In my attempts of going chemical-free a lot of the recipes call for organic castile soap. The liquid Dr. Bronner’s can be a bit pricey and I plan to use quite a bit of it.
I have a liquid bottle of the Peppermint scented Dr. Bronner’s but I find that a bit too harsh to use on our sensitive skin and on the baby’s skin. I had a hard time finding Dr. Bronner’s Baby Liquid Soap 32 Oz locally that didn’t cost a small fortune but I did find Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps: Pure Castile Bar Soap, Baby Mild 5 oz
in my local health food store. Even better was that the price was very reasonable and I am looking to make this switch over as cost-effective as possible.
In order to use it in the recipes I had to get it in liquid form and this is how I did it.
First, I grated the soap bar. I just used my kitchen box grater and it worked great. Because the castile soap is made of oils its nice and soft and grates easily. Then I put the grated soap into a glass jar – I used a mason jar and it worked perfectly.
After I grated it, I boiled about four cups of water. I boiled just tap water for about ten minutes to kill any bacteria or you can just use distilled water if you boil for ten minutes making sure there is extra water because it will evaporate. Pour only three cups of the boiled water over the grated soap and stir with a sterile utensil. If you aren’t going to use this full amount in a short amount of time you can add 10 drops of tea tree oil at this point to make antibacterial. (I have did not do this and have not had a problem with mine and hope to use it all in a short amount of time.)
Most of the soap should melt once you stir it a couple of times and the rest will melt shortly after. I let mine sit overnight and it had completely congealed and was all ready to be used the next morning.
*You may need to give it a good stir before each use to get it soft.
This is the concentrated recipe. You would use the same amount of this as you would the concentrated liquid. If you want to make a large batch that is not concentrated use fifteen cups of water.
I have loved using this so far and it is cost-effective. I got this bar for $3.99 and it came to about $0.17 an ounce compared to the already liquid 32oz at $0.50 an ounce!
What do you use castile soap for?
