Here are 10 reasons why you should take Dr Bronner's Castile Soap on holiday with you:
1. A small bottle of Dr Bronner's is less that 100ml and so can be included in your airline hand luggage
2. Dr Bronner's brilliant for everyday skin washing - gentle on the skin
3. Dr Bronner's great for washing your clothes - it won't bleach or damage them
4. You can even use Dr Bronner's for washing your hire car - well okay, that's a bit unlikely, but you never know
5. You can wash your hair with Dr Bronner's leaving your hair tangle free
6. Save on toothpaste and clean your teeth with Dr Bronner's - choose the peppermint one for this!
7. Shaving, legs or beards is easy with Br Bronner's soap
8. You could wash your fruit and veg. with Dr Bronner's to clean off any pesticides - but better to buy organic instead!
9. Dr Bronner's is certified Fair Trade so you know you are hekping those who need it most
10. Dr. Bronner's is certified organic so you know you are helping to safe guard the environment
More questions? Read on!
What does "Castile" mean?
In earlier centuries, an all-vegetable based soap was made in the Castile region of Spain from local olive oil. By the turn of this century, "Castile" had come to mean any vegetable oil-based soap, versus animal (tallow) fat-based soap.
"Pure-Castile" is now also your guarantee that what you 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 is the difference between the bar and liquid soaps?
The difference between the liquid and bar soaps is that the liquid soaps use potassium hydroxide to turn the vegetable oils to soap, whereas sodium hydroxide is used to make the hard bar soaps.
What is "Organic" and why is it so great?
The term "organic" refers to both sustainable farming practices and to products ecologically made from materials produced on certified organic farms.
According to organic standards, such products have to be at least 70% organic by non-water, non-salt weight.
Organic products not only support sustainable farming, but also farm worker health and ecological processing methods
How should I use the liquid soap?
For everyday body-washing: Get wet and pour several drops of soap full-strength onto hands-washcloth-loofah. Lather up, scrub down, rinse off, and tingle fresh and clean.
For other uses: Dilute from one part soap into 40 parts water for light cleaning, to cutting it in half or using it full strength for heavy-duty grease-cutting jobs.
For laundry: Use 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup for one regular load; adjust as needed depending on the hardness of your water. Adding a dash of baking soda makes it even better.
My liquid soap turned cloudy. What happened, and what should I do to clear it up again?
Our liquid soaps are so concentrated that they are nearly solid. Thus, when the temperature drops to about 50° F, the fatty acids begin to solidify and cloud out.
Just put the soap in a warm room, or warm water, and it will clear up at about 70° F.
But clear or cloudy, the soap works just the same.
Do the soaps contain any foaming agents/detergents like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate?
Absolutely not.
The soaps are 100% true pure-castile soaps.
The high foaming lather of our soaps is from their high coconut oil content, which makes a more luxurious and rich lather than any detergent can ever create.
What are the uses and dilutions for your soap?
For everyday body-washing: Get wet and pour soap full-strength onto hands-washcloth-loofah. Lather up, scrub down, rinse off, and tingle fresh and clean.
For other uses, dilute from one part soap into 40 parts water for light cleaning, to cutting it in half or using it full strength for heavy-duty grease-cutting jobs.
For shampoo, people have been telling us for years that they like using our soaps to shampoo their hair
For the laundry, use 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup for one regular load; adjust as needed depending on hardness of water. I've been told that adding a dash of baking soda makes it even better.
For pets, lather up well and apply to their body. Be careful to keep the soap and the lather away from their eyes. I find a mixture of peppermint and eucalyptus works best.
For toothbrushing, apply a drop or two of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap (I prefer the peppermint) to a wet toothbrush. Brush as you normally would, rinsing accordingly. Be careful about using more than a couple drops of soap, as you might start foaming at the mouth (last time I checked "rabid chic" was not hip). Many people with sensitive or softer teeth like to use our soap as toothpaste because it lacks abrasives.