Idiot question of the day! Soap dispensers...

[OilMagnate]

I just picked up a Gojo dispenser from NAPA. It's the larger dispenser that is intended to be used with the 2,000mL bag-in-a-box refill. I've honestly never used a dispenser before (other than using someone else's like a restaurant or gas station that I've never refilled myself). I know the simple answer is to buy the proper refill box of whatever type I want. And I will. But the idiot question:

Is there a way to refill the refill, or is there a mod that allows a refillable refill bottle?

I really like the idea of a dispenser, but I really don't like the price tag of the refills. For example, I just picked up 2x 1 gallon pump bottles of Gojo Supro Max literally for free after I used a $20 Speed Perk at AAP two days ago. They were clearanced for $9.35 plus tax, and I added a filler item. Total was $0.10 and I honestly didn't have any cash or change on me. I said I would have to run a card (and was willing). The employee had a dime laying around and I walked out free. I know this isn't the norm, but the point is I can get hand cleaner cheap, definitely cheaper than $30 per 2000mL. I've scoured the internet for two hours and haven't even seen a possible idea. It's like a mod doesn't exist.

Basically, I want the dispenser, but want to be able to fill it with whatever I want in whatever container is cheapest. Maybe an alternative dispenser that can hang on the wall and use any old bottle? I'm stumped. I know the gallon bottles have a pump on them, but those bottles are huge and these are going in a tiny bathroom. To make it worse, even on top of the toilet isn't an option because the flush buttons are on the tank lid. Hopefully the brilliant minds here can open my eyes to a solution. Thanks in advance!

 

[Kira]

With no picture or drawing of the insides of the dispenser we've no idea where to start.
Is there a possibility of sending product BACKWARDS through dispensing port? You might need something like a pastry bag to force overly viscous pastes or gels along.

Your description of "bag in a box" is misleading. You take the bag out of the box and install it into the dispenser. There's a squeezed bladder which is gravity refilled for the subsequent push. "Bag in a box" oil is like bag in a box wine or milk. The valve is on the bag and the box is really for dimension and shipment only.

"Drive by wire" means how many things now-a-days?

Can you simply open the reservoir bag (at the top) in some way and seal it up with clips? You might have to settle for a partial fill to allow "leftover bag" to be rolled up to make as good a seal as you can to keep the soap from drying out.

Post a picture of the working insides of the dispenser (the workings someone actuates during use).

A small pump bottle you fill yourself from the beginning might be the way to go. Are you married to having a dispenser?

 

[KJSmith]

The cheap custodians we hire open the top of the box and cut the bag to refill.
They mix the soap so thin it splatters when it hits your hand.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I use Pax Lano Sav dry soap and rinse my hands in the tire trough. Dispensers are for girls j/k

 

[97prizm]

I like Pinerite dry hand cleaner. It has the ability to be put in a dispenser but you get 4 times the mileage than normal soap in a dispenser. As far as Gojo goes Uline has a 1 gallon pump for sale for $44. All you have to do is add if it gets low. The wall mounted dispensers were always a little pricey due to convenience.

 

[OilMagnate]

With no picture or drawing of the insides of the dispenser we've no idea where to start.
Is there a possibility of sending product BACKWARDS through dispensing port? You might need something like a pastry bag to force overly viscous pastes or gels along.

Your description of "bag in a box" is misleading. You take the bag out of the box and install it into the dispenser. There's a squeezed bladder which is gravity refilled for the subsequent push. "Bag in a box" oil is like bag in a box wine or milk. The valve is on the bag and the box is really for dimension and shipment only.

"Drive by wire" means how many things now-a-days?

Can you simply open the reservoir bag (at the top) in some way and seal it up with clips? You might have to settle for a partial fill to allow "leftover bag" to be rolled up to make as good a seal as you can to keep the soap from drying out.

Post a picture of the working insides of the dispenser (the workings someone actuates during use).

A small pump bottle you fill yourself from the beginning might be the way to go. Are you married to having a dispenser?

I still don't know how the bag/box situation works. I can post the innards of the dispenser. I have a half gallon and gallon pump bottle now, but both take up a lot of space when there isn't much to start with. But no, a dispenser isnt a requirement, just a nice thought before thinking it through...

Edit: it appears that this setup is just like a wine box setup. You cut the box only where the bag valve is, attach the valve to the dispenser, leave the box in the dispenser and close it up.

Idle/not depressed:

Half depressed:

Fully depressed:

Inner view - idle/not depressed:

Inner view - fully depressed:

 

[Kira]

Ahhh...it's good to see we still make some things here in the USA.

Seriously.....fashion a shelf/holder for a soap's dispenser (like the Gojo pump) to the wall. You'd lose no sink top space.
If you're lucky, your location will have a corner near the sink so you could tuck a small shelf or "bird house" securely into a corner.

One driving consideration is wanting any soap dispenser immediately above the sink so dripping soap and hands drip into the sink.

How many guys are using this setup? When I was at the Dodge dealership the guys could trash the john in the blink of an eye.

Time to think outside the "box".

 

[OilMagnate]

Ahhh...it's good to see we still make some things here in the USA.

Seriously.....fashion a shelf/holder for a soap's dispenser (like the Gojo pump) to the wall. You'd lose no sink top space.
If you're lucky, your location will have a corner near the sink so you could tuck a small shelf or "bird house" securely into a corner.

One driving consideration is wanting any soap dispenser immediately above the sink so dripping soap and hands drip into the sink.

How many guys are using this setup? When I was at the Dodge dealership the guys could trash the john in the blink of an eye.

Time to think outside the "box".

It's a cramped bathroom. Above the sink is not an option, the sink is tiny and there is a medicine cabinet above it. But drippage isn't a big deal, the whole shop is a finished concrete floor, so easy clean-up. Luckily only two people (plus customers who won't use Gojo) will use the dispenser, so wear and tear isn't a big deal. I am a neat freak, and the other mechanic is responsible for cleaning the bathroom, so it tends to stay clean. There is literally only enough room for a small SoftSoap bottle on the sink. The only "shelf" space to set anything on is the toilet tank where a half gallon of Gojo sits (the flush button sits on top of the tank, centered, so it won't allow anything bigger). The sink sits close to a corner, and the wall beside it is occupied by a paper towel roll holder and the door, so it's completely full.

I was hoping the dispenser would be a good solution, but so far it's looking like it's going back because I can get it so much cheaper outside of the box. Refilling a half gallon bottle until it breaks seems much cheaper. But it may be necessary to use a dispenser due to the lack of space. I'll see what creative nonsense I can come up with. There's just not much space for creativity with about 25 square feet before toilet and sink, especially with the door swinging inward.

 

[Kira]

Years ago I saw mustard & ketchup dispensers at fairs which were inverted gallon plastic jugs. The jug's bottom had a hanging eye molded in.
Pointing downward was an udder which you squeezed and drew downward dispensing the condiments right where you needed them.
Clean it was.

Anything like that available? Hang the jug with a mounted ring similar in schematics to a basketball hoop. It'd be cool. Think of all the lewd jokes.

edit: The dispenser seems contraptive and horribly unoriginal.

 

[wkcars]

It looks like the refills are just sealed bags, can you make a tiny hole at the top and use some kind of hose connect it to the pump nozzle on the gallon containers or conenct a hose to a syringe or even a turkey baster to refill the refill bag and then seal the hole.

 

[PimTac]

All the dispensers I’ve seen like that had disposable soap bags. I’ve never seen one like that which was refillable.

The old Boraxo powder dispensers were refillable and for a garage setting were perfect.