Last Christmas, I published a short article titled My Gingerbread Man Soap Dispenser, which was, as the name suggests, about my gingerbread man soap dispenser. I had purchased him at a local discount store called Lot Less on December 20, 2025, mostly for aesthetic purposes (I recall it was about $3 to $3.50, but I did not note the exact price in the original article). The gingerbread man was not all about aesthetics – mind you – he also held distinctly ginger-scented soap. While I would ordinary not think to write an article about a soap dispenser, I was inspired in this case because the gingerbread man’s face reminded me of the Pokémon Ditto post-transformation, which recalled back an article I had published in January 2024. After my brief story, I concluded the article with the following line:
PS: I am already thinking about finding the right soap for the eventual re-fill.
The gingerbread man ran out of soap a few months later. He was still in good shape, so I sought out a re-fill. I thought about finding more ginger-scented soap, but I decided to take a “discount” approach and save the true “gingerbread” re-fill for when it would be more “in season.” But while I was willing to pass on the ginger soap in the spring, I did want to make sure that I found the right “color” soap to go with my clear-amber gingerbread man. Because I found him at Lot Less, I returned to Lot Less and found a good deal on some bath soap which I figured would work well enough as hand soap (soap is soap, after all). The bottle of soap was so big that it was good for not one, but two refills. I did not document the spring refill, but the gingerbread man came due for a second re-fill on July 6, 2026. Being that this would be the last re-fill from my first re-fill batch, I decided to document it for the enjoyment and benefit of The New Leaf Journal audience.
First, see the empty gingerbread man after I gave him a good rinse.
I decided to undertake the re-fill process in my kitchen, where I have more room than the bathroom (not that the kitchen is large, mind you).
Above, you see the gingerbread man gazing longingly at the almost-half-empty-re-fill bottle. As you can see, I purchased 20 Oz of “macadamia oil & soft peony” hydrating body wash made by Softsoap for the low price of $3.99. The main reason I went for this soap over similarly priced options at Lot Less (I vaguely recall that it was not the absolute cheapest choice) was because of the color – clear and lightly tinted, almost perfectly matching my dispenser.
Here you see the gingerbread man after I filled him. Unfortunately, I did not fill him perfectly like I once re-filled a sunblock bottle – you can see a little bit of dribble on his forehead. But no matter – just beneath the dribble, you can also see that I did not fill the gingerbread man to the brim. I had planned to add a bit of water to top him off and slightly dilute the body wash for handwashing usage (not to mention for the cheap pump which came with the gingerbread man).
Finally, you see the end result – my now full gingerbread soap dispenser next to the almost empty bottle of body wash.
While I am not in the business of reviewing soap dispensers, I will note with approval that the gingerbread man looks as good as new after more than half-a-year of use and two full re-fills. The cheap pump (perhaps something to replace down the line) is also holding up well. I may look for some ginger-scented soap for the next re-fill, which should at least come close to covering Thanksgiving and Christmas.
