Castile soap is a popular alternative to chemical or synthetic soap products. But while castile soap does a great job of cleaning dirty dishes or tables, it’s much more versatile than you might initially expect. When you tally up all the different creative ways you can use castile soap, there’s no reason to ever go back to a synthetic option.
This guide will go over how castile soap can be used in unique or interesting ways.
Castile Soap: An Overview
Don’t know what castile soap is? Here’s a quick recap:
- Castile soap is made from a vegetable or plant-based oil instead of animal fat or other synthetic ingredients
- Most quality castile soaps are made with organic or natural ingredients, making them both vegan and environmentally friendly
- Castile soap works the same way as regular soap to effectively clear away dirt, debris, grime, grease, and more
We have several excellent castile soap options, ranging from a basic, unscented castile soap to naturally scented options like our lavender castile soap or our fresh citrus castile soap. Check out all our naturally-derived, plant-based castile soaps to see your options!
What Makes Castile Soap Better than Regular Soap?
“Better” is often subjective, but we at Green Goo wholeheartedly stand behind castile soap for a few big reasons.
Reason 1: Eco-Friendliness
Castile soap is eco-friendly, and it’s a much better choice if you want to do your part in protecting our natural environment. Not only is it less impactful in terms of manufacturing and carbon production (since animals aren’t involved, fewer greenhouse gases are involved as a result), but it’s also safer for the environment in case some of the soap makes its way to the soil or anywhere else soap doesn’t normally go.
Remember, everything in your drain eventually ends up back in the natural environment. Since castile soap is completely biodegradable, it doesn’t matter whether you rinse it down your kitchen drain, throw it outside, or anything else. The environment will recycle the ingredients of castile soap in the end.
Reason 2: Safer for Our Pets and Kids
Castile soap is much safer for use around both pets and kids. The fact of the matter is that kids and pets sometimes ingest soap, whether your child gets curious if the soap tastes like oranges, too, or if your pet goes on a licking spree during their regular bath. This may not seem like a huge deal, but lots of commercial or traditional soaps have synthetic chemicals like parabens that can cause not only short-term issues like allergic reactions and skin irritation, but also long-term damage like increasing the risk of cancer for your child or pet.
Again, castile soap is much less harmful since it’s all naturally derived from safe plants and fruits like coconut, olive, sunflower, and aloe vera. While you shouldn’t just let them ingest castile soap if you can help it, it’s not a big deal if your dog licks a little bit up while they’re getting a bath.
Reason 3: Less is More
Castile soap is very affordable, even compared to many other traditional soap products. A little bit of castile soap goes a long way! In this way, castile soap is great both for people on a budget and for folks looking to minimize their environmental impact. To put it into perspective a bit, you can generally only get about 9 oz. of that artificially-scented foaming seasonal hand soap for the same price you’d pay to get 12 oz. of naturally-scented multipurpose castile soap.
How Can You Use Castile Soap Creatively?
By this point, it should be clear that you can use castile soap for all the traditional reasons, and then some--you can use it to clean your dishes, clean countertops, do laundry, and more. But what you may not know is that there are tons of creative ways you can use your castile soap supply, too. In fact, it’s no stretch to say that castile soap is a one-size-fits-all solution for most of your cleaning needs!
Vegetable Rinse
Castile soap is supremely gentle to anything it touches. This means you can easily use castile soap to rinse your fruits and vegetables, or any other foods, without worrying about putting synthetic cleaners on your produce.
You do have to make sure that you thoroughly rinse the vegetables with water in this example, of course. Otherwise, your food might taste a little too soapy for comfort! But there’s no denying that some diluted castile soap is a perfect solution if you want to rinse and wash your vegetables from your garden before throwing them in the crockpot.
Pet Shampoo
Like we said before, castile soap isn’t toxic, especially if it’s consumed by accident in small quantities. This makes it a perfect shampoo solution for any pet, but especially for dogs and cats, who are notorious for licking their fur especially during a bath.
