Ladies and gentleman, it’s time to play …
WHAT’S IN YOUR SOAP?
The winner of today’s game will receive $100,000 and a trip to the finals for a chance to win … a chicken! (The $100,000 is imaginary and the chicken is a metaphor for a deep sense of gratification.)
Okay, ready?
If your soap says “Castile” what does it contain?
- Olive oil
- A guy named Steve
- Bubble gum
- Potentially any vegetable based oil
Thinking caps on?
The correct answer is:
4. Potentially any vegetable based oil.
Originally, castile soap only referred to olive oil based soap made from olives in the region of Castile in Spain. Now it has evolved into meaning pretty much any soap made from mostly vegetable oils. Many castile branded soaps still contains olive oil as one of the main ingredients, but there are some exceptions.
One that comes to mind is Kirk’s Castile, which is made nearly completely from coconut.
Castile soap is widely known to be more gentle on skin than what’s lovingly referred to as “regular soap.” It has a pH of around 8.9 (which is 1.9 points more alkaline than neutral), so it may still be a touch bothersome to skin (especially the face, so if you wash with it, try using an apple cider vinegar toner afterwards).
Here’s the Next Question:
If your soap says “Ivory” on it, what does it contain?
- Nothing, really. It’s so pure. Probably made from happy thoughts and clouds.
- The tusks of baby elephants
- Does it matter? It’s cheap.
- Cow fat
And the answer is …
That’s right! The very first ingredient in Ivory soap is sodium tallowate, which is from animal fat. Mostly cow fat.
Why? Because that’s how some of the first soap was ever made … but it’s also very, very inexpensive, because tallow is typically the cheap fat/bone/hide byproduct leftover from the commercial meat industry.
Don’t think of that much when you use soap, do you? That the beautiful little snow white bar was made of ingredients that were originally sloppy, gloppy fat inside an animal.
Now, as most of you know, I’m not against eating animals; it’s just very important to me that I do it with consciousness and gratitude for the animal who supplied me with their goodness. (FYI, vegans and vegetarians, I TOTALLY support you and your beliefs, too. In fact, I applaud the inherent consciousness and thought that goes along with being either.)
I also think it’s important that, if we kill an animal for consumption, we utilize as much of that animal as possible in non-wasteful ways. So if you raise a happy cow, kill a happy cow, and eat a happy cow … fantastic if you also make soap from the happy cow, too.
Now that the explainy part is out of the way.
Consider This When You’re Using Commercial Soap:
These soaps are manufactured on GIANT scales, enormous, unbelievable. They must be getting their animal fat from another ginormous supplier.
These suppliers of animal fat, logically, must be commercial feedlots and slaughterhouses.
Commercial feedlots, as a general practice, use antibiotics and hormones and terrible living conditions that are anything but conscious and caring. In fact, they’re downright terrible. Monstrous. You get the picture.
Consider the source when you’re picking out your soap. Consider your consumption.
I have nothing against consciously-created tallowate soap, as a general rule (though I wouldn’t put it on my face if you paid me). Its pH is typically well into the 9.5 and over range, and most larger companies who make soap with tallowate also use TONS of other really icky ingredients.
So cow fat. From crowded, mooing, aching cows. I just thought I’d remind you where some of your soap comes from. You’re welcome. 🙂
Now for the last question.
If your bar of soap says DOVE Beauty Bar on it, what does it contain?
- Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate
- Stearic Acid
- Coconut Acid
- Sodium Tallowate
- Water
- Sodium Isethionate
- Sodium Stearate
- Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- Sodium Cocoate and/or Sodium Palm Kernelate
- Fragrance
- Sodium Chloride
- Tetrasodium EDTA
- Trisodium Etidronate
- BHT
- Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891)
- Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate
YOU WIN! The answer is: ALL OF THE BLASTED ABOVE
As a comparison, would you like to know what’s in Kirk’s Castile? Coconut Soap (made from coconut oil and sea-salt based lye), Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Coconut Oil, Natural Fragrance. The end.
Commercial bar soaps that contain animal tallowate:
- Ivory
- Dove
- Neutrogena (except Neutrogena Naturals)
- Purpose
- Cetaphil
- Dial
- Lever
- Tone
- Jergens
- Zest
- Camay
- Irish Spring
- basis
- pHisoderm.
Commercial bar soaps that do NOT contain animal tallowate:
- Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day
- Kirk’s Castile
- Dr. Bronner’s
- Kiss My Face
- Tom’s of Maine
- Burt’s Bees
- Zum Bar
- Tea Tree Therapy
- Desert Essence
- Pangea
So What’s In Your Soap?
So, tallow in soap isn’t a new thing, clearly. And it’s not some big, shocking surprise. I just started thinking about it a few nights ago, and the correlation between soap manufacturers and the highly questionable ethics of factory farming all of a sudden rang a bell. I don’t want to put unhappy cows in my stomach, and I also don’t want to put unhappy cows on my skin.
This has even made me rethink using Zote soap in my homemade laundry detergent. (Soapnuts just become a more and more awesome laundry alternative every day.)
How long has it been since you’ve used bar soap?
Do you have a favorite?
Is it one that’s listed in the tallowate section?
If so … what do you think about all this cow fat nonsense?
Food For Your Soul: Giving vs. Lending
I use Kosher soap it’s coconut oil
Omg!this is so absolutely freaking discussing! !!
What about the Clearly Natural bars that are sold in places like Fred Meyers? Are those considered safe? I don’t see it on either list. They are fairly inexpensive and if you want scent that doesn’t stick around ( working in the medical field,scent is a no-no) this is the soap for you.
LUSH soaps are cruelty-free and actually seem to clean better than regular soap.
They’re more $ but have oils and natural elements. I recently got into their shampoo bars. AWESOME STUFF.
Check the ingredients. LUSH shampoo bars, in particular, have SLS and other detergents.
It’s more convenient to use natural vegan soa; such as: kirk’s Castille soap, Mrs meyers, Dr bronner, etc… which contains herbal ingredients and free from harsh chemicals and animal fats. Burt bees is also a natural product except it contains GLUCOSE! Do our children have to consume more sugar even when they use soap? Isn’t enough having high fructose syrup in cereals, juice, bread, almost in everything which leads to obesity so do we have to add more sugar in baby shampoo and body wash?
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Thank you.
Beverly
A number of soaps now contain very small plastic particles to act as exfoliants. These cannot be removed by waste water treatment systems and end up in lakes and rivers where they are consumed by fish and bond to form harmful concentrations. I would be interested in knowing what soap brands are using such exfoliants and what might be done to convince soap makers they are not essential. It seems to me these additions are another unnecessary “come on” that ends up harming our waterways.
