Review of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap: If you Haven't Tried This Yet, You NEED to!

One of our absolute favorite products to use around here is Dr. Bronners castille soap. We use it in the shower, on the counters, on the dog, in the laundry, and more. 

Before I take off and start raving about this awesome soap, I want to share some information from the company since not a lot of people have heard about Dr. Bronners. 

Dr. Bronners is synonymous with Old World quality and time-honored simplicity, which can be traced back to the family’s German-Jewish soapmaking tradition. Born in 1908 to a Jewish family that had been making soap since 1858, Emanuel Bronner was the third generation certified as a master soapmaker under the guild system of the time. In 1929, he brought his formulas for high-quality liquid and bar soaps to America, starting Dr. Bronner’s in its current form in 1948.

Today, Dr. Bronners continues its mission and commitment to building an engine for promoting and advancing positive social change. From pioneering USDA certified organic personal care products, to creating Fair Trade projects across the world that ensure fair and just treatment of farmers and workers, to creating a socially responsible workplace here in the U.S., we strive to honor our heritage with progressive business practices, while devoting profits to worthwhile causes and charities worldwide.

There! Now you've been introduced. Onward with the raving... 

I like castille soap because it’s made from vegetable oil instead of synthetic or animal ingredients. Olive oil is what is used most often as the base, but really any oil can be used instead, like almond, avocado, coconut, hemp, walnut, and more. 

So, we use the Dr. Bronners soap bars AND the liquid castille soaps in various places around the house. The Lavender soap is our favorite and we mix a little bit of it with a bottle of water and use that in the shower. It smells amazing, but we are very partial to lavender in this house. We also have the bar soaps in lavender too. 

The difference between the liquid and bar soaps is that the liquid soaps use potassium hydroxide to saponify the vegetable oils, while the hard bar soaps use sodium hydroxide instead.

I use peppermint liquid Dr. Bronners soap in the laundry. I put a little squirt into the full washer to give the clothes a nice fresh boost. (I do not do this with the kids clothes). I also have a 2 oz travel sized bottle of the peppermint in our travel bag to make up little batches of body wash when we visit family or travel. I picked peppermint because I couldn’t find any small lavender bottles in the store, but I do like the peppermint as a body wash, especially in the hot summer. The peppermint is really good for workout clothes. 

We mix up a really nice smelling all purpose cleaner with the citrus Dr. Bronners scent. I rotate using this with Mrs. Meyers Clean Day (see post HERE). 

I also use the almond scent Dr. Bronners in the laundry. I use it on the kids clothes mostly. 

The eucalyptus Dr. Bronners scent is what we use when we wash all the dog bedding. Eucalyptus is great for repelling fleas and bugs. I also use some in a spray bottle to spray around the doors and windows when the bugs are really bad. 

I use tea tree oil liquid Dr. Bronners soap in our baby wipes solution. It is perfect for clearing up diaper rash and thrush and other weird rashes and infections. I also use the solid bar soap on mosquito bites and rashes. My mom also uses this solution for her itchy skin problems. I put a squirt of it into the cloth diapers and that really seems to help with the smell and also the hard water build up. 

The baby Dr. Bronners is a nice unscented soap that’s good for those with sensitive skin and also babies. This was the only soap I was able to use with Froot Loop since everything else made his skin freak out. 

A bottle of this stuff lasts for practically forever. You only need a little bit since it’s made to be diluted. You can use it for washing your house, your things, and yourself. Some common dilutions are listed below. 

For using on yourself, you can use it straight from the bottle if you only use a few drops at a time. I find it easier to use about a 1:25 ratio premade and sitting in the shower. If you do use it undiluted, 2-3 drops are all you need for your face, and about ½ Tablespoon for your hair or into your washcloth/loofah. For use in a bath (it doesn’t bubble), use about 2T. If you are using it to shave with (I don’t, but I know some people who do), you need to use just enough to work it into a lather in your hands. This is about ½ tsp for your legs and a lot less for smaller areas. For a foot bath, I use about 1 ½ teaspoons in a small tub of hot water. You can mix and match scents.

A word of advise though: If you use Dr. Bronners as a shampoo, you will need to use an acidic rinse for a conditioner. My husband uses about a 1:1 ratio of apple cider vinegar to water solution as his rinse and his hair is AMAZING. It took a couple weeks of him using this combination for his scalp and the oils in his hair to balance out, so if you try it once and your hair looks weird, DO NOT FREAK OUT! Stay with it! Give it 2-3 weeks and if your hair still ends up too oily, then it might not be for you. I can’t use it because my hair is so long and it doesn’t help with detangling. It also left my hair oily, even after a month of use. Oh well. 

You can use 1 drop as toothpaste. The peppermint isn’t so bad, but it does taste soapy. 

Since it has actual essential oils in it, you can even use it to clear congestion if you mix about 1 tablespoon (eucalyptus and peppermint work best) into a bowl of steaming water. Put a towel over your head and breathe in! 

To use Dr. Bronners around the house, generally it is a 1:10 dilution. You can use it on the dishes or in the laundry. You can use it as mopping solution or the counters/etc. Special cases are if you’re using it on the windows. Mix 1 T soap into a quart of water. Put it into a spray bottle and wipe with a towel/paper towel. You have to chase that solution with pure club soda or a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water to avoid streaking (and it still does streak a little bit). Another special case is if you’re using it in the toilet. Use a 1:4 solution and then add ¼-½ teaspoon of tea tree essential oil. Flush the toilet, squirt all over the bowl, and put some baking soda in there too. Really scrub it all over and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. It is best if you can turn off your water and empty the bowl before you do this. 

Dr. Bronners makes a nice produce rinse. You can put just a few drops in a bowl of water, and quickly wash/rinse your produce. 

We have used Dr. Bronners on our dogs to help with bugs and itchy skin. We have only used the tea tree oil and the baby varieties. I’m not sure how the lavender, almond, peppermint, eucalyptus, etc. would be with them. It could irritate skin, so be careful. We only use a few drops in our spray bottle. We lather up and let it sit for 10 minutes then rinse off. 

I’ve heard you can use Dr. Bronners also for your plants to keep bugs away. I looked it up and it’s 1 Tablespoon of soap in a quart of water. You then can add ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper or cinnamon. Anything stronger than this will burn plants, but if you made it stronger, you could kill bugs with it. 

So yeah, there’s a lot of uses for this wonderful Dr. Bronners soap. Plus, it’s made with natural ingredients and is good for the planet! Sweet! 

Have you ever tried castille soap? Which of these scents do you want to try first?