If you’ve been around green and natural living circles or blogs for a while you’ve probably heard of Castile Soap. But you may be wondering: What in the world is it?and How do I use castile soap? Well, I’m here to tell you, you definitely want to check it out, because castile soap is some pretty awesome stuff! Here on the blog we’ve been talking a lot about personal care products, and homemade and green cleaning, over the past few months and I’ve mentioned castile soap several times, and a reader recently asked about different uses for castile soap. So, I’m re-posting some of this from a post I wrote last year, and also adding some new and updated information as well.
What is Castile Soap?
Castile soap is made from pure oils. I love the short and simple ingredient list on my Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild castile soap: Water, Saponified Organic Coconut & Organic Olive Oils (w/Retained Glycerin), Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Vitamin E. It also comes in many different scents, and is scented with essential oils, like citrus, eucalyptus and lavender. I have found castile soap at Meijer and Target, as well as my local health food store. But the best prices and selection can usually be found online at Amazon orVitacost.com. (I just ordered the citrus scent online because I couldn’t find it anywhere else, and it is my favorite scent. If you sign up at Vitacost you’ll get $10 off your first order over $30, and I’ll get $10 too, it’s a win-win!) The reason castile soap is so great is that it is so multi-functional. Because you can use it for so many different things, it’s one more way to help you simplify your personal care products, and green cleaning routine. How to Use Castile Soap: Body Wash – It just takes a little squirt on one of those bath poofs and you have tons of soapy lather in the shower. The citrus scent is so energizing – it’s great for helping me wake up in the morning. I’ve been using it full strength, but because it’s so concentrated I think I’ll try diluting it to help it stretch even farther! Shaving “cream” – I really like shaving with castile soap. It has a lot of lather and because it’s made out of oils, I feel like my razors slides better than when I was just using regular body wash. I also feel like it’s pretty moisturizing and haven’t needed to use lotion much this winter. Baby Wash – This also works great as a head to toe baby wash. You do have to be a little careful with it around their eyes because it’s not tear free, but especially if you dilute it, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You can also squirt it in the bathtub to create a bubble bath for your kiddos. The bubbles won’t last as long as traditional bubble bath, but it’s still fun for them. Hand Soap – Use a foaming soap dispenser and fill it up with water and then add a few squirts of castile soap and glycerin. (Another great way to avoid triclosan!) It’s also great for kids because it makes a lot of fun bubbles to wash with, but without the nasty chemicals in popular kids’ soaps like Kandoo. Baby Wipes – I use castile soap and Tea Tree Oil mixed with water as ahomeamde solution for my baby wipes. These wipes are great for changing diapers, but also great just to use for wiping hands and faces after eating, for cleaning spots of spit-up or other stains off of clothing, just about anything you would use a disposable baby wipe for. Homemade Multipurpose Cleaner – One of my favorite multipurpose cleaners is castile soap and Tea Tree Oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. It’s super easy to make, and you can use it to clean all around the house. Homemade Soft Scrub – This is a quick and easy non-toxic cleaner to mix up for the bathroom. It is awesome at getting sinks and tubs bright white and shiny again!