This article and some of the follow up comments were an inciteful and interesting read. Great discussion.
Thank you so much for posting this! This was the most informative webpage I found on the topic!
While I do care about what I put in and on my body & skin, I’m not crunchy enough to make my own soap. I have discovered a company that only uses the best ingredients and tallow is not one of them. Have you heard of Perfectly Posh? I’d love to send you some samples of some wonderful, some even vegan products. Check out my website and check out our Chunks! HUGE body bars of wonderful, naturally-based, made in the USA, goodness! Thanks for this post – I was researching tallow and stumbled on it. Great read!
All I know is I switched to much better quality soaps a couple of years ago and find I know longer have dry & itchy irritated skin and I can actually rinse it off! One good supplier is sundancesoapery, for the little extra cost its worth it. Anyone paying $8 bucks a bar is quite ridiculous.
I have to point out soap is a specific product – the FDA’s definition of soap is a fat, any fat, and an alkali (lye) combined. Most products on the market do not fit the FDA’s definition of soap. Detergents are made from synthetic ingredients – as defined by the FDA. Most commercial “soap” products are not true soap! When you see wording on the label, you see BODY WASH, SKIN CLEANSER, BODY whatever, you do not have a soap product. Feel free to either research it yourself, or you can go here http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Products/ucm115449.htm I am a vegetable soap maker and have been doing so for 10 years now. In addition, many “melt-and-pour soap” is not 100% soap. Many of the “melt-and-pour” products contain a variety of chemicals. You have to read the labels! If you see terms like sodium tallowate (cow fat), sodium cocoate (coconut oil), sodium palmate (palm oil), sodium oliveate (olive oil), these indicate the product contains soap. The less ingredients used to make the product, indicates a purer product. REAL SOAP that is superfatted – meaning there is excess oil remaining in the soap – WILL leave a slick feel on your body because of the excess oil content. This does not indicate an inferior soap or the skin cleaning quality is diminished. A good moisturizing soap will not make your skin feel dry. Soaps alkalinity CAN be controlled by the use of either borax or citric acid, or plain old lemon juice! If you buy a bar of true soap and your skin is dry, the formulation probably hasn’t been adjusted for Ph. All my batches of homemade soap is Ph adjusted to make a more gentle product.
We have inherited a lovely king-size quilt from our Great Grandmother.
I want to make sure it is clean before folding it up for the winter.
The tiny individual stitches must be cotton (made in Germany 100 years ago)
Should I take it to the dry cleaner to be freshened up or should I bring it to a commercial laundry place with big machines and wash it in cold water or just soak it in the bath tub?
If so, what is a gentle soap I should use?
I don’t know if this helps you, but soapwort (saponaria) is used to clean up ancient textiles by archaeologists. It’s a plant that has a natural lather and is very gentle.You can definitely buy it online. Best of luck!
In my search for cruelty free body soap, I discovered Made from Earth’s soaps, and it has answered all my prayers for a perfect daily soap. Simple ingredients and a gentle scents – I use the Citrus Lavender and the Blood Orange Soap.
No drying, no chemical scent, no sllck, artificial feel on the skin. My allergy prone skin is handling it well. My skin is in better shape than it has been in quite a while.
I have more of a problem with the chemicals used in these mass produced “soaps.” These “soaps” are not even classified by the FDA as soap, they are classified as cosmetics because they cleanse using detergents. A true soap is the resulting ‘salt’ after the chemical reaction between lye and a fat.
The worst thing about these mass produced ‘soaps’ is that many of the ingredients used in them are carcinogenic or toxic. I’m not lying about the carcinogens. Just research MSDS (the name of the ingredient). Look at section 11. MSDS sheets tell it like it is. As a cancer survivor (who is still battling cancer 12+ years post surgery), who has lost many family members to cancer, I have a real problem with cleaning my skin with toxins.
Nobody would ever consider eating most of the chemicals in those soaps if they were mixed into food, so why would anybody put that stuff on their skin? The skin absorbs what is put on it. Not only that, but nobody would ever consider washing themselves with liquid laundry detergent, but in all reality that is what people are doing when they use cheap mass produced soap.
If paying $3 for a bar of soap seems insane, try making your own. It is fun, and fascinating to learn how oils work together to create an amazing bar of soap. After making your own, you might even realize why artisans charge so much for fancy, handcrafted soaps. And most importantly: Your skin will thank you for it!
I’ve just made my third batch of soap. The first was lard only with grapefruit essential oil. The second was lard, coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil using chamomile-lavender tea instead of water. This batch is beef tallow I rendered myself, coconut oil and olive oil and the same tea. I’m having a blast!! The first batch was cold process, the second & third were hot process in a crock pot. I cannot wait to have my friends try them out and tell me which they like the best. Oh, tomorrow I’ll do a tallow only with the remaining grapefruit EO (cold process). Lots of fun, very little money spent.
i feel slightly awake to the fact that my dove soap isnt as wonderful as i thought it was all these years. today just being curious about what was in my bar of soap, im surprised. I would rather have more natural ingredients in my bar of soap. Thanks for the information.
I a, so tired of this crunchy movement and the greenwashing bullshit. There is NOTHING wrong with dove soap. You have all been baited and reeled in by the Greenwash of the beauty industry.
Geez, get over yourself and stop trolling.
I think saying there is nothing wrong with Dove soap is an exaggeration. You read the post, wherein the harmful ingredients in Dove soap were listed. Tallow is not the villain here- things like Tetrasodium EDTA and BHT are (they’re really potent hormone disrupters). If you are tired of the ‘crunchy movement’, maybe you should stop reading blogs that have ‘crunchy’ in the name. Just a thought.
why are you here?
I’m all for using the whole animal! There’s nothing wrong with tallow based bar soap if it comes from humanely raised animals and doesn’t contain a lot of other synthetic junk. Unfortunately, that can be hard to find, especially in your cheap commercial soaps. Enter A Wild Soap Bar. They’re made with 100% certified organic vegetable oils and only safe, natural ingredients. Yep, they’re expensive, but that’s because they’re handmade in the USA with high quality ingredients by skilled artisans who earn a living wage. You get what you pay for. Nuff said.
Yeah…I’ve had that nasty organic bar crap. Do you understand pH? Because that soap is as alkaline as Dishsoap. There are clean labs in the world that FORMULATE products that are safe, and if they are not, they fix the fucking problem. Hipsters are stupid. I’m getting that on a tshirt. Enjoy your acne, losers
Ever since I switched to natural soap, my chronic acne is gone. Buy pH balanced soap. Simple as that. You think that natural veg soap are all alkaline? That’s ridiculous. Balancing the pH of soap is easy. Do YOU understand pH?
