Julie has already given us some great information on cleaning with lemons and getting stains out of laundry and today we'll talk about the many uses for pure castille soap.
As you start to research homemade soap or shampoo recipes you are probably going to notice that castille soap is almost always an ingredient. That's because it's so versatile and because its readily available in most health food stores, natural food stores and online.
So what is castille soap? Originally an all-vegetable based soap was made in the Castile region of Spain from local olive oil. Now a days "Castile" refers to any vegetable oil-based soap, versus animal (tallow) fat-based soap. Dr. Bronner's makes a "Pure-Castile" guaranteeing that what they are using is a real ecological and simple soap, not a complex blend of detergents with a higher ecological impact due to the waste stream during manufacture and slower biodegradability.
What can use it for?
1. Soap you can use it as is as hand soap or body soap. I find the full strength to be a bit much so I dilute mine with water. I save some money and it is just as effective.
2. Shampoo
3. Toothpaste. I have never tried this but supposedly you can use a couple drops and it works. Has anyone tried this? Thoughts?
4. Laundry. 1/3 to 1/4 of a cup in a regular load of laundry.
5. Pet shampoo.
6. Aftershave.
7. Vegetable/fruit rinse.
8. Pest spray. 1/4 oz to 1 Qt water.
9. Massage oil. I got this from Dr. Bronner's site and I have to say I'm not sold on using soap as a massage oil.
10. Cleaning- counters, floors, etc 1 part castille soap to 40 parts water for light cleaning or 1 part castille soap to 20 parts water for heavy duty cleaning.
11. Dish soap.
12. Shaving lather.
13. Bubble bath
14. Carpet Stain remover. A drop or two on a clean damp towel should do the trick.
15. Cleaner/Disinfectant. 1 part white vineger 3 parts water and a squirt of castille soap and off you go.
16. Face Wash.
17. Clean makeup brushes. I imagine you could use it on things like paint brushes as well.
18. Wood cleaner. A drop on a microfiber cloth will do the trick.
19. Foot soak. A capful of soap into a basin of water will ease your tired feet.
20. Backpacking. Because it is so versatile and biodegradable you can take one small bottle with you and use as needed without worrying about what you are putting into the water.
There you go I thought of 20 different uses, are there any I missed? If you use castille soap I'd love to hear your thoughts.
20 comments:
Thank you for this list! I've seen this stuff at health food stores and have heard people talk about it, but I didn't really know about all it can do till now.
I've used Dr. bronner's for many years and love it. It's a great veggie wash,shampoo,laundry ingredient, and household cleaner.
*Rose* is my absolute favorite scent!
Mr Chiots and I have used it for years because we're backpackers. It's nice because you take one tiny bottle and you use it for everything (dishes, washing up, toohthbrushing, etc). We like the peppermint when backpacking because it's refreshing. We have several scents we use at home. I like eucalyptus for showing in the winter, cleans out the sinuses. I use lavender for my cleaning products.
I must say I don't like it straight on my hair, makes it feel weirdly greasy. But I do like the peppermint as toothpaste (I'm not sure the other scents would be so good for that purpose)!
i tried peppermint Bronners as a toothpaste once and did't enjoy it.. though i'm used to using just baking soda for my teeth. tasted too soapie for my liking.. though i'd try it again.
We have used it for everything for 33 years.
I keep a little film can on the bathroom sink, with some water in it, and a DROP of the peppermint with a DROP of stevia extract (tea, really, we grow and dry our own stevia.
Wash/rinse toothbrush before using. drip the weak Dr. B solution on the toothbrush and cover the film can back up. Brush. Rinse your mouth, rinse out the toothbrush, done.
Sometimes I resort to the baking soda, though, as it provides some needed abrasion and fights acids better, I think.
Thank you for the reminder! I have a bottle under the sink and other than using it for dish soap, I often forget about it. I think I'll pass on the toothpaste though.
Yes ~ thank you for the reminder of the multitude of Castille.
I use it as a hand wash. Put a couple big squirts in a foam pump dispenser and add water. Foams nicely and since it is diluted it is very economical.
I used mine in she shower for hair, body and shampoo. I use it for hand soap at the my sinks too... I use Dr. Bonner Tea Tree because I have oily skin...but I also have the Peppermint one too...my husband loves it and shaves with it.
Thanks for the list!
