Someone purchased an automatic soap dispenser for us as a wedding gift. Now, I had indeed seen the automatic soap dispensers while we were registering at Bed, Bath & Beyond, but it seemed to me one of those items that, if it was placed on a registry, would cause a great deal of amusement among gift-givers. (Especially those who know what a germ-a-phobe I am.) So I left that off…but thought it was an intriguing idea, nonetheless.
When we opened said automatic soap dispenser, I was quite enthusiastic! Someone had read my mind! Designed for touch-free operation, which helps prevent the spread of germs, this dispenser automatically senses your hand and releases soap! (Or lotion…but who needs an automatic lotion dispenser? Ours is used for soap.)
You may say, “Who needs an automatic soap dispenser?” I submit that EVERYONE does!
Ours is in the kitchen, which happens to be the room in my house that I probably spend the most time in. I previously had a lovely pump bottle of Bath & Body Works soap in the kitchen for quick and easy hand-cleaning, next to the bottle of Sun used for quick dish scrubbing. I still have both, but I had to make room for this lovely new dispenser.
When the thing really comes in handy is when I’ve been patting out hamburgers (which at our house is normally raw meat infused with strawberry jalapeno sauce), or rolling and flattening balls of peanut butter cookie dough, or even slicing onions or raw chicken. The last thing I want to do when my bare hands are covered in mess is try to pump some soap out with my elbow. In fact, I have previously shot the pump soap across the sink and into a pot of boiling water when trying to pump with my elbow. But that’s another story for another day, my friends.
Now, all I do is wave my hand over the sensor, and the perfect amount of soap is smoothly dispensed into my filthy palm. I can easily flick on the water via elbow, and presto zammo! Clean hands in seconds, with no harsh side effects…or pots of boiled soap.
As much as I do enjoy this automatic soap dispenser, I also must admit that I have to keep an eye on the thing. I had shut it off the other day in order to wipe it down with a Clorox wipe in the midst of my cleaning, and suddenly, it shot a thick stream of soap out. My eyes followed it to the floor…the floor that I had JUST cleaned, and I said to myself, “I thought I turned this off?” I glanced at it, just in time to see that it was indeed off…and to watch another stream of soap coat the front of my microwave.
By the time I had actually opened the cover and yanked out one of the batteries to make the dang thing quit, I was covered in soap, there was soap on the floor, the microwave, the stove, the cabinet, and, oh yes, all in the pan I was about to place a yummy apple-wood smoked roast in.
Right now I’m back on good terms with the automatic soap dispenser. I think the benefits outweigh the negatives at this point. We’ll see how long that lasts. Either way, it’s still better than boiled soap for dinner.
What kind of soap do YOU use in your kitchen?
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I love to try that automatic one 🙂 Ours is the usual pump bottle soap next to our dishwashing detergent 🙂
Yes, I still have one of those, too (right now it’s apple-scented) for when I just feel like I want my hands to smell good LOL
We received one (a cheaper version) for a white elephant gift, once. Now I’m regretting that we didn’t keep it!
Oh dear! That’s a GREAT white elephant gift! I always get things like a pair of used flip-flops LOL
I have to say that I think it’s quite a random gift. Hygiene wise, it’s a brilliant idea!
Yes, random, but brilliant, you’re right!
🙂
Haha!! 🙂 You wouldn’t like our kitchen then, because to get to our soap, you have to open the cupboard under the sink and touch everything with icky hands. Usually we just run to the bathroom to wash hands or rinse hands and then grab the soap from the cupboard. 🙂
Oh, well, as long as you have a solution! My bathrooms are too far from my kitchen for me to leave whatever is on the stove unattended!
I have Lysol’s automatic soap dispenser in my kitchen, love it. I consider it to be the best $12 I ever spent. I am however cheep in that I use my own liquid soap in it (just pop the top off and refill) Works great, and I find I handle a lot of raw chicken so I really appreciate just having to move my hand by the sensor.
Oh yes, I’ve seen those, too!
Interesting gift, but way not, especially now that you like it so much. Your friends must have known you :). By the way, love your SM buttons!
Oh yes, they know me well LOL And thanks for the kudos on the buttons!
It definitely looks cute! We had one. Ours was a different brand. When i was working around the sink, it’s eye was sensitive and would go off too often. This one looks nicer and is probably higher quality. I do like the idea behind them though!
I have mine up on the windowsill above the sink now…but in our old house it was right on the sink, and it’s definitely a lil’ sensitive, ha!
I think that is so cool. I don’t know how many times I have fretted over chicken juice or germs from my hands getting on the soap bottle as I pump it. Unfortunately something like this would never work in our home because after the batteries ran out I would probably continually forget to get new ones. Then when I finally remembered to buy them I wouldn’t be able to find the screw driver so I could replace the batteries. When the screw driver was finally located I would set it aside making a mental note to replace the batteries later since the kids were fighting AGAIN. By the time I found the time and the materials to replace the batteries the machine might as well have been replaced by a regular pump action. Maybe one day, when I learn to be less distracted, I can own something cool like that. Until then I’ll have to stick with my pump soap bottles. Sigh
HA! You made me laugh out loud! Hey, at least you can remember to buy/refill the pump soap bottles! That’s something! 🙂
Too funny – weird! I think I would love to have one of these (if it didn’t squirt at me – lol) because I’m a germ-a-phobe too! I would love to replace all of the soap dispensers in my home with these…
Mine would not do well in the bathrooms – I’m sure our cat would figure it out sooner or later and I’d be left with a mess, ha!
We bought one a couple months ago and we love it! We got it mostly because our 4 year old had a hard time getting soap out of a regular soap pump and this way he could use it without needing help. Of COURSE he thought it was the coolest thing ever and preceded to use tons of it! But that quickly faded and now I am so happy to have it!
Oh yes, it would be great for kids! Good motivation for hand-washing LOL
Oh my gosh! That’s hilarious! I’d love to have seen the soap shooting everywhere. ha ha ha. An auto soap dispenser is a great idea. I usually just pump the soap — with raw meat hands — and then sanitize the tar out of it in paranoia style. This would be so much more convenient. You can’t use the foamy soaps with it though, can you? I really like my B&BW soaps.. but I guess it wouldn’t kill me if I just had them all in the bathrooms instead of the kitchen.
Perhaps the next time I encounter a problem, I’ll get my hubby to record it, just for you LOL And no, you can’t use the foamy soaps. I have one of those right at the sink, too…three kinds of soap at the kitchen sink isn’t overkill, is it?! 🙂
Funny!!!! I’ve seen those automatic dispensers, but sometimes I just want a little soap, not a whole squirt…I’m a little tight. 🙂 But they do seem handy.
The type of soap I use is a natural one that does not contain parabens.
That’s a good one! I fill this particular dispenser with the clear Ivory soap. It’s what my mom always bought – old habits die hard, I guess!
Too fabulously funny! I like your dispenser. I got the Lysol dispenser when it was the hot new crave thing and they had those $5 coupons out. Mind you they were free at CVS when I bought mine so…what the hey..get one or two or three. That crazy thing started spitting out soap for no reason, too – so now THEY collects dust. Momentarily it was VERY helpful like you said.
You might be a ninja with that elbow thing. That’s soooo crazy…LOL!
HA! Yeah, a ninja covered in soap 🙂
I have one made by Lysol which the kids love to play around with and it works pretty ok. 🙂
I’ve seen those, too! I’m a big Lysol fan!
I had never thought about it, but that’s a great gift! I usually just use a pump soap thing by the sink, but we go through a lot of them! I have a soap dispenser built into my sink, but I have never used it.
Really?! You should totally use it! Space saver!