To the comments below : and you REALLY think they are humanely raised? These corporations or HUGE. The animal by products they use no doubt come from slaughterhouses, they abuse the animals. They are confined , stuck with antibiotic shots every single day bc they are all stuck so close together they can hardly lay down. You think a huge corporation is getting animal products from a small ethical farmer? It’s just not happening. Take a look for yourself inside of a slaughterhouse. When you can buy some organic soap with FAR less toxic chemicals (nevermind the cow fat) why not just go for the safer/cleaner soap? Not all of them are 3$ a soap go on vitacost some for 1$ or less a bar!
I have to switch to a less chemical organic soap due to health reasons, don’t wait until you actually have to. All of these chemicals, preservatives and dyes accumulate in our blood! Wake up people!!
I think you’re missing the point. Buying soap like Dove and Ivory supports animal cruelty if the tallow comes from confined and mistreated animals. Sure, the animal is dead and I’m all for not wasting what can be used, but if demand continues to be high for products that come from these abused animals, then they’ll continue to be abused for the supply.
I use Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap for nearly everything (shower soap, face wash, shampoo, laundry detergent, general purpose cleaner…). I dilute it a lot and a $15 bottle can go a LONG way.
Its this kind of mongering and misinformation that is frustrating ! Syndet bars like Dove are not soaps made of lye !They contain mild surfactants like isethionate,…this makes them milder than traditional soaps.
Tallow is a fat just like palm oil is ,once saponified it changes completely leaving behind no ‘animalness’.once animals are slaughtered for food purposes its a by product used for years !oils like coconut,palm olive require resources like land,water!How sustainable is that ?
The idea should be to use what’s easily available locally ,preferably cheap so prices can be kept down !That is lesser carbon footprint too !
Being environmentally savvy,organic etc doesn’t mean hauling of resources from third world countries and waste feul !
I’ll take lye over petrochemicals and other chemical byproducts of manufacturing processes
You don’t think animals require resources like land, water, and feed? More animals, more land and more resources used to house and feed and take care of them. Animals are extremely taxing on the environment.
“If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million,” David Pimentel, professor of ecology in Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, reported at the July 24-26 meeting of the Canadian Society of Animal Science in Montreal. Or, if those grains were exported, it would boost the U.S. trade balance by $80 billion a year, Pimentel estimated.
LOL……..
my husband works for a plant that uses EVERY tiny bit of the corn plant.. NO waste. there is also NO truth to the lie that
“if the corn was used for people ..millions would be fed”
it’s not true..
all products are made for human consumption……. period..
don’t make claims you know little to nothing about.
do your research… this company supports jobs around the world.. bends over backwards to protect the environment !! w/o them millions would starve !
spouting liberal agenda is the easy way out.. but it won’t fly when the truth is easy to obtain.
River cited her information, where’s your references backing up your comments. Those are not lies.
Unethical treatment of animals in large scale factory farms is plenty enough reason to switch to vegetable soap, regardless of whether or not tallow based soap is good or bad for your skin.
Funny how you totally disregard that her husband works for the plant … hands on vs a professor spewing from a pulpit
A wise man once told me to “follow the money” And I can’t help but wonder if the millions that would die from starvation, are just simsply more valuable as guinea pigs for their self profiting science experiment? I also wonder late at night, why it is prohibited to publish any studies done on vitamin/mineral supplementation at high levels, in the AMA Library.
For the most part, humans are not made to eat grains in high quantity. We were meant to eat them on occasion but not as a major food source. Ever hear of wheat belly? That’s why…
Just so you know, animal fats and vegetable oils make completely different products- when combined with lye, one produces soap and one produces detergent. These two compounds behave very differently because they have different molecular structures (for example, detergents can’t form soap scum). Just a little high school chemistry here… but I agree with your point of using all of the animal and buying local.
I know I’m way late to this post, but as a soapmaker, I simply can’t let this comment stand unchallenged.
No, animal fats and vegetable fats do not create different products. They both create soap, by definition (soap is, by definition, the salt of a fatty acid; a “salt” in chemistry is the stable result of an alkali and an acid). In fact, the fatty acids, themselves, are the same across the board, whether you use animal fats, vegetable fats, or some combination thereof (there are actually only about half a dozen fatty acids that soapmakers really care about). Additionally, the legal definition (yes, there is one) of soap is the alkali salt of fatty acids (aka – what you get when you mix fats or oils and lye).
Palm makes a very good tallow replacement, because they both have a high percentage of palmetic acid. Olive oil is actually interchangeable with bear tallow, because both are almost entirely oleic acid. The palm-olive combination is popular, because it’s a vegetable-sourced version of the fatty acids found in tallow. The only two fatty acids used in soapmaking that can’t really be obtained from other sources are lauric acid, from coconut oil (coconut oil is 90% lauric acid, the highest concentration found in nature, by far), and ricinoleic acid from castor oil (which is 90% ricinoleic acid).
Detergents, on the other hand, are not soaps. The common detergents — SLS and SLES — are organosulfates, salts of alcohol and sulfur. SLS can be made from hydrolyzing coconut or palm kernel oil.
Thank-you Zee Bee. I am so sick of the fear-mongering these pro-organic types spew on a daily basis. Using words like “sloppy gloppy” really takes away whatever shred of credibility the author was going for here. Add to that the constant use of capitals and italics to make a point, rather than facts from credible sources of information, and it’s a wonder anyone takes this seriously. I was sent this website from a friend when I was inquiring about goat milk soap. I really wish people would seek their information from true and intelligent sources, rather than someone who sounds like a 12 year old on her iPad.
I just discovered the EWG website and this makes me very glad I make my own laundry detergent. I am with you concerning the production of these inexpensive bath bars containing all the mystery ingredients. I’m wondering about health and sanitation regarding the collection of the animal fats in question too. Sure it’s on a super gigantic scale so I dare not think of all this fat being processed! Anyway bottom line, I’m trying to find a new bar soap to use to replace Zote and Fels Naptha in my laundry detergent . I’ve thought of using Zum,Toms, or the round soaps thatare that come in bulk without packaging, these can be purchased at Whole Foods or Natural Grocers. I’m willing to pay a little more to protect the health of my family. Also Kirks Castile is another option. I’m going to continue my research in the meantime.
Is it possible to have a legislation which make it compulsory for the manufacturer to declare the component or ingredients i.e. animal fat or plant oil & to be more specific which animal or plant bases and in what ratio.
