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Do you spend lots of money for cleaning products for the home, body wash and shampoos of different kinds for you, the kids, and even the dogs?
It is probably not necessary to spend this money on all these various products, which are often laden with harmful chemicals. DIY these products with plant-based, liquid Castile soap, making safer products while saving yourself some money.
This gentle, mixed oil soap comes in both bars and liquids. Additions of regular household products change the properties and strength of this versatile liquid Castile soap and make it appropriate for a variety of uses.
The Dr. Bronner brand is most well-known and a top seller. According to their website, the natural, high-quality ingredients in this product will encourage you to give it a try.
For the Home
Hand Soap: For the adults in the household, avoid those anti-bacterial soaps already proven not to work efficiently. Try some of the DIY soap recipes to make hand soap to fill those decorative bathroom and kitchen dispensers.
Don’t use liquid Castile directly from the bottle as a hand-soap. That is a waste of the powerful soap product that works best when diluted.
Vegetable Wash: All the information about chemicals on our fruits and vegetables is disturbing these days. Commercial growers sometimes use pesticides to keep crops growing.
Retardants to prevent fruits and vegetables from ripening during transit are not something you want to ingest.
Water alone does not remove all the chemicals. It is a good practice to wash your fruits and vegetables before eating or serving to your family. Vegetable wash is available, at a significant price, usually in a small bottle.
Make your fruit wash using 1/4 tsp liquid Castile to a bowl of water. Dunk and swish produce, then use a clean scrub brush. Rinse with running water away to remove chemicals and keep your fruits and vegetables safe.
Even if you grow your vegetables and spray them with organic products for pest control, such as a soap product, you’ll want to wash first.
Unfortunately, the days of eating straight from the vine are over. Peel fruits, and vegetables prone to heavy retention of chemicals, when possible.
Cleaning the Castle
DIY All-Purpose Household Cleaner: Like the brand name “Soft Scrub”. Baking soda added to the Castile liquid; scrubs grime and grease and takes them out of the way.
Keep a small container of this grime-fighting mix in each bathroom, kitchen areas, and outdoor kitchen/eating areas.
No longer will you be trapped in a small bathroom with overwhelming and dangerous chemical smells. Use a few drops to the ½ cup of the Castile soap, according to the size of the container.
Dish Liquid: You spend lots of money for those pricey, dishwashing liquids that take a few squirts to get a large job accomplished. You may enjoy the fragrance and the cleaning power, but is it worth spending all that money when there is an alternative?
Add Castile soap, along with a few drops of essential oil for fragrance, and you’ll have an equally powerful cleaning product at a lower price.
Mop Floors: A DIY product using a more substantial amount of liquid Castile soap can tackle those big, dirty jobs. Mopping floors, nobody’s favorite, leaves them cleaner, quicker, with only a light rinse needed.
“You can mop almost any type of floor with a solution of ¼ cup liquid Castile soap and 2 gallons warm water. If the floors are greasy, add ¼ cup distilled white vinegar to the bucket,”.
However, avoid using this mixture on waxed wood floors, as it breaks down the wax.
For the Kids & Pets
Baby Bath: Use a light mixture of liquid Castile soap for the most delicate of skin, your babies’. Mix a few drops of the Castile liquid soap with water and lather up, taking care to avoid baby’s eyes.
Cleaning Wounds: Those little scrapes and cuts the kids always get benefit from cleaning before treatment or band-aids. Keep a small bottle of lightly-mixed liquid Castile in a handy spot. Use it to help avoid infections when the kids have a boo-boo.
Dog and Puppy Bath: Lisa Bronner, a granddaughter of the soap maker, shows us how to wash the dog. No mixing required for this use, she uses the liquid soap straight from the bottle.
The amount depends on the size of your dog and how much hair there is to be washed.
DIY Castile Soap Recipes to Make Life Simpler
Foaming Face Wash: Cleansing products for the face are expensive. Sometimes we think they’re worth the high price from the brand names because of all the promises that come with them.
These include claims such as fewer wrinkles, sparkling, unblemished skin that never droops or sags, saying goodbye to crows feet and under-eye darkness. Do you see a difference when using these?
If you, like many, don’t experience the fulfillment of these promises, consider these DIY Castile concoctions.
Several sources advise on making your cleanser with liquid Castile Soap. The uses of essential oils for different types of skin, “Tea tree and lavender are good for acne-prone skin. Use frankincense and lavender for mature skin or sandalwood and chamomile for dry skin.”
In another article, she recommends testing before applying to the face. “Personally, I mix a few drops of lavender and frankincense oils into the honey I keep in my bathroom.
I also sometimes add a dash of cinnamon or vitamin C. I just spot test on my inner arm before trying anything new on my face, and I recommend the same for anyone trying these DIY methods.”
Dawn Gallagher, eHow Health, and Beauty expert gives measurements and discusses details in this short video. She recommends adding essential oils for fragrance.
These experts all agree that liquid Castile soap is the perfect base for DIY foaming facial cleanser.
Hand Wash Clothing Items: If you’re among the few who hand wash a few delicate clothing items, use this same recipe.
Shaving Cream: Don’t neglect this necessary chore, usually accomplished with chemical-laden shave creams. Make your chemical-free shave cream. This shaving cream is a uni-sex DIY product.
For the Outdoors
Kill the Pests Plant Spray
Mix Liquid Castile soap with water and oil to make your own, much less expensive insecticidal soap. Most insecticidal sprays contain a 2% mix of soap. You can make this mixture too with a small amount of the soap mixed with water.
The oil in this recipe helps your home-made product cling to the stems and leaves. Remember to spray the soil near the plants. This is effective on infested houseplants, as well.
Destroy those soft-bodied insects that damage your plants with this simple solution.
When Using Castile Liquid is Not the Solution
Though liquid Castile soap may appear to be a miracle cleaner that will save you lots of money, there is an exception to these results. That’s when you mix this product with hard water. It leaves a film but does not damage anything you’ve cleaned.
To alleviate this issue, buy distilled water to mix your DIY Castile soap products. Or install a water softener. You might want to do this even if you’re not making Castile soap products.
Hard water is the cause of many issues affecting your hair and possibly your skin and laundry. “Soaps and detergents behave differently in hard water. Soaps can form a scum in hard water that will not rinse away easily.”
Start by Making a Few
As you can see, using just a few of these DIY products with liquid Castile soap removes many of the chemicals you use in daily life. Some of the products save you a significant amount of money, as well.
If you are making DIY products, order the Almond liquid soap. You may also find Castile soap at your local grocery. The Dr. Bronner brand is available here, including already scented, simple soap products.
Want More Recipes Like This?
Then get yourself a copy of the Naturally Made downloadable guide with 150+ simple DIY recipes for a more natural, healthier body & happier home.
Each recipe is beautifully presented with stunning photography and will save you a fortune as you discover how to stop buying toxic products for your home, health and beauty regime and instead replace with better, greener and cheaper alternatives.
Get your copy here.
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