No Muck Monday: Dr. Bronner's Soaps
Happy Monday! Here is another green tip to get the muck out of your home and personal care products. This will for sure get you one step crunchier as you work toward granola.
Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap has a ton of uses–it’s like a one-stop shopping kind of product. Seriously, this stuff is amazing! I should also point out that this product is not only Gerson Therapy friendly, but comes highly recommended by folks at Gerson. Boo yah! Because of the versatility, we obviously buy in bulk. We’ve found it at Target or online at Amazon or Vitacost.
Ok, so what in the world is castile soap? Without getting into all the hoopla, castile means that it’s made from 100% plant oils (no animals products at all). It’s also a true soap, not a chemical detergent, making castile soap completely biodegradable and majorly earth friendly. On the Environmental Working Group website (another great topic to come), it ranks a “0-1” for toxicity which is the best you can rank. The ingredients are water, organic coconut oil, potassium hydroxide, organic olive oil, organic hemp oil, organic jojoba oil, citric acid, and vitamin E. It’s also organic and certified fair trade. It comes in various flavors–Unscented Baby Mild, Almond, Citrus, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Rose, and Peppermint.
So this stuff boasts that it’s good for 18+ uses. Believe it or not, it is true! Now keep in mind, this isn’t going to work in the same way that all of the chemical and toxic crud does… For some things, it may take some getting used to. I just love it for some uses and others?–well, not so much. However in a pinch, it can do almost anything! So here is the lowdown:
1. Body Wash: Just squirt a bit of this onto your loofah (that word is just silly to look at) or washcloth and suds up. I use the baby mild and it is my all-time favorite body wash. I am amazed at it’s ability to lather and not have the mucky ingredients.
2. Shampoo: 1/2 T in your hand and work into wet hair, or dilute 1/2 T in 1/2 a cup of water. Since this alkaline, you’ll need to do a vinegar rinse after. Don’t be a scaredy cat…give it a shot.
3. Baby Wash: It is gentle enough to use on baby (just be careful around the eyes, it will sting). Use it like the body wash or you can dilute it and use about 2 T in an average size tub. It won’t suds up like bubble bath, but it will clean for sure.
4. Hand Soap: Some people just dilute this and use it for hand soap. I actually use it for the base of my homemade foaming hand soap (I will put those details in a future post) and we love it!
5. Multi-Purpose Cleaner: 1/4 cup in a quart of water in a spray bottle. Add essential oils or use the tea tree oil for its antibacterial qualities. After we clean all our carrots in the sink, we have quite an orange ring that’s left behind. This is one of the greenest and most effective ways I’ve found to knock it out.
6. Toilet Cleaner: Either dilute in a spray bottle (use the dilution for the Multi-Purpose Cleaner) or just squirt a bit in the potty and clean. You can also add a little baking powder for some added scrubbing effect. Poo be gone!
7. Toothpaste: One drop on your toothbrush. It will suds up and taste like soap but it does clean. I recommend peppermint. Please post comments after you give this a try.
8. Detergent: 1/3 to 1/2 cup of soap for a large load in a normal washing machine. Add 1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle. Half the amounts for an HE washer.
9. Dish Soap: Use a 1:10 ratio with water. Ideally, rinse with vinegar after washing. However, I use it as my base for my DIY homemade dish soap which needs no vinegar rinse.
10. Liquid Dishwasher Detergent: Use it as a base for a DIY liquid dishwasher detergent that is inexpensive and of course, eco-friendly.
11. Shaving Cream: For men: Use about 10 drops on the face. For women: Use about 3 drops on the underarms; just pour a little out on hand and spread on legs.
12. Plant Spray For Bugs: 1 T in a quart of water. Add 1/2 t cayenne pepper or cinnamon, if desired. Take it outside to the garden yo!
13. Fruit/Veggie Wash: Add 1 T to 2 cups of water. Keep the mixture in a squirt bottle by the sink.
14. Face Wash: This makes a lovely face wash and suds nicely. Just a few drops will do.
15. Enema Bucket Cleaner: This is what Gerson recommends for enema bucket cleaning. Nuff said.
16. Foot Bath: 1 1/2 t in a bucket of hot water. Bronner’s, take me away…
17. Congestion Clearer: 1 T in a bowl of hot, steamy water. Drape a towel over your head and breathe in mist. Make sure you get in a few Darth Vader lines before you completely clear up.
18. Pet Wash: Depends on the size of your dog and how much fur it has, but start with a little and go from there. Jordan’s tag line is, “Enjoy your doggy’s style while being green!”
Whew! There are even more I could list but this is for sure long enough. Comment below on what other uses you come up with and we’ll give it a try! Again some on my list may be hit or miss but regardless, you get quite a bang for your buck (with a little hippie action thrown in for free) with Dr. Bronner’s!
See ya next time!
xo,
hh