People…we don’t put garbage in our body, why put it on your body?
I had used dove for years but it became WAY TOO PRICEY so i went back to the OLD bar soap Jergens …which is a mild soap gentle enough for a baby. But of course if U are a vegetarian AND the thought of soap containing animal products scares u then u might have to stick to some other soap……and BTW i used Kirks Castile soap and it burned and tingled my skin so bad i stopped using it.
Yeah, because it’s too alkaline. People simply do not understand they are victims of the cosmetic industry “green washing” them.
If honey were a good face cleanser, they would not have invented BAR SOAP thousands of years ago. Today’s Sydnet bars are far better for your skin and heads up…who gives a sweet fiddlers fuck if the tallow came from a grass fed cow?
You don’t need to eat your facial cleanser. That’s the most ridiculous notion of all.
Women are just stupid.
I agree that green washing is a huge and unfortunate problem. It makes me very angry on the daily.
There are many reasons that it does matter where the products you use come from. Perhaps a person cares about not supporting the petroleum industry, or cares about animal welfare. Cows that are not grass fed are sick cows (their rumen was specifically meant to digest grass and they are not able to properly digest grains – grains cause their bodies to become overly acidic, which is an environment ripe for pathogenic bacteria like E.Coli to flourish, hence the huge issue with people getting sick from milk and the institution of pasteurization of milk, or the overuse of antibiotics to keep the cows alive long enough to slaughter them in the beef industry or milk them in the dairy industry. This is a crime in and of itself: a grass fed cow produces about 1-2 gallons of milk per day and lives 15-20 years, like a horse. In conventional dairies, they produce 15-18+ gallons of milk per cow per day because they eat grain, and they only live about 18 months to 2 years because they are sick from eating grain).
Regardless of wanting to eat your facial cleanser, our skin is our largest organ, and whatever is put on it is absorbed into our bloodstream.
So, I do give sweet fiddlers fucks about where my food comes from and were the products I use on my body come from. Greenwashing is so prevalent and it is so hard to tell what the practices of big companies are truly like, it has made me only eat from friends’ farms and make my own products, though.
You have obviously never been to a dairy farm or seen firsthand what dairy cows eat. Dairy cows are fed a mixed ration which includes fermented silage, hay, cottonseed, proteins, and much more. If they were fed what you think they are being fed they would not produce the 15+ gallons of milk that you claimed they produce. Also, I’ve seen dairy cows that live for 10 or more years. It would not be very profitable for farmers if their cows died after 18 months. You should go visit an actual dairy farm or get to know some dairy farmers like myself. Despite what you believe, we love our animals and strive to give them the best care possible.
THE BEST CARE POSSIBLE IS NO CORN NO SOY NO ANTIBIOTICS NO HORMONES NO GMOS ANIMALS GRAZING NATURALLY FRESH AIT SUNSHINE CLEAN WATER
I live in farm country….Land O Lakes signs are on several farms boasting where their dairy goes. The other locals grow hay, straw, feed corn, and other things specifically for the dairy farms that sell to Land O Lakes. All natural ! Come and drive through York County PA sometime, and don’t miss Rt 214 🙂
Your skin is a membrane that will soak up much of what you put on it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/chemicals-in-soap-can-cause-male-infertility-claim-scientists-9353159.html
I am vegetarian but seriously the bar soaps are that are tallow-free are far too expensive! Who but the upper middle class professional with a great job can afford $3 a bar soaps? What we need is a good mass produced vegie/vegan soap that’s affordable.
David, as a soap maker myself I can assure you that the $3 bar of real soap will, if it’s made well, last far longer and be far kinder to your skin than commercial soap. And you won’t need any other products to follow up with because the natural glycerine hasn’t been stripped from it. Oh, and I speak as a lower middle class mother of four in a single income family.
Well said Sarah! My only additional input is that $3 is extremely inexpensive for a good bar of soap. You can easily pay $20 for a good bar and save in the long run over other products you will no longer need, and your wellness in the long run because you are decreasing your toxin in take.
I make my living as a soapmaker. My soaps are 100% handmade (by me) from scratch and people pay $7/bar without blinking an eye. Learn to make your own soap if $3/bar is too expensive. Basic soap is not hard to make and there are literally zillions of basic soap recipes on the internet you can follow. You skin will thank you. Good luck.
what is in your soap?
all the recipes I read say Lye is required to make ALL soaps
yet no one throws a fit about such a poison when used that way. don’t get me wrong I LOVE handmade soaps…..
just pointing out the discrepancy .
Lesa,
What you say is true. All soaps have lye and in its natural state it is very toxic and harmful. But after the saponification process that takes place after you have mixed it into the vegetable oils or tallow proteins it is harmless and is not bad for your skin at all. The process actually makes the natural glycerin’s that are stripped away in the commercial brands of soap.
To take what Chris said a step further – not only is the lye used in soap making not bad for your skin, it actually isn’t in the finished product at all. The chemical reaction of “liquid oils + lye = soap” uses up all of the lye. Soap makers use slightly more fat/oil than gets used in this chemical reaction, which ensures that all of the lye gets converted to soap, and leaves a small amount of moisturizing oil in the soap. Win-win. 🙂
My homemade 2 and 3 oz soaps that I give away to my friends and family last one person a month and would sell on the market for $2. My 5 oz olive oil house cleaning soap that I also give to friends and family typically lasts 6 to 9 months and would retail for $5 if I sold it. Several years ago when I learned that I was bathing in cow fat I changed from Ivory to Gefen Kosher Soap which is just coconut oil, water and lye (they even have Caustic Soda listed as an ingredient). The 4 oz bars sell for $2.49 and would last over a month. When I went to my doctor a few weeks after starting to use the Gefen soap for a check up she commented that my skin looked better than my last visit and asked what I was using. So much for “gentle” Ivory!!!!!
Use Chandrika Ayurvedic soap from India.
Very Cheap.
Very Good.
I get Kirks Castile from Walmart online, three bars for $3.30. Coconut oil based and works well with hard water to boot. Good for Florida’s water that’s so hard, I’m grateful it pours.
What is proven about commercial tallowates to be negative just because the cattle may have been injected with antibiotics and so forth? Do these animal drugs find their way into commercial tallowates? What is the refining process for animal tallow? I would like to know more before I can justify $3.25 for a bar of Dr. Bronners. In any case, there are “white label” brands such as Dr. Organics that are far cheaper than Dr. Bronners and equally as pure and effective.
I don’t know where you can find Dr. Bronner’s bar soap for under $5 but i would love to have your supplier information! LOL
As an adicional sobre of información on your cosméticos including soaps and alampo os, Go to http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/.
