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Meghan Herlihy is a full-time writer for LifeSavvy and has written across a wide variety of topics, genres, and formats, including radio talk shows, local sports journalism, and creative original fiction. She received her bachelor's degree in communications from Ithaca College and a master's in writing from Johns Hopkins University. When she's not writing, you're most likely to find her reading a book, petting every dog within eyesight, and indulging in her love of travel. Read more...

Many people prefer liquid hand soap to classic soap bars, since it’s easier to dispense and rub onto your hands. The downside is that it’s easy to dole out too much soap at once– bring your hand down a little too hard, and you’ve got liquid soap overflowing your palms, going to waste.

Luckily there’s an easy solution, one that you probably already have sitting in your desk or a drawer somewhere. A single rubber band and maybe 30 seconds of your time are all you need to fix this issue.

Keep in mind that the wider and thicker the rubber band, the more effective this hand washing hack will be. If you don’t have thicker ones at home, use several thinner bands instead.

Buying an automatic soap dispenser like this one is another possible solution.

Once you’ve got your rubber band in hand, wrap it around the neck of your soap dispenser until it’s slightly tight. Give it a test tap to ensure that the pump can’t press down all the way; if the pump can’t press down fully, it can’t ever squirt out too much hand soap at once.

If you don’t have any rubber bands lying around at home, most types of hair ties will serve just as well.

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