Soap Dispenser Refills are like the majority of homeowners, you have replaced the regular bars of soap in your kitchen with liquid soap.
You may also have opted to get a refillable soap dispenser instead of having to throw away the plastic containers every time you empty a bottle of soap.
However, one thing you most likely didn’t factor in is how challenging it can be to open the dispenser to refill it. We explored a wide variety of liquid soap dispensers and developed a summary with tips to help you figure out how to yours open even without keys.
There are basically two methods of refilling a soap dispenser. The first method involves screwing open a lid and pouring the liquid soap into a reservoir while the second one entails operating a latch that allows you to open a panel to remove and replace a bag or cartridge.
This might sound simple, but it’s inst always easy to locate the latch or the rid on your soap dispenser, considering that every model seems to have its own trick for opening it.
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How To Open Soap Dispenser Without Key
Since most countertop soap dispensers use bulk, liquid soap rather than pre-packaged bags or cartridges, they are generally easy to open and refill.
You can simply screw a cap on the housing at the top of the reservoir bottle and pour liquid soap directly in until the reservoir is full. Then you can screw the cap back on.
How To Open Typical-Wall Mounted Soap Dispensers
Unlike countertop models, most wall-mounted soap dispensers use pre-packaged bags or plastic cartridges of liquid. That means the entire panel (usually the front of the dispenser) needs to open for the old, empty bag to be removed and replaced with a new one.
Models made for residential purposes mostly come with a button at the top or bottom that you push, releasing a latch inside and allowing the front panel to swing open.
How To Open a Gojo Soap Dispenser
GOJO is a great, popular hand cleaner commonly used by construction workers, mechanics, gardeners, and other people whose hands become heavily soiled during work.
While the FMX-12 is the most common GOJO model, you may be wondering how to open it to get rid of the emptied soap cartridge and replace it with a new one.
To open it, simply place your hands on the sides of the dispenser and squeeze. This will make the latch at the top of the unit click open, liberating the dispenser’s front to open forward and down, revealing the soap cartridge.
Remove the used cartridge out of the unit and replace it with a full one. Then gently push the front of the dispenser back until you hear the latch click back into place.
How to Open and Refill a Kitchen Sink Soap Dispenser
If you have a kitchen soap dispenser that is counter-mounted with the soap reservoir inside the base cabinet, it can be challenging to refill the reservoir bottle, especially when only the pump is visible above the countertop.
Below we’ve provided step-by-step instructions for the most common ways to get around this. Every method has its challenges, so we’ve included two great hacks that make opening and refilling your counter-mounted soap dispenser a breeze.
From Under the Sink
One of the options for refilling your counter-mounted soap dispenser is to detach the reservoir bottle from the pump apparatus. Then fill it with liquid soap and then re-attach it.
Well, this may sound simple, but most homeowners tend to find it very convenient, given that you will have to get partway into the base cabinet under the sink to access the reservoir container.
Luckily, we have a hack that allows you to replace that small reservoir bottle with a giant-sized one that won’t require refilling for a long time.
To refill your kitchen sink reservoir from under the counter, you need to follow these steps:
- Remove the items from your under-sink cabinet that may hinder you from accessing the soap reservoir.
- Grasp the reservoir and turn it clockwise to unscrew it from the housing.
- Lift it off, leaving the plastic tubing hanging down into the cabinet.
- Replace the reservoir in its housing, making sure the plastic tubing is hanging down in the liquid inside the reservoir.
- Then screw the reservoir firmly into its housing using a counterclockwise motion.
Tip:
Under-the-sink soap dispensers can be notoriously small, and refilling them can be a hard task. It would be great if you could have a huge reservoir of soap under the kitchen counter so you don’t crawl into the cabinet refilling it every couple of weeks.
From the countertop
Most counter-mounted soap dispensers are now designed such that they can be refilled from above by simply pulling the top and pouring liquid soap through the opening in the countertop and into the dispensers. Here is how you can make the process easy and mess-free:
To use the traditional method, follow these steps:
- Grip the pump, or rather the part of the dispenser that is visible above the countertop.
- Turn the pump counterclockwise to unscrew it.
- Lift the pump as well as the attached plastic tubing completely out of the dispenser
- Then add liquid soap from your bulk refill container into the opening where the pump and tubing were.
- Continuing refilling until the reservoir or the bottle under the sink that holds the liquid is full
- Replace the pump and insert the plastic tubing back into the reservoir, then screw the pump clockwise until it is properly mounted on the countertop.
The downside to this method is that you pour the liquid soap into the small hole, leaving no way for air in the reservoir to escape. This might form a big bubble that forces the soap back upward and out of the top of the opening, causing a mess on the countertop.
You may have to go through the process of pouring soap out to allow some of it to bubble back out and wipe the excess of the countertop several times before the reservoir is completely refilled. The method is convenient, but on the flip side, it’s wasteful. Fortunately, there is a hack.
Tip:
Unscrew and remove the pump and tubing as explained above. Before you start pouring soap into the hole in the countertop, insert a straw into the hole.
Make sure the bottom end is positioned right at the level where the reservoir’s neck touches the bottom of the counter.
By doing this, the air from the reservoir will escape through the straw as pour soap through the hole, so none of the soap will bubble back up onto your countertop.
