Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap and vinegar can clean an entire house. They are effective, versatile, biodegradable and non-toxic. But the sole point of this post is to emphasize that these two should not be mixed directly. This is true for the Castile Soap and any acid – any vinegar or lemon juice.
Since there have been several recommendations in online recipes and on TV to mix these two together, I want to address this topic. It’s not a dangerous combination, but it’s definitely moving in the wrong direction as far as getting things clean.
Here’s why.
In great part it’s due to the fact that vinegar is an acid and the Castile Soap is a base. They will directly react with each other and cancel each other out. So, instead of getting the best of both (the scum cutting ability of the vinegar and the dirt transporting ability of the soap), you’ll be getting the worst of something entirely new. The vinegar “unsaponifies” the soap, by which I mean that the vinegar takes the soap and reduces it back out to its original oils. So you end up with an oily, curdled, whitish mess. And this would be all over whatever it was you were trying to clean – your laundry or counters or dishes or whatever.
Check out this zoomed in picture of Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Castile Soap mixed directly with distilled white vinegar:
It doesn’t matter what else is in the solution, or in what order you combine them. If you end up with the soap and the vinegar in the same container, this reaction will occur. The only exception to this is if you buffer the soap with baking soda, which is another alkali. You’ll see this in my recipe for GIY Soft Scrub. In this case, vinegar reacts more readily with baking soda, and that reaction will take place first. For the Soft Scrub, it serves the purpose of creating that lovely, vertical clinging foam. If there is still unreacted vinegar, it will then react with the soap, which is why the ratios are important to maintain.
The mom in me has to point out that if you have kids who wonder about the purpose of science class in “the real world,” you can show them this little reaction. Of course, drinking milk and orange juice at the same time will also point out why you should know your acids from your bases.
So, for cleaning, there is a better way. Use the soap to clean and the vinegar as a rinse agent.
One common complaint with using the Castile Soap, especially on hard or shiny surfaces is that it leaves a film behind. This film is caused by the soap reacting with minerals in the water. It is not actually soap itself left behind, but rather certain salts. When this builds up on sinks and tubs, we call this soap scum. Vinegar is a great way to cut this. So after you’ve handwashed your dishes with Castile Soap and rinsed them, dip them in a sink of vinegar water. Or after you’ve wiped down the sinks and tubs with soapy water, rinse, and then spray with a vinegar solution (about 1 cup vinegar/quart water).
I’ll give more time to windows later (one of the things I actually really enjoy cleaning), but briefly, for dirty exterior windows, spray them with my Castile Soap solution, wipe them with a chamois, then spray them with vinegar and squeegee. Works great! Better than Windex.
Also, on the hair, if you do not have our Citrus Hair Rinse, but just want to use vinegar or lemon juice, rinse the soap out of your hair first. Then apply the vinegar or lemon juice.
So Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap and vinegar are a fabulous one, two punch. One after the other. Not at the same time.
Help! I did what I wasn’t supposed to do and mixed Castile Soap and vinegar. How do I clean it up?
The best way to remedy this is to re-wash the surface with the recommended dilution of Sal Suds or Castile Soap (If handy, Sal Suds is slightly better at grabbing the oils). In the case of laundry, wash the load with the recommended amount of Sal Suds or Castile, and with an added 1/2 (120 mL) cup baking soda (¼ cup [60 mL] in HE) and a pre-soak or pre-wash cycle.
As a sidenote: As a synthetic detergent, Sal Suds has a completely different chemical makeup than a true soap such as Castile Soap. While vinegar doesn’t cause it to unsaponify, adding even a small amount of vinegar to Sal Suds significantly reduces its cleaning and degreasing power.
Further reading
- What Can You Mix with Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds?
- What Can You Mix with Castile Soap?
- Sal Suds Dilution Cheat Sheet
- Dilutions Cheat Sheet for Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap
This use and many more are in my book, Soap & Soul: A Practical Guide to Minding Your Home, Your Body, and Your Spirit with Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, available now in hardback on DrBronner.com or at your favorite bookseller, and as an eBook and audiobook (read by me!) from wherever you download or listen.