Read up what their methods are, what the rating means and check the sublinks to ingredient list rating as well. Try for zero ratings, bur be knowledgable why a product is 0, 3,8 or other rating. Then make your decision.
Also note, don’t marry a brand as formulations change frequently. It might be ok in one formulation and not so much in the next or viceversa. So check your products once or twice a year to ensure they are still on the ok list.
If your product is not listed, use the DIY worksheet to get a rating.
Enjoy!
Yuck, yuck, yuck! I understand the use of using the fat, but don’t like where it is coming from! Especially since I have been reading that our body fat holds a lot of the toxins that enter our body. It is the way our body responds to keep itself “safer” from toxins. So if the are using the fat from these cows that have been treated horrible, think about what toxins are in there! Thank you for enlightening us with this article!
I just came here to tell everyone that Kirks “natural” soap is a fraud. The company is shady and untrustworthy. The quality is piss poor.. hence why it’s so cheap. You pay for what you get.
The first ingredient, labeled as “coconut soap” is actually sodium hydroxide aka caustic soda. Which is normal for soap, but the thing is their quality control is non existent. It’s cheap shit, what do you expect? This is why so many people report “burns” after using this soap. Caustic means “causes corrosion” and that’s what this does, corrodes your skin. Next, the stuff labeled “coconut oil” is actually palm oil which is which horrible stuff all around, especially in that it’s production is destroying the environment. Lastly, the “natural fragrance” is actually a concoction of various chemicals and synthetic preservatives.
Shady company. Shitty product.
Hi,
I have a question perhaps you can answer. I have been using dove sensitive skin bar of soap forever. Occasionally I have seen like a dark black speck that I normally just pick off..does not happen often, BUT last night I saw a dark spot on the bar of soap and I was concerned as to what it could be.
I carved into the soap and the spot just got darker and darker and eventually was picked off. Do you have any idea what that dark spot could have been? It literally looked like a potato that had a rotten spot on it.
It was blackish brown.
Please help!
Thanks,
can you please let me know where I can purchase Kirks castle soap please.
my skin is very dry as I am on medication which doesn’t help. so I would appreciate any help.
thanks kathy
Kathy, I’ve ordered Kirk’s castile soap from vitacost.com and swansonvitamins.com to get the unscented bars. The scented bars are in the bath soap section of most Walmart stores. Ours are a little over $3 for 3 bars. Hope that helps!
Kathy, I’ve ordered Kirk’s castile soap from vitacost.com and swansonvitamins.com to get the unscented bars. The scented bars are in the bath soap section of most Walmart stores. They are a little over $3 for 3 bars at our local Walmart. Hope that helps!
I bought a bottle of Dr. Bronners liquid soap a long time ago, the almond one, and it was sitting under my bathroom sink for quite some time because I originally attempted using it in a homemade shampoo and it didn’t work really well, and then I told myself once my current store-bought hand soap dispenser ran out I would fill with some of the castile and water to refill. Then, about two weeks ago I decided to try as body wash, seemed to work well, so then I tried it on my face… and after going off birth control several months ago my hormones have been so out of whack so I’ve been battling constant acne on my chin, jaw, forehead and a little on my check and back. I tried EVERYTHING from oil cleansing, to honey wash, to gentle natural commercial cleansers, steaming, homemade facemask.. literally everything. My diet is very clean so I knew it had to be a hormonal imbalance. So since I just rediscovered the castile soap for all these other daily uses, I decided to use it on my face for a few days to see what it does. I noticed that since using it as body wash, the occasional acne spots I would get on my chest and back cleared up instantly and haven’t returned, so I squirted a small drop or two and washed my face with it and the next morning my skin was already clearing up. So I continued, and a couple times I mix baking soda with it for an exfoliant, and about once a week I still steam my face, followed by a castile/baking soda scrub, a facial mask of honey, lemon and egg whites, and then I follow up with my homemade toner of water, ACV, tea tree oil and witch hazel, usually moisturize with eithere a dab of coconut oil or pure aloe vera with a mix of carrier oils and continue washing my face daily with the dr. bronners and I haven’t had any new acne spots appear.
Really not sure if its completely the castile soap, or if my months of hard work and dedication towards eating to promote and balance my hormones is finally kicking in, or if its a combination, but because it was instantaenous that my acne clearned up with after only one use of the dr. bronners castile soap I’m giving it more of the credit here.
Definitely happy that I decided to dig that bottle from under the sink and give castile soap another chance! Loving it!
I’m trying to find a soap without any hormone disruptors, so no lavender, preservatives, or synthetic fragrance, etc. Kirk’s seemed like a viable option, as the ingredients were so few and it said “natural fragrance.” It turns out that this is much harder to find than one might think. From researching their website, behold:
Q:What kind of fragrance do you use in your soap?
A:Kirk’s fragrance is a special blend of mostly natural and some synthetic materials. Synthetic materials have been tested for product safety by manufacturer and approved by FDA.
Tons of hormone disruptors are approved by the FDA. This soap is better than most, but still not safe or all natural. Hormone disruptors are absorbed through the skin and stored in fat deposits for significant lengths of time. Think about the cumulative levels of xenoestrogens in our body fat from the use of soaps, shampoos, laundry detergents, lotions, conditioners, etc. And if we carry more body fat than average, we carry higher levels. We end up with fertility problems, breast cancer, uterine fibroids, among other ills. Make up is particularly guilty. Once you find out which common ingredients are xenoestrogens and look at every product’s label, you’ll be amazed and frightened. Especially of companies that list “natural fragrance” or natural ANYTHING. It’s a shifty way of avoiding telling the truth. An ingredient can be synthesized in 5 different steps in an industrial lab, but the first product came from an animal, plant, or mineral source, and they justify calling it natural.
Kirk’s does have an unscented version of their bar soap. It has a faint scent of the natural coconut. I actually prefer the smell to their scented version.
I have to confess that I also use the Kirk’s bar to wash dishes. I swipe a Scotch pad across the bar. It has a fantastic lather that cuts grease as well as anything else and rinses away easily. Love it!
I’m absolutely horrified about animal tallowate! I’m not vegetarian/vegan by a long mile but just the mere thought of it being in soap gives new meaning to “(animal) stock cubes”.I cook with it but I didn’t realize most soaps in the supermarkets have it too so essentially, we bathe with what we cook with?
Animal fat is not *in* the soap, but it is used to *make* the soap. Soap requires fat, whether animal or plant sourced, as an “ingredient”, but the soap-making process converts the fat to a different molecule. It’s not like Ivory has animal fat in it.
