How to Find the Right Replacement Pump for Your ...

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So, you’ve got some liquid soap bottles or old shampoo bottles that you want to refill and reuse. Or maybe you’ve purchased a bottle and want to replace the pump or cap it came with. That’s great! Way to reuse what you already have! The only problem is the pump that comes with the bottle. It may have been useful for whatever came in the bottle originally, but it’s not quite right for your shampoo, conditioner or liquid soap that you want to put in the bottle now. Or maybe your bottle is great, but it didn’t come with a pump. No problem. If it’s a standard size bottle, chances are, there’s a pump that works with it. But there are a lot of considerations when choosing an appropriate pump for your refillable bottle. What size do you need? Will it work for lotions or soaps? Are there any construction specifications that you need to be aware of? Does it matter if it’s plastic or metal? And so on.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

If you purchased your bottle from Bottiful Home then you're going to be excited to learn that I offer free replacement pumps for life! That's right. You needn't look further for a replacement pump. If it's in stock, it's yours, for just the cost of shipping. Check out my free replacement pump program and order your set of replacement pumps using the instructions on the page. No registration, sign-up, minimum order or time lapse required. Keep reading for everything you need to know if you didn't buy your bottles from me, and you don't know what type or size of pump you need.

ANATOMY OF A BOTTLE PUMP

Before we get into the specifics on how to choose the right pump, it’s important to understand a little about how bottle pumps are made, how the pieces work together, and how complex they can really be. You may think a pump for a refillable bottle is a simple machine, but in fact, it’s quite complex. Take a look at this photo of one of our most common pumps we use on our refillable shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap bottles. Notice there are a lot of small parts that must work in concert with one another to ultimately deliver soap into your hand once you’ve pressed the pump. Each color in this photo represents a separate piece of the pump. There’s even a tiny glass ball at the bottom of the interior of the pump that, along with the spring, piston, and stem, helps to regulate the flow of liquids through the mechanism.

For a really great article explaining how lotion pumps work, see What’s Inside a Lotion Pump and How Does it Work? By Jonathon at O.Berk. Do you see the slim tube inside the spring? That slim piece of plastic is keeping your shampoo from coming in contact with the spring so it doesn’t become corroded over time. Pretty cool right? And the lime green sliver that’s under the top of the closure is the round gasket that fits all the way around the closure to ensure a tight fit and prevent any leaking. And this is just a sneak peek into the complexity and mechanics of a lotion pump.

So with this knowledge in mind, let’s move on to some of the considerations when purchasing the perfect pump for your refillable bottle.

HOW TO KNOW WHAT PUMPS WILL FIT ONTO YOUR REFILLABLE BOTTLES

Before we delve into the intricacies of measuring the neck opening and threading dimensions, I want to introduce a new product that can make this process much simpler. I've developed a handy kit of bottle caps with threading measurements noted on top. This innovative product is designed to help you find the perfect fit for your bottle without the hassle of precise measurements.

All you need to do is try each cap until you find one that fits your bottle perfectly. The threading measurements on the cap will then guide you in finding any replacement cap, pump, or lid for your bottle. This kit eliminates the guesswork and ensures that your replacement will fit perfectly. No more worrying about millimeters or threading dimensions. With this kit, you can rest assured that you'll find the right fit every time.

Click "Add to Cart" to buy our Bottle Threading Finder Kit now and skip all the complicated measurements! Or go to the product page for all the details of the kit.

Here's what Sabrina had to say after purchasing the kit:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐"Awesome!

Great little kit to have on hand! Totally worth it!"

Or, if you prefer to do all your own measuring without the kit, you certainly can! Keep reading to get all the information you need to get an accurate set of measurements.

A closure (i.e. a pump, fitting or cap for bottles) is typically defined by two measurements: the neck opening dimension and the threading size dimension. They’re usually defined in millimeters and reported together with a hyphen or forward slash separator. For example, many of our refillable shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap bottles at Bottiful Home have a neck opening of 24 millimeters and a 410 threading dimension. That number can be shown as either 24/410 or 24-410. Any pump or cap with these dimensions will fit onto our bottles with that opening size.

So How Do You Find the Neck Opening and Threading Measurements of Your Refillable Bottle?

First, you need to find the neck opening measurement of the bottle you have or the one(s) you’re looking to purchase. If you purchased your bottle off the drugstore shelf, you may not know what the opening measurement is. You can try to measure with a measuring tape, but it needs to be really precise because millimeters are difficult to see precisely, and even one millimeter off will change the pump size needed to fit onto your bottle. Then you need to get the threading dimension of your bottle. This one will be tricky if you’re not familiar with common threading dimensions. Some of the most common threading dimensions for household bottles with small openings are 400, 410 and 415. You don’t really need to know what the number refers to. You just need to be able to visualize the difference. And this image will help you do just that.

Image from The Cary Company article “Guide to Neck Finishes” This article explains well how to measure each component of the bottle neck. It's very helpful so go check it out. It's not an easy process, so make sure you are really good at reading measurements in millimeters and also allow for a little room for error if you're trying to purchase a cap or pump for your bottle and measuring it yourself.

Image from U.S. Plastic article “How Do I Know How to Calculate a Cap & Neck Size?” You will find this article extremely helpful if you’re interested in learning more about how the threading finish is determined and calculated. And there's a great video explanation in the article too. Alternatively, Qorpak has this really great cap measuring tool you can print out on a piece of 8.5x11” piece of paper at home to get the best results. Another option is to simply contact the manufacturer of the bottle you want to fit with a pump and ask what the neck dimensions and thread finish are. This is definitely the slowest way to get the information, but probably the most assuredly accurate.