[…] had vinegar in it, but after doing some research YOU CAN’T MIX VINEGAR AND CASTILE SOAP! (https://www.lisabronner.com/a-word-of-caution-about-vinegar-and-castile-soap/) Do you know how many DIY cleaning recipes I’ve pinned that broke this very important rule?? […]
Thank you for the great advices! I’ve never mixed Castile soap and vinegar, and definitely will never try to. Next time I’m cleaning, I’ll make it to your directions and hints. Thank you for sharing!
I use Dr. Bronner’s castile lavender scent soap as a body wash and a shampoo. It makes my hair really soft. I also use it on my dogs and it makes them very soft. I actually noticed that my Pug who is a high shedder actually sheds less. After reading some of the comments, I’m wondering if I should be using some kind of rinse on my hair to get rid of residue. My hair doesn’t feel like it has any residue, but I’m not sure after reading what some people have said.
Does Castile Liquid Soap react with Alcohol? Also, does the Castile Soap Bars react with Vinegar, Lemon Juice … as does the liquid soaps?
Hello! i just wanted to point out that milk is not a base, rather its is acidic with a ph of about 6.5. also the deposition of soap scum IS soap, not just “some salts” . it is the complex the soap forms with the minerals so soap molecules are in fact being deposited. Also you stated that lemon oil does not have a pH. This cannot be because everything has a pH, rather it has pH that is neutral enough to not have negative effects. also, you told christopher that dry feeling on his hair when he skipped the soap was not the mineral leftovers when in fact it was. it is a commonly accepted fact that using soap on hair leaves behind soap scum, as the physical and chemical makeup of hair strands are particularly suited for soap scum deposition (especially in comparison to skin)…. that is the whole point of the citrus rinse, to dissolve the mineral complexes using an acid. (chemistry major-soap maker)
Hi! Love this!
I was wondering about the acidity of essential oils, like, would it interfere with the castile soap if I used grapefruit essential oil, or lemon, or orange? Or are they not acidic?
my family have been using Castile
products for 3 or 4 generations from anything washing hair, scrubbing floors and doing laundry on a washboard it has always been a reliable product.
my family have been using Castele products for 3 or 4 generations from anything washing hair, scrubbing floors and doing laundry on a washboard it has always been a reliable product.
So, if I am understanding this correctly, theb use of both would be a disaster in a septic system. Is that correct?
Hi Lisa
I was using Castile liquid soap to wash my bike but I was getting left with a slight film, or soap scum behind. I tried mixing it with vinegar to see if that would remove the scum but I ended up with a curdled liquid.
Is there anything else I could mix with Castile liquid soap to reduce the scum left behind (to have a one liquid solution)?
Thank you so much for this post! I have been using my own DIY laundry detergent that has grated castile soap in it but I also added vinegar to my wash as a softener. Although I don’t use the vinegar as a softener anymore since I realized it was slowing making my colors fade (acid!), I had noticed that what looked like grease spots were starting to show up on my clothes too. I didn’t know what to attribute it to but now I do!
lisa,
there s nothing wrong with castile soap lemon juice or vinegar combination as the reaction between them provides the cleaning eg one of the best oven wash I use is vinegar with baking soda and the former is acidic and latter basic but the reaction between thme provides the better cleaning and same with using baking soda and castile soap in washing clothes etc besides they are all natural products and ultimately so not leave any permanent chemical residue a vinegar on its own is unlikely to provide the same level of washing power compared to vinegar combined with baking soda or castile soap or even all three combined together
I regularly use vinegar with baking soda for cleaning dishes and cleaning oven with great success I also use vinegar with baking soda to kill weeds in garden
thanks
Hi. I am wondering is it possible to pH balance the Castile Soap for washing natural hair? Thanks.