Gawd I love science. but I think you miss part of the point, Jim. It is not atually that we are putting animal fat on us but that it is used.
I recently started using Kirk’s Castile but I melt it in water and add sunflower or grape seed oil to it. Just made about 50 ounces for around $4.00. Been using it for 4 days and am loving it. I have thought about using Dr. Bronner’s but can’t really bring myself to pay the price for the liquid. I might have to invest in a few bars to make some body wash with to try. I have psoriasis so I like to make sure what I use is going to rinse off well, and not dry me out. I have been spending so much on Dove and Oil of Olay body washes for years. No more of that! Now that I now how to make my own semi-homemade personalized to fit my needs, that is the way it will stay!
I love this idea. I live in a small town and the pharmacy actually has bars of Kirk’s or really cheap. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, so my skin is very flexabke and stretchy. But very prone to scaring and skin sensitivities. I have to be careful what I use. I’ve been using Basis Sensitive bar for about a year now, and it is nice but it also just isn’t “crunchy” enough. Although none of the ingredients are on the “bad” list.
You should invest in the liquid Bronners though. It is amazing, I use it for so much; making soft scrub, cleaning make up brushes, making my all purpose stay, cleaning my cervical collar (because of Ehlers Danlos I have to wear a neck brace, which is annoying, and the foam needs cleaned everyday (or other if I am being lazy). Seriously it is just ask important as vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol in my cleaning kit. A little goes a long way, as far as cleaning goes . But I probably wouldn’t use it to make a body wash because that would be expensive.
Using the OCM (my first week)
I am already in love! I was just showing off my blend to my sister 🙂
check into the grape seed oil as it contains natural vitamin e. E helps reduce scarring. Grape seed helps to firm up your skin. Do your research first and make sure this is right for you. I would hate for you to make a decision that could hurt your skin more! thanks for the info on the bronner’s. i have read about it so much so will definitely make the investment.
What do you use to wash your body? I am thinking of using castile soap, or using soap nuts (I just don’t like the idea of having to worry about shelf life).
Try making your own body wash with Kirk’s Castile – melt a grated bar in about 1 3/4 cup water, and add whatever oil you moisturize with – olive, sunflower, grapeseed, coconut, doesn’t matter. Personalize it to fit your skin type. This is what I just started doing and love it. I moisturize with grapeseed oil and wash my face with the oil cleansing method. Loving how inexpensive this is and how well it all works!
Speaking of moisturizer… I read somewhere (wish I could remember where) that you can use one of those oil sprayers (the kind so you don’t have to use Pam) to spray on the oil and get more even coverage. I really want to try it!b
i just buy a little 2 oz travel spray bottle at walmart for a buck and fill it with grape seed oil. i use the 3 oz flip top style for my ocm stuff – but you can spray it straight onto your skin and i have never had a problem with clogging in these bottles.
I have made soap from tallow several times. It’s great soap. Got my tallow from Amish folks. My recipe has coconut oil in it too.
I don’t have a problem with the cow tallow As Much as all the other crap thats in any soap
well —if we didnt use all that fatty mess leftover from the slaughterhouses—-we would sure have a fattysloppy mess on our hands wouldnt we? AND–since we have been doing this for centuries now—and no one has died from this—-IM GONNA SAY—–oh well and keep on using my dove and tone—-LOL
I am happy this article was posted. I do not eat cows and I certainly do not wish to lather my skin with them either. Part of me already knew this but “chose” to forget. Back to the drawing board for what soap I am going to use…
Just because a bar has tallow in it does not make it bad. I make soap from tallow that would generally be thrown away. I also use olive oil, coconut oil and beeswax. My bars do not contain any other preservatives, other than some vitamin e oil. Tallow is “GREAT” in soap, makes it very creamy and mild. I don’t see the problem in using an ingredient that would normally be thrown out, and making it into a lovely simple and non-toxic product.
Ok, so I’ve recently been getting crunchy and eliminating shampoos, conditioners, lotions, etc. from my bathroom and using natural products (baking soda, ACV, coconut oil,…). My Dove body wash has been the last thing remaining in my shower…figured I’d use it all up instead of throwing it out. Out of curiosity, I perused the ingredients the other day to see what kind of chemicals I was slathering on my skin. Low and behold, I came across the word tallowate. I couldn’t believe it…thought, no, it must mean something else and just happens to have an animal fat root-word. So here I am, looking up tallowate and came across this post, (LOVE me some Crunch Betty…only discovered you a few weeks ago but I’m hooked) albeit a little late. I feel so disillusioned and grossed out (and a tiny bit violated) that I’ve been washing with animal fat. A bar of soap I would have looked at but for some naive reason I thought a liquid body wash would be free from animal products. Not so, it seems! I should probably mention that I’m a vegetarian and that is why I am so grossed out by this. So, in conclusion, don’t just check your bar soap; check those body washes as well!
hi
how about caress? does it have animal fat?
Well crap! I just bought a big pack of Dove soap. Sigh. I should have known it was filled with evil and sadness. Hahaha… thanks for the article. The troll photo made me laugh and the writing was, as ever, well done. I have been kicking around making my own soap but until I get the gumption I will make the change to Castile. 🙂
The soap I use and love is by Chagrin Valley (hope that was okay to put). I even wash my hair with it and it is working wonderfully. Would love to try many of them but I am sensitive to odors and Shea butter (latex sensitive).
Ingredients:
Saponified extra virgin olive oil infused with
organic calendula;
olive oil;
water;
organic calendula petals.
I live within a 50 mile radius of a tallow plant. 50 mile radius…and there are days I get a wiff of “the smell” it puts off. It is indescribable. Truly. It is out in the country between my town and the town I do my major shopping in, and on those days that I can smell it from my house, I do not go to the next town.
That being said, where I live, it is surrounded almost entirely by dairy farms. This is Ag Country 101 here, and everyone knows, when a cow dies on a farm, REGARDLESS of what it dies from (keep that in mind), it is drug to the end of the dairy’s road, left for the tallow truck to come by to lift it into it’s truck in the most inhumane way (thankfully, the poor animal is already dead), and taken away to the plant, where…well, I will spare you the details here.
If Crunchy Betty (which btw, I LOVE this blog!) has not convinced you yet to not use or consume anything with tallow in it, please let this post spark an interest into really knowing what is in the products that you use. The thought of tallow as “just animal fat” is bad enough, but knowing how it is harvested… even too much for this country girl!
thank you so much! before reading this I was so confused about the differences between soap this is really helpful
I’ve been using Dr.Bronners Castile soap as a body soap for a couple of weeks now and have noticed that it makes my skin very very itchy. I’ve read somewhere that diluting with water could be helpful. Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips?
