What is Castile Soap?
Castile soap is environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and an incredibly versatile cleaner. Castile soap is made by mixing vegetable oil (such as olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, or hemp oil) with an alkali substance such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide.
Most people know sodium hydroxide as caustic soda or lye, and it is used to make bar soaps. Potassium hydroxide is more commonly known as potash, and it is used to make liquid castile soap. When making castile soap, the vegetable oil is combined with one of these substances, and then it’s processed in a way where the end product is not harmful. Castile soap is a natural, plant-based, and biodegradable cleaner in its purest form. So, let’s talk about the four main reasons we use castile soap.
Castile soap is non-toxic.
Castile soap is a great choice for a safer “go-to” cleaner because it’s a natural cleaning soap without all of the harsh chemicals that many dish soaps and commercial cleaners may have. Other cleaners may have ingredients that can cause short-term or long-term damage to the respiratory system, the skin, reproductive system, or they may even cause cancer. Using a simple, non-toxic castile soap is an easy way to avoid these chemicals.
Keep in mind that, like other cleaning products, each brand of castile soap may be a little different. So, before you use your castile soap, check the bottle for its ingredients and directions. Some castile soaps may need to be diluted with water before using them.
Also, here’s a little cleaning tip. If you are making your own cleaning solution, don’t mix castile soap and vinegar together because castile soap is a base and vinegar is an acid. Mixing the castile soap and vinegar is not toxic, but the vinegar will cancel out the soap properties and reduce the castile soap to oil.
Castile soap is versatile.
So, not only is castile soap safe, but it’s also a multi-purpose cleaner that you can use to clean just about ANYTHING. Seriously, you really can clean almost anything with it. You can use castile soap as a natural body wash to clean your body; you can use it as a hand soap, shampoo, lathering shave soap, and even a gentle baby wash. And just like we’ve been doing in our videos, you can use castile soap as an all-purpose cleaner to clean the surfaces in your home. With this soap, you can clean anything from countertops to sinks, toilets, carpets, floors, and windows. You can even use castile soap to wash your clothes and clean the dishes. It’s like a one-stop-shop for cleaning.
Castile soap is Plant-Based.
The two most popular vegetable oils used as the main ingredient to make castile soap are coconut oil and olive oil. Depending on the manufacturer, they may use one oil or a mixture of oils. Nonetheless, the different oils used to craft castile soap produce different qualities. Castile soap made with coconut oil tends to be very sudsy, produces a great lather, and is less expensive—which can be great for cleaning the many surfaces in the home. Bars of coconut oil based soap are also harder and can last longer when used for bathing, but the coconut oil soap can be a bit drying to the skin.
On the other hand, castile soap made with olive oil is gentler, more nourishing to the skin, and easily washes away. However, it produces very little lather and suds and may cost a little more. Bars of soap made with olive oil are softer and don’t last quite as long as their coconut counterparts.
Some manufacturers have a proprietary blend that delivers the best of both worlds. They manufacture castile soap with coconut oil and olive oil, producing a great lather, but it is also less drying to the skin. Other oils might be added to the castile soap (such as jojoba oil, palm kernel oil, hemp oil, etc.) to help keep your skin smooth once the soap is washed away.
Castile soap is inexpensive.
And to top it all off, castile soap is inexpensive. The liquid form of castile soap typically comes in 8 ounces, 32 ounces, and even gallon size containers. Rather than buying 5 or 6 different cleaning products, you can pick up a 32-ounce bottle of castile soap for less than $15 at many retailers. And with that one bottle, just a little can go a long way.
So, that’s a little about castile soap and why we recommend having some on hand to use all around the house. So, if you don’t have any castile soap in the house, go grab some and try it out! Remember, cleaning is a family affair. Now let’s get it clean!!!!