I read your comment above regarding Borax being toxic and dangerous. Borax is a natural mineral. Maybe you were referring to BORIC ACIC? People get these two confused quite often. I use Borax in my homemade laundry detergent all the time and it softens and whitens my clothes with no side effects.
Correction…I should say the BORAX softens the water to whiten my clothes.
Hi,
I found a “recipe” for removing yellowed stains from white clothes, which used soda ash, hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid. I combined 1part soda ash and 2 parts hydrogen peroxide (3%) in a plastic container, and on a whim decided to use Dr. Bronner’s Liquid soap (peppermint) instead. The mixture thickened, then curdled quite quickly, and became quite warm. Any idea why this happened?
Hi Lisa. I am interested in getting a large bottle of castile soap. I tried over a month ago to order this from the States but at the end of my order was told they do not ship to Canada. I live in Ontario, Canada. Any suggestions. Thanks.
Dr. Bronner’s website has a store locater for Canda as well as the US. Hopefully there should be at least one or two options for finding a store that carries it near you. Good luck.
https://www.drbronner.com/locator/index.php
Hey Lisa,
This a totally unrelated comment from the topic at hand, but I just wanted to give it a try. For years DrBronner’s made a boullion or broth that I absolutely loved. It’s been gone for many years now and there is nothing out there to compare! Is there any chance the company might bring it back someday?
You mentioned the waxy feel on the hair and it being the PH balance and the follicles standing up. Is there anything that can be done to stop the waxy feel. I tried the soap and had to discontinue use because my hair felt waxy and looked greasy and dull. I did us an apple cider vinegar rinse. Any other ideas?
Hi there. I am trying to make dish soap lately with the help of YouTube. I would like you to see if this is ok… 1 cup of water, 1 cup of liquid castile soap and 2 to 3 tablespoon of distilled vinegar. If I add water before vinegar to the castile soap, there will not be such reaction…does it mean it’s ok then?
I use bar soap for shampoo, followed by a pure white vinegar rinse. Works great for me and is el cheapo!!
I do understand the basic chemistry behind the no mixing vinegar and pure soap thing, but the recipe I use that includes both works amazingly well! I’ve never had a problem, and it can get the nastiest shower floor scum off with a little grit added from sprinkling some borax down on the scum first.
Isn’t soap a salt not a base? The lye is the base, and the oils to make it are acids (fatty acids). Once the soap is made it should be more salt than base, otherwise it would be too harsh on the skin. Good soaps are right around neutral, maybe a tad alkaline (7-10 on the pH scale), while vinegar is around a 5 on the acidic side. Adding the two together shouldn’t really alter things over to one side or the other too much, and it shouldn’t separate the oils. Maybe if you have a lot more vinegar than you do the soap so that it truly becomes acidic again? I’m not a chemist, so maybe I’m off on that.
I use this recipe and it works wonderfully to clean and is not oily. Perhaps it is the borax added that keeps it balanced? I use the lavender Dr. Bronner’s with and I love how the room smells after I’ve been cleaning with it! The ingredients all seem to tie together very nicely, including the vinegar. Perhaps it is because the vinegar is added to the water and borax first before the soap is added.
http://www.livingasimplelife.com/natural-purpose-cleaner-diy/
Hi Lisa,
NO QUESTION
I just recently became re-interested in going “all natural” with ALL my household products and so I’ve been stalking drbronners.com incessantly! Any who, I am preparing to make a purchase/splurge in the next couple of weeks and plan to buy 1 each of ALL the castille soaps. I LOVE the packaging as well as the variety and there’s just something about seeing those 8 bottles all lined side by side that makes me happy!!
I’ve been scouring the internet of various blogs devoted to homemade, natural cleaning methods in addition to homemade, natural personal care items( ie toothpaste, oil pulling, facial cleansers, etc.) This has really been a fun and exciting journey!
THANK YOU!
