Friday, September 30, 2011

Soap dish from kitchen skimmer


Materials: Ikea (name?) kitchen skimmer

Description: We have 2 round vessel sinks in our master bath. Small Ikea bowls mimicking the shape of the vessels held our soaps next to the sinks. Every time we reached with wet hands for the soap or return it to the dish, soapy water splashed on the counter, very messy.


What we needed was an in-sink soap dish!

We looked at Ikea's Lillangen line of bathroom furniture but none of their in-sink accessories would fit our rounded vessel sinks.

While browsing Ikea's kitchen accessories, I came upon a kitchen skimmer that immediately presented a solution. The handle was thick and flat stainless steel, and being a skimmer the device had the requisite openings for the soap to drain excess water. (The newer versions available now have round holes instead of slits)

With a metal saw I cut off the handle to a workable length and smoothed the sharp ends with a sanding tool.

I inserted the remainder of the skimmer into a vice, and carefully bent the handle over a wooden dowel with a diameter approximately the width of the top of the vessel walls. I lined the inside of the bent handles with foam tape, so as not to scratch the porcelain sink, and voila: In-sink soap dishes.

~ Pippa, Chicago area

28 comments:

  1. Great idea!
    I've got a similar bathroom problem and this might work for me too. Although my sink poses some different issues because of its shape.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Slightly off topic, but I love the color of that soap!

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  3. Brilliant! I've mostly moved to liquid soap pumps but I've felt the pain of soap dish puddles. Kudos!

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  4. That. Is. Brilliant.

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  5. Crazy smart, out-of-the-box thinking. Brilliant!

    _jenny

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  6. Genius in its simplicity! Extremely functional and looks super cool.

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  7. First class idea! Looks terrific! And what SillySimple said.

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  8. Very clever, creative hack. Great look. Well done!

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  9. Fantastic, brilliant, clever...all that!
    Any other pictures from the side showing the new soap dish on the sink/bowl?
    - Amy, Chicago

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  10. Ingenious! What a simple yet elegant solution to the soap puddle mess on the counter. A+

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  11. Everyone: Glad you all like my little hack.

    Amy, I'll take a sideways picture in the near future.

    Pippa

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  12. Just love, love, love this hack. Now I want a vessel sink too. You've got the eye, Pippa. Kudos!

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  13. How cool! I'm a soapmaker, so I'm always interested in soap dishes. No vessel sinks right now, but if we have them in our next home, I doing this:-)

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  14. So far this is the brigtest idea I have seen on here(there are so many nice ones), I shall be copy righting=)))

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  15. Unlike a lot of stuff on this site, this looks fantastic and unlikely to collapse.

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  16. Rare hack that does not look hackish. I bet your guests never realize the true provenance of this stylish soap dish. Simply brilliant idea.

    Thanks for sharing, Sarah

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  17. Wow, what a light bulb moment in the kitchen section! Creative and out of the box hack. Chicest looking soap dish I've come across.
    Ingenious!
    Matthew

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  18. Sharp looking hack! Simply terrific! Love it.

    Tricia

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  19. Fab idea, great understated look, AND simple to do. How come I never thought of this...?
    Love it.
    Brenda

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  20. Inspired Idea! Cool elegant looks! Easy to do! What's not to like?

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  21. Best, most creative hack of 2011 and good looking to boot!

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  22. What a little gem of a hack!

    Cindy

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  23. WOW!! Great eye *thumbs up* Love how the simplicity and the shape mimic one another. Very lovely indeed!!

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  24. Pippa,
    you have changed my point of view like no one else before.
    I find myself looking at everyday objects and in the back of my mind wondering what they could be turned into....

    This kitchen skimmer-soap dish solves a problem in such a simple, inexpensive, yet aesthetically pleasing way that it begs the question: what are all the professional product designers doing with their time?
    Fabulous!
    Tina

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  25. This is so good, you should patent it.

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  26. I wish there was a better picture. maybe a side view or underneath view to show the clamping process.
    Great idea and good on you for looking st everything just a little bit differently.

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  27. To everyone: I appreciate all your kind comments, and thanks to all who voted for my little hack. Keep on hacking and posting!

    To Amy from way back and Anonymous above:
    I'll ask Jules to place some sideways pictures that I finally took. Hope that helps.

    Pippa

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