A friend/teacher who is very sensitive to scents/perfumes insists that her students only use Dr B for shampoo if in her class (& scent free laundry detergent - my fav. is 'bioclean' - the liquid lasts me for months - & I wash massage sheets DAILY!)
I use plain coconut oil for massage, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, & anti-fungal - washes out well, & it's clearing long lasting skin fungus on several clients!
I've used a tooth powder that inc. myrrh, baking soda, & several other herbs - the Herb Store in Lincon City OR sells one - sometimes mix that with Tom's fluoride FREE toothpaste :)
Whats the difference between face wash and soap?
It tastes awful - no good for toothpaste.
I use Dr B's for hand washing laundry and as soap, it goes a long way and works well. Doesn't work for me as shampoo.
I tried most of the different forms of Dr. Bronner's when i first began switching over to things more healthy/better for the environment. I found i wasn't able to use it in the shower as a body wash. It made me itchy all over.
I tried it for cleaning, too. I diluted it, but it still seemed to be streaky & not come clean.
I know i'm in the minority here, but i haven't had much luck with it. I use baking soda, vinegar, & H2O2 for most of my cleaning. I also use soap nuts for laundry & some other things. I thin the organic shampoo i buy with liquid from the soap nuts & water & my hair is very soft.
Not trying to knock this as i know it is a good product, but i haven't found it all that useful for our household.
I am setting up a greywater system from the washing machine and am wondering if plants like dr. Bronners as well or does it foam up too much? I have seen Oasis recommended. Has anyone experimented with soap for greywater?
And I'm puzzled as to how Castile soap can be a liquid, as in the picture. I've never heard of Castile soap as anything other than a hard soap made with olive oil (as per Wikipedia). Soaps from other vegetable oils are sold here as just that.
If I can quote from Flylady, "soap is soap" and the uses you've listed are typical for soap (apart from the toothpaste and massage oil -- yuk! It's alkaline, people; these are not sensible uses!).
You can also use soap to grease drawer runners and zippers, but I wouldn't try it with a liquid soap! Garden soap spray is often used for control of aphids.
Wow that's a great list - I have a bottle and have to get using it some more! Tried it diluted as a shampoo (my hair is dry) but still found it too much and my hair felt too heavy once dry - quite curly though which was nice. I then needed to use normal shampoo to wash my hair again and to rinse it off properly. Any suggestions would be fab!
I just started using all natural products and th eone thing i found that i cant stand is that strange film like feeling that all of the soaps tend to leave on your skin but that feeling goes away the second your dry with castile soap. I use dr bronners baby mild diluted for a body wasy that way there are no strong and possible burning sensations on the nether regions from the essential oils :) i use the tea tree diluted for a hand soap. I have used it as a shampoo it does leave your hair feeling heavy but there are a couple of solutions. One is to mix it with a little baking soda before scrubbing your scalp and hair and another is to do a vinegar rinse after shampooing. Both work i prefer the vinegar rinse though mainly because i have hard water and it helps with dandruff and dry scalp problems too. Hope this helps with teh questions reguarding shampooing have a great day everyone :)
Not something you'd want to use for bubble bath. castile soap is low-foaming, which makes it great for dishwashers and laundry, not bubbles!
Of my many uses my favorite is body wash. I ad an additional drop or two of tea tree oil. Excellent on those sinus allergy days. Fresh and decongesting. On occasion I may even add eucalyptus oil skin safe only ! of course for a great dual intifungal body solution.
Chookie, whether the soap is liquid or solid depends on which alkali you use to saponify the fat: sodium hydroxide for solid and potassium hydroxide for soft/liquid.
Potassium hydroxide is the traditional household alkali for soap manufacture, produced after extracting potash (lye) from wood ash and treating it with lime.
Sodium hydroxide is produced by combining lime with soda ash (aka washing soda, aka lye) which is a mined mineral and so not widely available for traditional household production.
I use the bar soap as body and hair wash. I make a conditioner with about half an ounce of water and half an ounce of apple cider vinegar, with a few drops of peppermint or tea tree oil, then rinse.
I use the liquid soap for pet shampoo and the odd cleaning project but I just use water and vinegar for most things. I'm going to try making laundry soap though. I've been looking for an Eco alternative (besides the very very expensive stuff in stores. Seems the more colors and perfumes they REMOVE the more it costs. Strange).
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