Many store-bought products like shampoo, skin care, laundry detergent and cleaning supplies can be expensive and are often filled with ingredients that aren’t so healthy for your body. Substituting all those products with natural products in not as hard as it seems. In fact, castile soap, an all-natural cleaning product, can cleanse your face, clean your clothes, wash your dishes and much more. It is all-natural, chemical free, biodegradable and is manufactured by hand. You can mix castile soap with other natural or non-harsh products to create many different cleaning products, the possibilities are endless!

What is Castile Soap?

Castile soap is made out of plant oils. It does not use any harsh ingredients like chemicals and it is usually made with ingredients such as vegetable oils and potassium hydroxide (9). Not only is this product eco-friendly but one study showed how castile soap is also antibacterial and was able to kill 99% of the germs in a test tube. If you want to make your own liquid Castile soap, follow the how-to video below.

7 Uses For Castile Soap

1. Dish Soap

Many store-bought dish soaps contain harmful chemicals which have been linked to cancer, skin irritation and other health problems. The commonly found chemicals in these soaps are surfactants, preservatives, fragrance and other inactive or active ingredients (1). Castile soap, on the other hand, is an all natural plant based product that’ll clean those dishes right up. The following is a simple recipe for homemade dish soap (2):

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of castile soap

• ¼ cup grated castile soap

• 4 tbsp super washing soda

• 4 ounces purified water

• 30 drops lemon essential oil

• 30 drops lavender essential oil

Directions:

1. Place the grated soap and washing soda into a bowl and blend with a whisk.

2. Boil the water. Once it’s boiled, pour it onto the ingredients that were mixed in step one and stir it.

3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and blend it well.

4. Let it cool and stir it occasionally.

5. Finally, pour it into a BPS-free squirt bottle or a glass bottle with a pump and you’re ready to start cleaning.

2. Laundry Detergent

Sometimes store bought laundry detergent can irritate the skin, or the fragrance can be very overwhelming. Using castile soap as a detergent has the opposite effect as it is scent free and will not irritate your skin. Your laundry may even last longer because your clothes are not being exposed to chemicals. Try this simple homemade laundry detergent (3):

Ingredients:

• 1 cup liquid castile soap

• ¾ cups baking soda

• 2 ¼ cups warm water

• ¼ cup of finely grated sea salt

Directions:

1. Dissolve the baking soda and salt into 2 cups of warm water then pour it into a gallon container and add the liquid castile soap.

2. Fill the container with water until it reaches the top.

3. You can use ¼ of a cup a load, which means you should be able to do 64 loads.

3. All-Purpose Household Cleaner

Most of the household cleaning products you use are filled with chemicals and overwhelming fragrances that can trigger asthma, allergies, and are linked to cancer (4). But this following recipe will provide you with the ultimate all-natural cleaning product that’ll leave your house squeaky clean (3). 

Ingredients:

• White vinegar

• Water

• Liquid castile soap

• Tea tree essential oil

• Orange or lemon essential oil

• Spray bottle

Directions:

1. Fill a quarter of the spray bottle with white vinegar and then fill it with water.

2. Add a squirt of liquid castile soap.

3. Add a few drops of tea tree oil.

4. Add a few drops of the orange or lemon oil.

4. Face Wash

A lot of face washes can cause skin irritation due to their toxic ingredients such as parabens (5). Try this all-natural homemade face wash instead, it will help fight acne and bacteria (3).

Ingredients:

• ¼ cups of liquid castile soap

• 5 drops each of tea tree and frankincense oils (both help fight bacteria)

• Foaming dispenser

Directions:

1. Add the liquid castile soap to the foaming dispenser and then fill the rest of the dispenser with water.

2. Add the oils to the dispenser.

3. Use this product the same way you would use any other face wash. 

5. Shampoo

Many shampoos can be drying to the scalp and can cause skin irritation due to its ingredients such as formaldehyde (6). With castile soap, you can make your own shampoo which will leave you hair and scalp feeling shiny and soft (3).

Ingredients:

• 7 tbsp castile soap

• 6 tsp coconut milk

• ½ tsp of coconut oil

Directions:

1. Simply mix together the castile soap, the coconut milk, and the coconut oil.

2. This will make about 7 applications which you can store in the fridge for about a week.

6. Hand Soap

Many hand soaps contain harsh chemicals that could lead to liver problems and are associated with cancer (7). With castile soap you can create an all-natural, gentle hand soap that’ll kill bacteria (3).

Ingredients:

• Water

• Castile soap

• 5 drops of tea tree oil (acts as an antibacterial property)

• 5 drops of lavender oil (acts as a relaxing scent)

• Foaming soap dispenser

Directions:

1. Fill the dispenser ¾ of the way with boiled water and ¼ of the way with liquid castile soap.

2. Add your essentials oils.

7. Toothpaste

A lot of kinds of toothpaste contain toxins and even carcinogenic properties such as fluoride (8). Try this extremely simple homemade toothpaste instead (3).

Ingredients:

• Castile soap

• Coconut oil

Directions:

1. Put one drop of castile soap and a small drop of coconut oil on your toothbrush and brush your teeth like normal.

2. Do not swallow.

3. It acts just like a toothpaste as contains cleansing and antibacterial properties.

Directions:

1. Put castile soap in a bowl of steamy hot water.

2. Add your essentials oils to the bowl.

3. Breathe in the mist with a towel draped over your head. Be wary of the steam though as it can burn your skin.

Castile Soap Brands:

The following are a list of brands that manufacture castile soap:

1. Dessert Essence liquid Castile soap

2. Dr. Bronner’s pure liquid Castile soap

3. Natural Way Organics Castile liquid soap

4. Dr. Bronner’s all in one pure Castile bar soap 

5. Kirk’s original coco Castile bar soap 

 

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