You could try diluting it – or, if you’re so inclined, rinse your body with a diluted solution of apple cider vinegar after washing (this would be a good thing to do no matter what kind of “soap” you use, as all soap is going to lower your skin’s pH a LOT). Say, 1 Tbsp per 1 cup of water ACV dilution.
Hope this helps!
Very interesting reading indeed. I think soap would increase your skin’s pH as it is a base. The higher the pH the higher the number soad would increase. No biggie but science momma here has to say it. Going to get Kirk’s Castile and Dr. Bronner’s and try them out. I started by researching since our Zest bars have decreased in size (which means increased in cost) and they go away so quickly. I too have worried that what I see on my shower walls is what is in my pores.
Yeah . . . I looked all over the soap wrapper, and I can’t find any ingredients list. (sketchy indeed) But here’s what’s in the shampoo: water, sodium coco-sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, butylene glycol, disodium oleamido MIPA– ugh, this list goes on and on. Anyhow, it lists a few more chemicals, (all near the top of the list) and then lots of plant extracts. Rosemary, nettle, apple, bayberry, blueberry, sage, and a few more. It’s obviously got plenty of natural ingredients, but lots of chemicals, too.
Just switched over to Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint soap bar a few months ago and i love it. Tried the Almond one as well but the Peppermint is so strong in smell and it gives me that tingly peppermint feel afterwards. Tried the liquid diluted with water but didnt lather very well so maybe if I get a dispenser that might work. Will try that out next time as i need to get a big bottle of it anyway.
Huh. Just got some new special *sparkle sparkle* soapy products (shampoo, bar soap, tub cleaner, etc.) from some company called Melaleuca. Supposed to be good for you. Google it sometime.
Hey – will you do me a GIANT favor and post the ingredients on the products here for me? I’d like to see what’s in their stuff, and the ingredients list is nearly impossible to find online. (Which is a really sketchy sign … and I’ve heard rumblings that they’re not, well, all that full of “Wellness,” but I’d like to know for myself.)
Oh, I forgot to post as a reply, so it’s a few comments down.
I propose a soap making challenge!
Yikes! Now how am I supposed to shower tomorrow?!? I’ve been reading Crunchy Betty for a while now and love your recipes and humor. You’ve gotten me excited about making my own soap products, but I’ve been dragging my feet. However, this information just might kick my butt into gear a bit faster.
Thanks again for bringing these facts to light (even if I am totally grossed out right now). I’m gonna have to watch Fight Club again now too.
What, no Old Spice?!? I was anticipating seeing it on the tallowate list and it was nary to be found. I personally think it’s made up of the Grim Reaper’s sweat, puppy tears rocket fuel. But that’s just me.
I’m looking into making my own soap, and sort of got all excited about trying to make my own lye. I think that might be going to far for personal comfort. I don’t want to have a vat of lye in my back yard for my kid, the new dog or some random coyote to dump over onto themselves. eep.
Anyhoo, thanks for the info, it makes me excited to begin my foray into the world of homemade vegetable based soaps. I already have sunflower oil infusing with lilac for my maiden voyage. woo hoo!
I switched to Dr. Bronners a couple of months ago but I noticed that the lather washes off too quickly and I have to keep squirting it over and over when I shower. I think that’s just because it rinses off too easily (which technically is a good thing, but annoying when showering). I’ve also been using Kirks Castile on my hair and I love it. It leaves my hair squeaky clean and fluffy, just need to make sure to use conditioner afterwards. I also use Kirks Castile on my homemade laundry soap. Thinking of just leaving Dr. Bronner’s just for hand washing because of the lather problem and just using Kirk’s for body and hair as well. That should simplify things in the shower anyway. When I read about the homemade coconut shampoo I thought it very appropriate that I was already washing my hair with coconut soap 🙂
I LOVE my Sappo Hill Soap! We’ve used it for a few years now and absolutely love the round bars!
I use an an natural bar from a Canadian company called Earth to Body, I love their Emu Neem soap bar…I have super sensitive skin and it’s the only thing I’ve tried so far that doesn’t cause a break-out of my rosacea. Their moisturizing lotion is also amazing! However, I do buy Dr. Bronner’s for my kids and shower use, will try it on my face and see how it goes. Thanks, and thanks to all the poster’s love the tips for using Castile soap!!
I make my own soaps! 🙂
Hello – first time commenter – greetings from down under 🙂
Remember Fight Club? That’s how I knew about soap…ewwww! Making my own soap is on the list of things I’d like to do this year. I’ve sussed out the suppliers of ingredients (here in Aust) but I just need to make time and a space in the garage.
I have eased off on the soap usage too, just keep a bar of minimal-evilness stuff in the shower for the smelly bits, and a bar at the kitchen sink for dirty gardening/bike hands.
Love ya blog, looking forward to more 🙂
Hilarious. I’m so glad you brought up Fight Club, because it was on my mind the WHOLE time I was writing this post. I just couldn’t figure out how to work a reference in without being weird. Ha.
Welcome!
Btw, OMG, YOU HAVE A TROLL!!!!! AHHH!! That’s freakin’ awesome, I used to have a thousand of those things. *sigh* Trollz, Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake (the older version) – good ol’ days, weren’t they?
I didn’t know about this, but I don’t use bar soap anyway, because it’s a breeding ground for bacteria. I mean, think about it: you use it to wash off all the yucky bits, and then you set it down and leave it until next time. What do you think is happening at that bar in the meantime? Those bacteria are ordering up themselves a Fungus Martini, that’s what they’re doing. Ever wonder why soap turns yellow if you let it sit too long? That’s why. Yuck.
I have an aunt who refuses to use anything BUT Ivory bar soap, and she brings it with her when she visits! By the time she leaves, my bathroom is a sticky, soap-scummy mess. *gag*
The only thing I can say in bar soap’s favor is that it makes my trash smell nice when I throw it out.
~Ness
Yeah, that’s … ew. I can’t remember the last time I used a bar of soap. I’ve been using Dr. Bronner’s, liquid, since I can remember, since I was a teenager anyway (and whoa, long time). Before that, my bought bought us Pears soap. I have never in my adult life bought a commercially made bar of soap 🙂
My husband just asked me last night what Castile soap was. (He loves your new Coconut-Castile shampoo that I made him, btw) 🙂 One of our local stores has Dr. Bronner’s liquid in bulk which is great (we can refill our own bottles and pay by the ounce).
We don’t really use bar soap, but I do use Kirk’s in the laundry soap I make. (And Kirk’s bars are also less expensive than Bronner’s, at least around here.)