Is it ok to mix Dr.Bronners with water and tea tree oil to make a disinfecting household cleanser? I’ve been using it but want to know if it is recommended, because i read something in the comments about not mixing it with oil. Thanks!
I don’t know of you addressed this in other comments but I was wondering if I could mix castile soap and dawn? I am trying to make dish washing liquid but I can’t get over the fact that is has little to no suds. I know that I doing need suds to get things clean but I really can’t get over it. Or do you have another product I can use to create suds?
Thank you for the information. I found this post after i tried to make a homemade fly natural repelent for horses. I needed soap to disolve the citronela essential oil ( I disolved in water some home made soap), then i added vinegar – resulting in a greasy mixture
Knowledge is power, Kerry!
Hi Ruth – Castile soap does not work well in the dishwasher. It may get the dishes clean, but even with vinegar in the rinse compartment, your glasses will probably be cloudy at the end. We’re working on a good option here at Dr. B’s, but at the moment, we don’t have one.
Hi LM – Yep, you saw that there’s nothing it’s good for. I hope you and your partner are on speaking terms! It’s a common mistake.
All the best,
Lisa
Nevermind, I found my answer in the thread above!
If you’ve already gone ahead and incorrectly mixed castile soap (we used the orange) and vinegar (and then diluted with water) and had the unfortunate “curdling” reaction… is there anything else that can be done? Or is that mixture now garbage? Can I use the new (albeit unfortunate) separated concoction for… anything?
My partner “made dish soap” by mixing castile soap, vinegar, and water, and now I have a pump container full of separated oils (and a cranky feeling). I wasn’t sure if there was anything to do or if I should just dump the container and start over.
What about using this in the dishwasher? Should I put Dr Woods’s, which is what I have, in the detergent area and the vinegar water combination in the same place afterwards and run a rinse cycle?
Thank you for the quick reply! I will add the sal suds to my cleaning products team! Phew! I’m glad the driveway is not ruined. Now that I have a better understanding of the castille soap, I will use it more wisely in the future! Its a great product. The more u know about how to use it, the better! Thank you!
Hi Omni – Dr. Bronner’s castile does not react with hydrogen peroxide. So, if you want to mix them, that would be OK.
Hi Kerry – As soon as I read your first line, I knew what you were going to say. You have a white driveway. It is not permanently damaged. What has happened is that the castile soap reacts with minerals in hard water and on outdoor surfaces. It leaves behind a white precipitate of mineral residue. The same thing would happen with the minerals in Epsom salts. In time, this residue will go away. If you want to go out and scrub the surfaces with a stiff bristled brush, it would help. An acid like vinegar would help dissolve the residue as well, but it seems like a rather large application in this case, and vinegar can dissolve soft stones, but I don’t think such stones would be used in your driveway.
The best option for car washing is Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner. It does not react with minerals at all, and leaves cars very shiny.
Please let me know if I can be of further help.
All the best,
Lisa
I tried using castille soap diluted to wash my car today. Our driveway is made of pale red bricks, and after I was finished and moved my car I was left with a whitish discolouration to the bricks in all areas where the sudsy water ran down. Is the brick permanently damaged or is there something that can be used to rinse of the white build up? Is the sal suds a better option for car washing? I read a response that said vinegar can discolour some types or stone, but I did not use any vinegar, just peppermint castille soap highly diluted. Also, I once took a bath with tea tree oil castille and epson sAlts. It reacted a created that thick white foam like soap scum. It was a huge mess The thick film was tough to clean. Almost like getting candle wax off the entire tub! So this reaction is common with magnesium just like vinegar? The epson salts were top quality, from health supplement store. Thank you.
Hi! One more question, can you mix Dr Bronners and hydrogen peroxide? Thanks!
Hi Sarah – No, you would be perfectly fine using lemon oil with the castile soap. I do that myself with my wood polish. Oil does not have a pH, and therefore there is no acidity to interact with the soap.