Even better, castile soap can dig deep into your pet’s fur to get rid of dirt and grime that’s difficult to get out with water alone. We even offer an Animal Castile Wash that is a perfect choice for your dog or cat (or horse or goat). The unscented soap can clean them along with their bowls and stalls, all without phthalates, artificial fragrances, and all those other unneeded, potentially irritating ingredients you’ll often find in pet shampoo.
Shampoo and Body Wash
You can use castile soap as your own shampoo and body wash as well! However, you’ll probably want to mix a little bit with water to dilute the soap for use on your skin and hair.
When it comes to shampoo, be sure to use the castile soap with a moisturizing conditioner to avoid drying out your hair. We offer multiple castile soaps with different fragrances that might just be what you’re looking for in a body wash or shampoo.
Laundry Detergent
You can even use castile soap as a laundry detergent! All you have to do is mix around one half of a cup to one-third of a cup of castile soap with half a cup of vinegar. That should make enough detergent for a big load of laundry. It’s an ideal, all-natural alternative to traditional detergent products, which can really do a number on your gentle clothing items and cause fading over time. Plus, it’s much more environmentally friendly than bleach or other big box store laundry cleaning solutions.
Shaving Cream
Ran out of shaving cream, and need to get rid of your stubble before heading to the office? No problem! Use a little castile soap after thoroughly washing and moisturizing your skin. All you need to do is squirt a few drops of liquid castile soap on your face and use your favorite razor.
Castile soap is slippery enough that you shouldn’t get any nicks or scratches provided your razor is sharp (as it should be!).
Plant Spray
Are bugs constantly chewing on your plants? Why not make a spray out of castile soap? The soap will make the plant distasteful to the bugs and might even cause them to slip off. Of course, it won’t harm your plants, especially with regular TLC that plants need like water, sunshine, and moisture. Better soaped up than eaten by bugs!
To do this, get a spray bottle and mix 1 tablespoon of castile soap with a quart of water. Then add another half tablespoon of either cinnamon or cayenne pepper: two spices that bugs can’t stand. You can then spray down any plants that are being devoured by bugs and watch them fly away.
Toothpaste
Last but not least – did you know that castile soap can be used as a toothpaste? While the taste will certainly leave something to be desired, you can always use a little castile soap as a backup option if you run out of your regular toothpaste.
Castile soap won’t hurt your teeth. It even has an advantage over lots of traditional toothpaste products in that it’s not abrasive and doesn’t contain fluoride. The result? An all-natural toothpaste alternative that can get the job done in a pinch.
Is Castile Soap Really That Flexible?
Absolutely! But it’s not because of any miraculous properties of vegetable oils or hidden secrets (though we’ll always go back to the fact that plant-based ingredients offer so much in the phytonutrients they provide).
In reality, lots of commercial or traditional soaps are chock-full of harsh bleach or other aggressive chemical ingredients like triclosan, which can create carcinogenic dioxin as a byproduct of use. These soaps are usually specialized and blended for specific purposes – for instance, one regular soap might be perfect for dishes while another might be suitable for laundry. But this means that the soaps aren’t suitable for different uses, and they come with the risk of environmental damage, or irritation or poisoning if they are used incorrectly.
Castile soap is more flexible because it utilizes safe, non-toxic, plant-based ingredients.
Plus, who wants to spend tons of time and money buying a dozen different soaps for different tasks when you can get two or three different scented castile soaps and be all set?
Summary
In the end, castile soap is one of the best all-natural alternatives to traditional soap products. It’s better for the environment, better for you, and better for your wallet. That’s why we’ve created a diverse collection of varying castile soaps with different natural fragrances, even one that was specifically formulated for babies!
There’s something for everyone, so be sure to check out our castile soaps and grab a bottle that will be perfect for all your needs!
Sources
https://www.healthline.com/health/castile-soap
https://www.healthywomen.org/content/blog-entry/whats-hiding-your-soap-four