Refill Stations for Soap: What They Are and How to Find One

About ten years ago I had an idea. A shop where you bring your own bottle and fill it up with soap. No new plastic every time you run out of dish soap. Simple, right?

I went looking for one near me. Nobody was doing it. Not one place.

So I did what any reasonable person would do and let the idea sit in a drawer for a decade. We still don't have anyone near us doing this but it seems like something more and more people are doing at least in some US cities.

So what is a refill station?

It's a wall or counter of pumps and taps, each one holding a bulk liquid. Dish soap, laundry liquid, shampoo, whatever that shop carries. You bring a container, fill it, and pay for what you took.

Most shops weigh your empty container first, then weigh it again once it's full. You pay for the difference. If you forgot a container, a lot of places will sell you one, or lend you one.

Same soap. No new bottle.

What you can usually fill up

Dish soap, laundry liquid, and all-purpose cleaner are the common ones. On the personal care side you'll often see hand soap, body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.

Every shop is different though. Some have a huge wall of options and some have two taps and a handwritten sign. Don't expect a standard menu.

Household soap vs. body soap

The cleaning stuff feels easy. It's just for the kitchen sink, right? But everything you wash with ends up down the drain, so it's worth a quick look too.

Body wash, shampoo, and hand soap go on your skin, so I'd pay a bit more attention there. Ask to see the ingredient list. A good shop will have one, and staff who can answer a basic question about what's in the product. If they can't, that tells you something too.

Treat the ingredient list the same way you would on any bottle. Verify things like no phthalates, parabens, mysterious fragrances, or other harmful chemicals. And google the ingredient if it looks suspicious!

Check for hidden plastic in the soap itself

A refill shop saves you the bottle. It doesn't tell you anything about what's inside it.

Some soaps and cleaners have plastic added on purpose. It's there to make the product thicker, shinier, or smoother, and then it washes straight down the drain.

The sneaky part is that the names don't sound like plastic. Look out for:

• Polyethylene, polypropylene, and nylon, which are solid plastics
• Acrylates copolymer and anything starting with “polyquaternium,” which are plastic-based ingredients that dissolve into the product. Experts still argue about whether these count as microplastics, but I'd rather skip them.

Don't count on the microbead ban to cover you, either. The US banned plastic microbeads in 2015, but only in rinse-off personal care products like face wash and toothpaste. Laundry liquid, dish soap, and household cleaners aren't covered.

If the shop can't show you an ingredient list, ask what brand or supplier the soap comes from. Most refill shops buy in bulk from a maker, and you can usually find the full ingredient list on the maker's website. If nobody knows where it comes from, I'd fill up with something else.

Is it cheaper?

Sometimes. Sometimes not. Bulk soap can work out well per wash, but a specialty shop with nice ingredients can cost more than the supermarket brand.

What you do save is the bottle. And the trip is its own cost. It's one more errand, so I'd line it up with something you're already doing.

Your first trip

Bring a clean, dry container. Rinse out whatever was in there before, and let it dry all the way. A damp bottle can water down your soap, and nobody wants a science experiment under the sink.

Check the shop's rules before you go. Some have a website or a sign about what containers they accept. Staff are used to newbies, so ask if you're not sure how the weighing works. Everybody's first time is slightly awkward, and then it isn't.

Don't overthink the container, either. An old pump bottle works fine.

Refill doesn't automatically mean plastic-free

This one trips people up. Refill cuts down on single-use bottles, and that's a real win. But the bulk soap usually shows up at the shop in big containers, and those can often be plastic. The dispensers can be plastic too.

It's still a big step down in how much plastic you're buying. It just isn't zero. Ask the shop how their soap is supplied if you're curious. Some will happily tell you.

How to find one near you

Wherever you live, start with a search. Try “refill store,” “bulk store,” “zero waste shop,” and “eco refill.” The term “refillery” is another one to try.

If the search comes up empty, try these:

• Local health food stores, since some have a refill section tucked in the back
• Farmers markets, where soap makers sometimes bring bulk jugs
• Local Facebook groups, where someone always knows a guy

And ask in The Plastic Detox group on Facebook (opens in a new tab). Members are all over the world, and somebody has probably been to the shop you're looking for.

Nothing nearby? Do a home version.

Plenty of us live nowhere close to a refill shop. You can get most of the benefit at home. Buy the biggest size of the soap you already like, or a concentrate if one exists, and refill your pump bottle from it. Fewer bottles in the bin, no special trip. You're still buying plastic, just much less of it.

Laundry soap sheets and bar soap are another easy exit. A bar of hand soap does the same job as a pump bottle, and you skip the plastic container entirely.

Your turn

Is there a refill shop near you, or are you still waiting on one like I am? If you've found one, I want to hear what it's like.

Since I still don't have a refill shop close enough to where I live, I'm thinking of starting a booth at my local farmer's market. Surely there are others who would want this too? And by having it at the farmer's market, people are already there for other things so it's not like they have to make a special trip out just for the soaps and cleaners.

Come tell us in The Plastic Detox on Facebook (opens in a new tab). I'm nosy about this stuff, so I'll be reading every reply. And if you're getting this in the newsletter, you can just hit reply and tell me directly.