Hi Asia – I am so very sorry to hear about your discomfort. UTI’s are truly horrible. The only remedy is a round of antibiotics, and a doctor would need to do a culture to make sure that you take the right antibiotic to kill the bacteria. Cranberry juice only helps prevent UTI’s and may relieve the discomfort a bit, but will not get rid of them once they start. The combination of the soap and vinegar is not toxic, it’s just greasy. If you wash again with just the soap, you’ll be able to get rid of that. But definitely get yourself to a doctor to treat the UTI. They do not go away on their own and can go up into your kidneys.
Thank you, Anna, for weighing in. I hadn’t seen her post last week.
All the best,
Lisa
A bit late, but for future readers…
Actually, I wouldn’t recommend antibiotics as the only solution. I’ve cured my own UTI with cranberry juice, although I believe it was the Vit. C and other healing properties of the cranberry that BOOSTED my body’s own IMMUNE SYSTEM…so technically my own immune system beat the UTI.
Fun story: Eons ago, I was on the road traveling cross country at the age of 16 with my 24 yr old musical genius dropout boyfriend, (with my mother’s blessing, btw, because she couldn’t control my wild child antics anyway, though she tried) and I had no access to a doctor (I had gotten UTI previously and had gotten antibiotics from a doctor, so I self-diagnosed based on “knowing that feeling”). Drank a bunch of cranberry juice, probably full of sugars and whatnot since I wasn’t a health nut yet, and it was gone in 3 days.
I had a history of not missing much school for illnesses, so I had a great immune system to begin with. So not to discourage people from using antibiotics, since every person is different, but they are way over prescribed and over used when alternatives are SOMETIMES just as effective, if not more so, and better for you/us.
FYI on UTI’s: I’ve had great success with using MesoSilver (a type of colloidal silver) taken ramped up doses internally for a week and gotten rid of a horrible UTI’s without antibiotics or doctor visits! I had the worst pain ever, bleeding blood clots and burning. ONE dose of MesoSilver stopped it all for 9 hours while I slept! None of that came back, either!!
My friend doubted me but when she got a urinary tract infection she sheepishly called me to ask if she could try my MesoSilver. Ha! Now she too is a believer and keeps it on hand for the many, many uses it has!! MesoSilver is also safe for kids. Hope this helps someone sometime! : ))) Lynnie
FYI I have gotten rid of a UTI by drinking lots of water with a little bit (1/2t or so) of good red cider vinegar in it. Don’t know why it works, but I’ve used vinegar water to soothe upset stomachs for years with good results, and figured I’d try it.
I an a nurse, and I just wanted to add that UTIs DO NOT go away without antibiotics!! There is no refuting this. If anyone says they were able to “cure” a UTI without an antibiotic, they probably didn’t have an actual UTI to begin with, which you wouldn’t know one way or the other unless you had a urine culture done. People can get dehydrated which decreases your urine output and concentrates the urine that is produced, and thus can produce some symptoms that mimic having a UTI. If this is the case, simply by rehydrating, these symptoms go away. That is more likely the case with someone who thinks they have a UTI and thinks they cured it themselves. A true UTI is caused by bacteria in the urinary tract. Without an antibiotic to “kill” these bacteria, they multiply at a very fast rate, can go into the kidneys, and ultimately into the blood stream. So my word of caution with anyone who is experiencing symptoms similar to UTI symptoms is to see a doctor. It is okay to try to increase fluids for one or two days to see if the symptoms go away (if they do then there was no UTI to begin with) but if the symptoms last longer than 1 or 2 days, please go to see your doctor. Herbal and alternative healing are beneficial but they should always go hand in hand with advice/guidance from a trained medical professional. Sorry this is such a late comment on this topic, just had to add my thoughts as I hear this type of thing alot since I’ve become devoted to alternative healing and aromatherapy.
Hi Asia,
Lisa may take a while to respond so since I get email notifications about this post I thought I would try to help.
