Tips for DIY Soap Sheets

I saw this video on Facebook about how to make soap sheets. The sheets are made by painting liquid soap onto water soluble paper, then dried and cut into small pieces. The sheets are supposed to be a light, non-liquid soap solution. Then when the sheets get wet, the paper dissolves as you use the soap. In the video, the soap sheets were shown being used on camping trips and were made from shampoo, conditioner, body wash and dish soap.

This sounded perfect for our trip. I wasn’t going to fuss with the examples in the video, but what I did need was laundry detergent. We’re living out of our backpacks and don’t have that many clothes, which means we have to wash them often. I thought packing dry detergent sheets were the perfect solution for sink laundry.

Letting my soap sheets dry. I hung them from hangers with binder clips.

Now, I wouldn’t quite call this a #PinterestFail, but it was certainly very close. I had 11 sheets of water soluble paper and I was successful with about half of them. After a lot of trial and error, I finally got it down. I wanted to share some tips on making these soap sheets because if you can actually get them made, they are super convenient to have around! I just used a few to wash my socks and it worked great!

Tips for Making DIY Soap Sheets

1. Move quickly: The second the paper gets wet it starts to dissolve so move as quickly as possible.
2. Use a wide, foam brush: The wider the brush, the fewer strokes you need which means you can cover the sheet quicker.
3. Only brush each section once: When you start going over a section more than one, the paper starts to deterrioate in your brush. Paint one even coat, flip, paint one even coat on the other side and hang immediately.
4. Prepare your drying plan in advance: You will need to hang the sheet immediately so know we’re you’re going with it. I used binder clips and a hanger from the shower curtain rode and it worked okay.
5. Wrap your sheet pan with plastic wrap: I am sure you can wash detergent off a sheet pan but I didn’t feel comfortable with that. So I wrapped it with several layers of plastic wrap so the soap never actually touched the pan. Be sure to wrap it tightly.
6. Pick soap with the right consistency: Your soap should be thick enough that it won’t immediately dissolve the paper, but not so thick that you can’t spread it quickly and thinly. The detergent I used was on the thicker side which could be why I struggled so much.
7. Have a backup dying plan: If your sheets rip before you can hang them (like mine often did), don’t panic. Quickly and gently lay them on a flat, nonstick surface such as wax paper on a table or the bathtub. Straighten them if you can, but try not to rip them. Once the sheets dry for about 15 minutes, you should be able to handle them easier and try again to hang them. They might be wrinkled, but they are still covered in soap and should do the trick.