the staining went both ways. Both my light colored soap and the light colored wood ended up brown, almost as if they had rusted on contact. Maybe I'll experiment with some scrap pine I have lying around, it would be fun to rout some soap dishes.

Btw., @kasilofchrisn , I love the look of your seahorse, it is a beautiful color.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I luv your seahorse! Make some more, more, more! I have all different kinds of nice soap dishes that I picked up at garage sales. They make an interesting display with different soapies in them.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

Btw., @kasilofchrisn , I love the look of your seahorse, it is a beautiful color.

Thanks! I really like it myself.
I'm not really that artistic and they had a lot of choices in colors.
All their glaze colors are selected by choosing from already glazed small owl knick knacks.
So you have to envision your piece in the same color as the small owl knick knack. The glazes change color from what they are in the bottle when they get fired in the kiln so you have to see a finished piece to know what it is gonna look like.
Plus I wanted it to somewhat match the theme in my guest bathroom which has a fishing kinda theme to it.

 

[HowieRoll]

I really like the seahorse! It's also such a pretty green.

Almost 3 years ago I made a "minimalist wooden soap dish," which was fairly easy to make and I love the design. I also like how you can easily customize it to different sizes. It's held up surprisingly really well, no warping or funny business like mold, and if I ever get the bug I'll make more to give out as gifts.

http://howdidyoumakethis.com/minimalist-wooden-soap-dish/