I know for certain for a UTI ypu can drink unsweetened cranberry juice to help get rid of it. I’m not sure about ACV but I would have thought you would need to drink it. Infection is internal so drinking plenty of water, cranberry juice and possibly the ACV (like I said before, not sure about that one) will flush your kidneys then your bladder and uterine tract.
As for your private area all I can suggest is to keep rinsing with water and/or maybe a different soap until it feels back to normal.
Hope this helps. Best wishes.
Hello, I know this thread is a bit old but I have an emergency question. I used ACV & the Peppermint Castile soap COMBINED on my private area and I haven’t been feeling the same, Im worried because your post says it causes acid and should not be mixed. the reason why I used the acv was because I was having severe stomach pain and heard it can help uti (I thought that’s what it was) and I always use the castile soap as a body wash. Please help, & NO RUDE COMMENTS PLEASE
Hi Lisa, I have a recipe for furniture polish/wood floor cleaner that uses Dr. Bronners and lemon EO. Almond oil and water. I noticed in your statement regarding Castile soap and vinegar or lemon juice should be avoided. Does the same apply to lemon essential oils??
Hi Omni – The soap wouldn’t react with salt. I haven’t done this, so if you try it, let me know how it goes. The issue with mixing the soap with olive oil is that the soap molecules are attracted to oil. (They’re also attracted to water, thereby bonding oil to water. But I digress.) So, the cleaning ability of the soap would be diminished because the soap molecules would already be busy holding on to the olive oil molecules.
Hi Lori – With the castile soap in laundry, yes, add vinegar to the rinse cycle.
Hi Carley – Personally, I don’t dilute the soap for my shower, and I use it everyday. If I’m wet, and my washcloth is wet, I consider that to be dilution enough. Put a small squirt on a wet washcloth and that’ll do your whole body. That might help with the afterfeel. Hard water doesn’t usually have that affect with the soap on your skin. I, too, did a coconut hair mask with the same result and found that I had used waaaaaay too much oil. I have long, thickish hair, and used 1 Tbsp. oil. After four washes (the last one with SAl Suds), I finally got it all out. However, just last week, I tried it again with just 1/2 tsp. of oil worked through my hair. Then I put my hair up in a bun and warmed it with the hair dryer. Then I let it sit for 10 minutes or so, and it washed out the first time with just castile soap, followed by the hair rinse. My hair was in great shape afterwards.
All the best,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I really enjoy your blog and have recently been switching over to all Dr. Bronner as I feel it makes for an easy transition into a “clean environment”.. I have already replaced cleaners with Bronner and vinegar with water solutions, laundry and so on. I haven’t noticed any scum build up as of yet but I think that’s because I just began. We have hard water here and I think that is why I’m having problems with introducing Bronner as my “shower care” .. I attempted to dilute pure castile soap with water in a bottle about 1:8 ratio.. I washed my hair with a pump and that felt okay but when I washed my body with it my skin felt waxy and kind of sticky feeling. Is this because of the hard water? Do you have any solutions? I also tried to do a coconut hair mask treatment and it didn’t matter how many times I washed my hair the oil just wouldn’t come out. Why is that? Would the other type of Dr. Bronner soap make a difference? Thank you for your time?
If using Dr B’s in laundry detergent, should I use vinegar in the rinse cycle?
I saw a recipe that mixed Dr Bronners with salt in a laundry detergent. Any issues with mixing it with salt? Also, is mixing it with olive oil for a hand soap ok? Saw a recipe for that too. Thank you!
Hi Lorna – Refillable, yes. Glass, no. Many stores and co-ops across the country offer refill stations for our products. They order the soaps in 5 gallon totes with spigots on them. Call around to see if someone does this, and if not, suggest that they do! Glass is exorbitantly expensive to produce, store, and ship. Also, there’s a lot of risk of breakage and injury since the soap is something that most people keep in the shower.