I’ve used Cetaphil cleanser on my face for the last few years but when I ran out recently I started using the OCM and I’m hooked. No going back now. And while I don’t have a problem with the idea of tallow in soaps… I sure don’t like the idea of antibiotic/hormone residue on my face. Thanks but, no thanks. I truly had no idea. Crunchy Betty to the rescue once more!
There wouldn’t be any of that even from conventionally raised animals. That is one of those myths that goes around that no one ever provides any documentation for. Don Matez was smart enough to question it and do the research to find out if this is true and it isn’t. He was very thorough and found data from many sources including third party independent labs. They found that it would take like 200 pounds of beef to get less than one percent of the amount of your own endogenous estrogen production. You won’t be able to find dons articles on conventional meat because he deleted them. Being the lover of pastured meat that he is it just killed him to have to report the truth that conventional meat is not oozing with hormones and antibiotics like the vegetarian environmentalist propaganda claims. You can however find a summary of it by Chis Kresser if you google his name followed by conventional meat. Don remarked that it is really not all that surprising because animals have a detoxification organ called the liver that removes the vast majority of toxins animal foods enen conventional are far less toxic than organic cabbage for instance. There are many toxins in plants that our livers have to clear and levels of toxins are way higher in plants than animals because animals don’t have toxins distributed through their tissues to protect themselves from predetors and have livers that remove any they consume.
Thank you! We raise all of our grassfed pastured meat, grow our own veggies and make our own soap/cleaning products. That said, I profoundly despise propaganda of any kind, and am actually a believer in science. If the science does not advantage my own personal choices or my family’s business or my way of life, so be it, I will continue to live the way I do regardless. I believe it’s important to know the truth always.
Oh- and about the cow fat: It doesn’t freak me out because I kind of already knew about it… 😛
Also, castile soap always leaves a greasy residue on my skin and hair for some reason. Maybe it’s our hard water?
I use South of France bar soap. I threw away the ingredients list but as far as I know, it’s all natural and made of oils from plants.
I use that as well. Very nice stuff. I have topical allergy issues and for the longest time thought I was allergic to fragrances. Turns out I am only allergic topically and Asthmatically. I can use bar soap, “perfume”, and fragrance oil diffusers made only with essential oils and I am perfectly fine.
My skin still how ever revolts at the slightest hint of detergent. even on dried clothes or bed sheets.
Funny thing, I haven´t used commercially made soap for years until the other day quite by chance. It was supposed to be for sensitive skin… and then this happened. http://lisepunch.blogspot.com/2011/07/note-to-self-stay-away-from-soap-for.html
I won’t be doing that again any time soon.
the day i made the connection between soap scum on my bathroom walls (non-porous surface) and soap scum on my body (completely porous surface) i stopped using ‘normal’, mainstream, over the counter whatever soap and switched to castile soap. the transition was not easy at first, because it took my body a little while to adjust and I tried many different forms of ‘natural’ soap…but now, I use nothing but castile. I use the liquid version of Dr. Bronners and find that if I give it enough love (four or five rotations in between the palms) that it gets super moussey (lathery) and cleans me perfectly. I did NOT make the animal connection, so thank you for making that clear…it certainly puts a whole new light on how to live cleaner…even through your skin. Animal glop with hormones, antibiotic residue on my skin (completely porous surface)? No thank you! xoxoxo
I’ve been making our soap for over a year and I wouldn’t use anything else. I’ve tried the soapnuts – making up a solution for the dishes – didn’t work real well. I’ve not tried them for the washing machine since I have a front loader. Not sure what to do with them for the front loader! Great info on soap.
I use Dr. Bronner’s for pretty much everything-face, hair, body, bathroom cleaning-and I just recently purchased two yummy soap bars from Growing Power (if you don’t know what that is, I highly recommend you google it-you’ll fall in love:) ). One of these bars is called “Lemongrass Safari Soap” and contains, precisely:
Saponified oils of soybean
Coconut
Olive
Chamomile tea
Beeswax
Crushed and dried organic lemongrass
Essential oils of lemongrass and spearmint
Doesn’t that sound like the most heavenly, deliciously crunchy cleansing soap you could ever imagine?!
Okay, so now that I’m completely disenchanted with my soap choice (Dove) I’m wondering if you have a recipe for making my own?
Check out mommypopotamus website.they have lots of DIY recipes for soaps, shampoos, cleaners and more.
I just wanted to say that I LOVE your blog! Thanks for taking the time to share such great knowledge! I’ve enjoyed trying some of your recipes and love them so far. I also wanted to chime in that I stopped using Zote or Fels-Naptha for my laundry detergent, partially because of the very strong unnatural smell and the fact that Fels-Naptha contains talc which I try to avoid. I’ve been using either Castille soap (Dr. Bronner’s) or the Whole Foods brand of plain glycerin soap in my laundry detergent and it works great! 🙂
I use liquid soap instead of bar soap (Dr. Bronner’s and Burt’s Bees). I have been happy with both. 🙂
Thanks for your insights on bar soap. My husband loves Kirk’s Castile soap and it leaves his skin very soft. Someday I’d like to try making my own.
I make my own bar soap. Some I make from grassfed beef tallow and I use it for dishes and laundry. I also make some from olive oil and coconut oil which we use for showering. My family prefers liquid soap for handwashing so I put Dr. Bronner’s in our foaming dispensers.
I buy my soap from the farmer where I get my milk. A neighbor of his makes it. It contains vegetable oils, lye, and all kinds of yummy smelling herbs and essential oils. With that being said, I don’t use soap on my face.
I don’t even use bar soap, and so skip the whole debate. Dr. Bronner’s unscented baby soap all the way. 🙂 I put it in a foaming soap dispenser at the sink, and we both use it for body wash too. Works great.
That is a great idea to use dr. Bronner’s in a soap dispenser! Do you put it in full strength or dilute it a bit?
Oh, I dilute it, quite a bit actually! Probably a water to soap ratio of 3:1.
Thanks!! I’m definitely going to give it a try.
I do that too and put lemon essential oil in the one at my kitchen sink. The pump gets stuck a lot though. Do yiu have that problem? Have you dond a way to solve it?
Hm, nope. I think it depends on your pump, not on the soap. 🙂
Dr. Bronner’s website specifically addressed this issue. The regular castile soap is NOT to be used in a traditional pump bottle because it clogs and can then squirt out in all directions (into your eyes). They made new formulation to be used in pump bottle. But the regular can be used in FOAMING soap dispenser with no problem. That’s what we do. 2 tbsp Dr. Bronner to 1 cup water. Awesome.