dr. bronner's varieties

[Vuvuzela]

most of the recipes for shampoo and body wash i find online call for liquid castile soap, so i found dr. bronner's website and there are a lot of different varieties of liquid soap on there. they all contain coconut, jojoba, and hemp oils and then have stuff like rose fragrance or lavender or citrus oils added.

so, if a recipe calls for oil, soap, and water, would that be too much oil? should i just skip using a recipe and use the liquid soap as it is or should i only add essential oils and skip the additional carrier oil?

[ravenreed]

I haven't had great success using Dr. Bonners as a shampoo. I CO and will occasionally use it just on the scalp area for an extra bit of cleansing but alone it left my hair oily and waxy feeling. I LOVE it as a body wash and hand soap. I prefer the peppermint because it feels so invigorating. I just dilute it with water, 1 to 1 ratio. I wouldn't recommend using the peppermint soap in the "undercarriage area" unless you want a lot of excitement, but my understanding is that using any glycerin soaps in that area can lead to problems for women, so I try not to use them there anyway.

[rusika1]

most of the recipes for shampoo and body wash i find online call for liquid castile soap, so i found dr. bronner's website and there are a lot of different varieties of liquid soap on there. they all contain coconut, jojoba, and hemp oils and then have stuff like rose fragrance or lavender or citrus oils added.

so, if a recipe calls for oil, soap, and water, would that be too much oil? should i just skip using a recipe and use the liquid soap as it is or should i only add essential oils and skip the additional carrier oil?

If I understand your question correctly, you want to know if it's okay to add more oil to soap when it already contains oil.

Yes, it's okay. The rose, lavender or citrus oils are there for their fragrance. The main oils that are in the soap aren't really still oils, they have been saponified. Plain old soap (not detergent) is made from fat and an alkali, usually lye.

ETA: For statistical purposes--our water is hard. Castile soap makes me itch, and I don't like the waxy feeling it leaves. My husband likes Dr. B as a body wash (he prefers peppermint). My son uses Dr. B (eucalyptus) on his skin, hair and beard. His hair is quite short though.

Anyway, Dr. Bronner has an unscented soap--I think it's the baby soap.

Soaps do not work as well when used in hard water, they won't suds as well as in soft water, and they're much more difficult to rinse off completely.

[Vuvuzela]

so if i want to make my own shampoo, is there an alternative to dr. bronner's? i'm trying to slowly phase out products with a lot of chemicals after reading an article about a lady who didn't bathe for 6 weeks and a lot of her ailments went away :)

[angel007]

I'm trying to make my own shampoo too. I tried mixing Dr. Bronner's with a teaspoon of safflower oil (from an online recipe) and it was way too much oil. My hair got totally coated in it! You can experiment with oils, but keep in mind a little goes a long way.

Right now, I like to boil rosemary leaves, and use the rosemary water as a base for my homemade shampoos. It's soothing and I like the scent, but the water itself doesn't do much cleansing, which is why I'm looking for a cleanser to add to my formula. I haven't had much luck with baking soda. Hopefully a more enlightened person can answer your question!

[Timkerbelle]

The baby mild soap Dr Bronner has doesn't have added oils. As far as I understand the ones in the baby mild one are all saponified (is that the correct word?)
I love Dr Bronners castille soap, but have never tried putting it on my hair.

[rusika1]

It isn't a Dr Bronner issue, it's a soap issue, meaning you are likely to have the same experiences with any simple castile type soap, liquid or bar. (Except that it's harder to add oil to a bar:D). I love the idea of Dr Bronner's soap, and admire the company's way of doing business, but I can't really use it (or any other soap, no matter who made it.)

You could buy a small bottle of Dr B's baby soap and try experimenting until you find out if you're happy with the results. The good thing about the liquid soap is that it won't be wasted if you don't like it, there are plenty of other (non skin/hair/teeth) ways to use it. Read the label!

have you read the movie star thread? That might give you some information about people's experience with soap and oil. Just remember, start with small amounts of additives, you can always add more the next time. And don't mix up a big bottle, any time you play scientist you run the risk of contamination.

Have fun!

[Annalouise]

so if i want to make my own shampoo, is there an alternative to dr. bronner's? i'm trying to slowly phase out products with a lot of chemicals after reading an article about a lady who didn't bathe for 6 weeks and a lot of her ailments went away :)

Me too. I'm currently experimenting with this. Right now I'm using only reetha (as a cleanser) and if I can't get better results with this then I'll start making shampoo with a pure castile soap (which is recommended for people with chemical sensitvities). (Even though I'm trying to avoid this as I am allergic to soap).

The problem with Dr. Bronners is it is not a pure castile soap. Castile soap is made from olive oil, and sodium hypochlorite (lye). Dr. Bronners soaps contain coconut oil, palm oil, hemp oil..etc. So this is not technically a "castile" soap. They also add essential oils which can complicate things, especially if you have chemical sensitivities. Their soaps also have citric acid.

I found one castile soap online:http://drclarkstore.com/pelaliso.html
And I'm still looking for others.

[Annalouise]

This looks like a pure castile soap:
http://www.countryrosesoap.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=crsoap&Product_Code=LCS1