Your grandmother probably had one of these by the sink for doing the dishes. It can also be used to dissolve soap for hand-washing in the laundry or putting some bubbles in your bath. You are going to wish you still had one because they are so useful! What is a soap shaker? A soap shaker (also known as a soap saver or suds maker) is the old-fashioned way of using a bar of soap for the washing up. Its just a metal cage with a handle. You put soap in the cage and swish it around in hot water to dissolve some soap. Then you can easily dry out the soap between uses so that it lasts longer. How can I use soap to reduce my plastic consumption? Like so many things now, we are realising that our grandmothers had some good ideas in the garden and around the house. They had to be frugal and make do with what they had. Naturally that meant less waste, and particularly less plastic. Soap shakers are the perfect way to reduce plastic in the kitchen - no more bottles of dishwashing liquid...