Hi Michele – The recipe looks pretty good, but I always like to caution about that washing soda. It is highly effective and is a good alternative to bleach. However, it is very hard on clothing and may wear them down more quickly. Perhaps use that as an occasional booster rather than for every wash. And maybe just for whites, or really dirty stuff.
Wow, Annette! You may have some collector items there! We haven’t had paper labels in a long time and other one is silk screened. So we’re looking at 11 years at the most recent for the paper label and somewhere between 2003 and 2005 for the silk screened. And the lot coding started in 2005 as well, so we’re before then with that bottle. As long as the soap doesn’t smell bad (even if the essential oil scent has faded) and if it sudses up and seems to clean (put some oil on your hand and try to wash it off with the soap), then you’re good to go with it.
Hi Kristen – Yes! I’ve made this up myself and here’s why it works – vinegar reacts faster with baking soda than with castile soap, so the baking soda is “using up” the vinegar and making that nice frothy foam before the vinegar has any effect on the soap. Did you get that recipe from Karen Logan’s “Clean House, Clean Planet”? Love that book.
Hi James – Vinegar is unfriendly to soft stones such as marble, limestone, and travertine and will cause etching and discoloration. It’s all about the chemistry! Let me know what you find in your experiments.
All the best,
Lisa
I’m beginning to make all my own cleaning supplies and recently found a recipe for dish soap that has both vinegar and Dr. B’s soap, as well as washing soda. I saw in your blog that you should never mix the first two together, but then I read on of your replies that “the baking soda is “using up” the vinegar and making that nice frothy foam before the vinegar has any effect on the soap”. Does that mean it would be ok to use all three? The other ingredients are Borax and water. Thanks so much.
I’m a big fan of cleaning with natrual products. However, vinegar on it’s own has caused a few.. well what can I say… staines and discolorations on the surfaces I am cleaning. I have read a lot on the internet in regards to mixing vinegar and castile soap. I’ll go away now and have a bit of an experiment. Love the blog!
I make a homemade soft scrub that has Dr. B’s and vinegar and it works amazingly – it’s a staple in cleaning. It gets my sinks and tubs so clean. Maybe with the combination of the other ingredients, it’s okay? It has baking soda, water and EOs in it, too. It’s super creamy when I mix it, like cake frosting…
Hi Lisa, so I must have some very ancient bottles of Dr. Bronner pure-castile soaps. I found another peppermint 4oz bottle. 🙂 So the label ‘styles’ on both these bottles are very different. And both are different from what’s on your website. I cannot find any number on either bottle that is not on the label, and even the numbers I find on the labels, are mostly costs, addresses, phone numbers, temperatures. The 4oz label is paper, and the lavender 16oz is like painted on the bottle or something (can’t get a corner to pull off or tear off the label). Is it possible at one time, there was no expire or manufactured date put on the bottle? 🙂 As long as you think nothing can hurt my hair (because of how old it is), I will give it a try. So wash with my old castile soap and then rinse with a solution of water/vinegar, right? 🙂 Again, thank you! Love your website and blog!
Hi Lisa!
I have a recipe for a laundry detergent I would like you to look at to see if you think it would be effective — 1/2 c. super washing soda, 1/2 c. baking soda, water, 3/4 c. Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap and 20-30 drops of essential oil. Thank you for your time!
Hi, Lisa! I would also like to know your feelings about this recipe. Would Lemon EO be considered an acid? If so, would it combat the effectiveness of the Castile Soap or would the amount of E O be low enough to not matter? Thanks in Advance for Your Thoughts! ~Anora~
Michele, Can you post directions on making your laundry detergent? Please 🙂 How much do you use for HE washing machine? Thank you 🙂
Hello Lisa, Is there any chance in the future we will find Dr. Bronner’s castile soap in glass, refillable bottles?
Hi Melissa #1 and Oxana – Your questions are similar so I can answer them together. There is more to the vinegar/soap reaction than pH. Although honey and aloe vera are also slightly acidic, they do not react with the soap. You are welcome to combine them.
