My most successful post on this blog thus far is this one: Eliminate 18 Products with Castile Soap. I wrote it over a year ago, so we’ve had a lot of time to test what works and what doesn’t, and here are the results! {Side note: I’ve once again proved that I lack the ability to do basic math, and realized that while the post title says 18, there are only 15 suggestions there! Acck, how did I miss that? #shame.} Anyway, here’s the update.
In my original post, I mentioned that we used Dr. Bronner’s, but we have since switched brands to Dr. Woods (do only Drs. make Castile soap? Guess so.) We like this brand much better, I think because of the addition of the shea butter. It is definitely less filmy when used on skin than the Dr. Bronner’s was. It has enabled us to use it in ways which we didn’t like before.
1. Shampoo – Original Grade: B | Revised Grade: A
Recipe: I simplified the recipe from the original post to 1 part Castile soap to 5 parts water. That’s it.
I still do not use it on my hair. As stated in the previous post, it makes my hair incredibly greasy, sticky and filmy. I tried it around the time of the original post, and then I tried again a few months later. No dice. It was awful.
However, we do use it on the Rex and Bongo‘s hair, and since switching brands, we don’t even have to add the olive oil! Therefore, I upgraded it to an A!
2. Hand Soap – Original Grade: A+ | Revised: A+
Recipe: Fill a foaming hand soap dispenser with water, add a squirt of Castile soap. If it’s not sudsy enough, add more, to your liking.
Sudsy!
Yes, still LOVE this for hand soap, it’s the only thing we use!
3. Dish Soap – Original Grade: A+ | Revised Grade: B
Recipe: Use in place of standard dish soap, just a few drops in the sink.
I actually kind of forgot about this. We ran out at one point during the move, and we switched back to Target’s Method brand. Husband is the one who does the dishes, and he says that it works for most things, but for realllly greasy or dirty stuff, it doesn’t work as well. It gets a B now.
4. Body, Baby and Face Wash – Original Grade: A | Revised Grade: A
Recipe: We use the same recipe as our simplified shampoo recipe above. 1 part Castile soap to 5 parts water.
I don’t use it for face wash anymore, but that’s because I haven’t been washing my face. I know, this is terrible. Feel free to judge me and click your tongue at me. This is something I’m working on in the new year. (See bullet item in Future Letter “pretty and witty and…”). I don’t even wash my makeup off (but I don’t wear that much either these days, if that helps.) However, I do use it for my and the kids’ body wash. Husband stubbornly still uses toxin-filled Suave. 
He doesn’t like the way the Castile soap feels on his skin. Note that this is best used in one of those loofah pouf sponge dealy-wops. It works up a nice lather in those, but using it straight is usually not very effective.
5. Use in Kids’ Bathwater – Original Grade: D | Revised Grade: N/A
Recipe: Use a good squirt in the bathwater, no other soap needed.
We didn’t like this originally, so we never used it. However, I’ve read some ideas lately about adding lavender to baths to help relax, so this may be a good medium in which to add it. I have some lavender essential oil on order, and plan to try it, then I will update again!
6. Laundry Detergent – Grade: A | Revised Grade: N/A
Recipe: Use 1/8 cup Castile soap in place of your regular detergent. You may also add a dash of baking soda. Or, you can stretch your detergent by diluting it into a solution of two parts water, one part Castile soap and one part laundry detergent.
There is an error in the cost comparison on the original post. Did you find it? I have always meant to update it, but never have. In short, it is actually more expensive, not less, to do this, plus husband (who also does all the laundry) didn’t like it, so we stopped using it.
7. Household Cleaner – Grade: A++ | Revised Grade: A+++
Recipe:
- Fill a spray bottle about a 1/4 full with white vinegar.
- Fill the rest of the bottle with water
- Add a squirt of Castile soap
- Add 3 or 4 drops of tea tree oil
I still sparkly, sparkly heart this cleaner. I use it on everything I can. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d go back and add another heart to the photo. I should probably dedicate a whole post to it, but see aforementioned lazy comment.
8. Toilet Cleaner – Grade: A | Revised Grade: A
Recipe: Squirt in a bit of Castile soap, I just did a quick little ring around the whole toilet. Add a little baking soda, and scrub! You can also add the baking soda, then spray in the Household Cleaner above.
Yep, love this still too!
9. Glass Cleaner – Grade: A | Revised Grade: A
Recipe: Still using the above household cleaner with microfiber cloth, still love it!
10. Baby Wipes – Original Grade: A | Revised Grade: A++
We no longer have a need for baby wipes (our little one is now potty trained) BUT, it is worth noting that the horrifying, bleeding eczema that 2 year old Bongo had in my original post was due to commercial baby wipes. Around Christmas 2011 his school ran out of homemade baby wipes and started using commercial (Huggies brand) again. His face and bottom broke out in the eczema so bad that I took him to the Children’s Hospital specialist, who again prescribed a steroid cream. Still dissastfied with the idea of steroids in my 2 year old, I tried every cream/potion/concoction under the sun. When he was on Christmas break, we started using homemade wipes again and noticed his skin cleared up very suddenly. We finally put 2 and 2 together that it was the wipes that were causing it. Thus, I will never use commercial wipes again, and am upgrading this to an A++.
I am not going to re-review the bonus round ideas, because as stated before, we never used them, and still haven’t, but the recipes are there if you’d like to take a look.
While I didn’t eliminate as many products as I’d originally thought, you may still be able to, depending on your personal preferences. I regret to admit that after failing with the Castile soap recipe, I tried “natural/organic” sulfate free shampoos and conditioners, and I hated those as well. They were expensive and I hated how they made my hair feel, so I switched back to sulfate-loaded commercial shampoo. #shame However, I do have another experiment in the works, for both shampoo/conditioner, and face wash, so keep reading for those coming up soon! Thanks for pinning, sharing and posting my original post! I hope you like this one just as well!
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Last Week’s Goal: Work out for 60 total minutes.
Today is a sad day.
I’m stuck in a job right now that is totally wrong for me in every way. Not only do I not like the work, I am fully incapable of doing it. Doing this job for me would is the equivalent of asking an artist to teach an advanced level physics class. It’d be like taking an engineer and asking them to run a party planning service. It’s not a skill-set that I have. I vacillate between indifference about it, and coming home (or ending up in the work bathroom) in tears. Can we file: Started keeping eye drops at your desk (seriously, I have) under: Indications your career might be wrong for you? I think so. The problem is, I don’t know what job will be better for me. But I’m getting there, and here’s how: failing over and over again.