Hi Melissa #2 – Because you are adding so much more vinegar to the amount of soap in this recipe, there is still a lot of unreacted vinegar to clean up the residue left by the soap’s reaction with some of the vinegar. But the soap is not doing you any favors here. I think you should leave it out. Or leave out the vinegar. One of them should step aside, though. You would not need to add a rinsing step if you are wiping off the surfaces with a damp dry cloth.
Hi Antoinette – I’m glad you are reading the ingredient lists! We add citric acid to our soaps in order to catch any unreacted hydroxides leftover after the soap making reaction. These hydroxides are very strong, caustic alkalis which would be very damaging to our skin. Therefore, each soap batch is individually tested to determine the needed amount of citric acid (when dealing with botanicals, every batch can vary). The citric acid is added in such a way so as not to react with the soap before it reacts with the hydroxides.
Hi YY – The pH of the castile soap is 8.9, which is not terribly high. I have not tried this particular combination for a shampoo, but I am intrigued. I have a beautiful aloe vera plant at home, and I will try combining it with the soap and seeing what happens. I did combine it with the soap to see if there was the same reaction as with vinegar, and there was not. However, I do not know if it would elminate the need for a rinse. If you try it out, let me know what you find.
Hi Annette – The shelf life of the soap is at least 3 years. After this time, the strength of the essential oils may fade, lessening the scent, but the soap is still effective. If the soap does not smell bad, then it is good to go. I’ve heard many stories of people finding old bottles and using them just fine. If you would like to know the age of your soap, look for a number stamped on the bottle somewhere – not on the label. The first four numbers are a Julian date. The first number indicates a year (i.e. 9=2009) and the next three numbers are the day of the year out of 365 (i.e. 001 would be January 1). If you’d like, please send me the number and I would be happy to interpret it for you.
Hi Christopher – The reason we see these build ups on our sinks is because we generally don’t dry them after each use. Therefore, the minerals that are dissolved in the water are just left on the surface once the water evaporates. If we were to dry the sink with a towel after each use, we would not see this. However, generally we do towel dry our bodies, and so the towels absorb the water, along with the minerals dissolved in them. They would not be left on the skin. Even if a person were not to towel dry after a shower, the amount of mineral deposits on the skin would be minute and would come off in day to day life. They would not build up. Regarding your hair, there is absolutely no problem with the waxy feeling if you are enjoying it. It is not deposits on your hair that you are noticing. Rather it is the pH of the soap causing the follicles on your hair strands to stick up rather than lying smooth. Therefore, the hair appears dull instead of shiny and the strands more easily tangle together and give that waxy feel to the touch.
Please let me know if I can be of further help.
All the best,
Lisa
Hi Lisa, I was pretty aware of these reactions and the leftover mineral deposits that are endemic to cleaning with hard water and natural soap, however I am curious if you have heard this particular complaint that I heard recently. Somebody told me they have stopped using natural soaps on their body because these mineral deposits left behind clog skin pores and don’t let their skin breathe as it should. It seems rather far-fetched in my opinion, but curious if these deposits continue to be left on skin and build up over time.
I have always used the Bronner’s citrus rinse to take care of this problem on my hair, but after packing lightly for Cambodia recently I skipped that step and while my hair had that weird waxy feeling every day I kind of enjoyed the somewhat “dry” feel of it. Is there any particular concern with leaving these deposits on your hair? Thanks so much for your continued dedication to Bronner lovers!
Great information! Thanks so much! I did not see anything (I could have missed it – if so, my apologies) that addresses if Dr.Bronners castile soap (I have the lavender) can expire or go bad. I think I have had this bottle for over 15yrs. We used to use it all the time for showers, then we have moved a number of times and it got “misplaced.” I just found it. yay? I have been wondering about using it for a shampoo, and have that info from all your responses in this post. I just don’t know if it can “expire” or go bad/spoil so that I should not use it. I hate throwing things away (which is likely why I still have it). 🙂 Thank you so much!