Dr. Bronner's castile soap uses: dilutions for home and body

One bottle of Dr. Bronner's castile soap can wash your face, your floors, your dishes and the dog. The trick is the dilution: a few drops for some jobs, a quarter cup in a spray bottle for others, and never mixed with vinegar.

What makes pure castile soap different

Castile soap is a true soap made from vegetable oils, with no animal fats. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, family soapmakers since 1858, use plant oils such as organic coconut oil, olive, hemp and jojoba oils, made with certified fair trade ingredients. The liquid soap is made with potassium hydroxide; none of it remains once the oils have turned into soap and glycerin.

Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Magic Soap has no synthetic detergents. It's alkaline, about as alkaline as baking soda and nowhere near bleach, and it's very concentrated. That's why so many Dr. Bronner's castile soap uses start with "add water": a little goes a long way.

Does castile soap have to be diluted?

Not always. When you wash your hands, face or body, the water on your wet hands, washcloth or skin does the diluting for you. Most household cleaning jobs work better premixed with water first.

1. Measure separately. Use the same measuring spoon or cup for the soap and then water. The water amount is what you add, not the final volume.
2. Mix small batches. Diluting the soap also dilutes its natural preservative, so make only what you'll use in about two weeks and replace leftovers after a month.
3. Adjust for hard water. Hard water or very dirty jobs may need more soap than the chart shows. Start with the chart and add a little if you need to.

Body care dilutions

For personal care, castile soap works as a face wash, body wash, hand soap and shampoo. Here's how much to use.

For hair, use a couple of drops for close cropped hair and up to half a tablespoon for long hair, depending on your hair type. Because true soap is alkaline, follow with an acidic rinse, like diluted apple cider vinegar. Wash makeup brushes the same way: a few drops, a gentle massage, and rinse until the water runs clear.

For hand soap, put the 1-to-3 mix in a foaming hand soap dispenser only, not a regular pump bottle. For a wipe-off body spray, mix 1½ tsp of soap into 1 cup of distilled, filtered or purified water: mist lightly and wipe with a clean, damp cloth.

Household cleaning dilutions

Around the house, castile soap replaces several bottles under the sink. You'll want a spray bottle, a squirt bottle and a scrub brush.

All purpose cleaning spray, floors and dishes

The all purpose cleaning spray is the one most people mix first. Use it on counters and other washable surfaces, and wipe with a damp cloth. To wash dishes by hand, keep a premix by the sink for the scrub brush, or add a tablespoon or two to a large sink of hot water. In hard water, hand-dry dishes to avoid spots. Castile soap isn't made for automatic dishwashers.

For mopping floors (wood, laminate and stone), dunk the mop, wring out the excess water, and mop up any wet areas on wood or laminate so water doesn't sit.

The toilet, step by step

1. Empty the bowl. Start with an empty toilet bowl, so the soap mix goes straight onto the sides.
2. Squirt and sprinkle. Squirt the soap mix around the bowl, then sprinkle baking soda on the brush.
3. Scrub, wait, flush. Scrub the bowl, let it sit for 10 minutes, then flush.

Laundry and delicates

Add ⅓ to ½ cup of soap to the wash cycle for a large load, or 40 to 60 mL in HE washers. Add a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle (half a cup for HE), and half a cup of baking soda in the wash if you want help with whites or odours. Keep the soap and the vinegar in separate steps.

For hand-washing delicates, swish gently in a tablespoon of soap and about 4 L of cold water, soak 10 minutes, swish again and rinse in clean water. Gently press out the extra water with a towel, then lay clothing flat or hang it to dry.

Produce, plants and the dog

For a veggie wash, add about ¼ teaspoon to a bowl of water, dunk produce, swish it around and rinse in clear water. For a plant spray for bugs, spray plants twice a day in the cool part of the day until the bugs are gone. Washing a wet dog? Wet them right down to the skin, massage in enough soap to lather and rinse well, keeping soap away from eyes and ears. Use Baby Unscented for sensitive dogs and for cats, and skip the tea tree scent on dogs.

What not to mix with castile soap

Vinegar is the big one. Vinegar is an acid and castile soap is a base, so they cancel each other out. Mixed in one bottle, they turn into a whitish, curdled, oily mess that won't clean anything, no matter what order you add them in.

The good news is that they work well one after the other. Clean with soap first, then follow with vinegar: a diluted vinegar rinse after shampoo, vinegar in the laundry rinse, or a half-vinegar, half-water spray on windows after a soap wash.

Soap first, then vinegar. One after the other, never in the same bottle.

A few other things to keep in mind: castile soap doesn't belong in an automatic dishwasher, the Tea Tree ant spray will burn plants, and premixed soap won't keep for long, so label your bottles with the date.

Choosing a scent

Every scent uses the same castile soap base, so the choice comes down to what you like smelling in the shower or the kitchen. Dr. Bronner's scents its soaps with essential oils, and the liquid scents come through a little stronger than the bars.

We also carry Eucalyptus, a warm, earthy scent with a big menthol burst, and Almond, which smells sweet and warm, somewhere between marzipan and baking day. Baby Unscented is the pick for babies, allergies, sensitive skin, or anyone who prefers no scent at all.

Bar soap or liquid soap?

The bars come in a 100% post-consumer recycled wrapper and use organic hemp and jojoba oils for a soft lather that doesn't dry your skin. The Baby Unscented bar has no added fragrance and double the olive oil. If you'd like a castile bar made in Canada, Crate 61 Organics Castile is a cold-process bar built almost entirely on olive oil, with no added scent. Our guide to shampoo and conditioner bars covers bars for hair in more detail, and our natural shampoo guide covers bottles as well as bars.

Refills and shelf life

If castile soap becomes your everyday soap, the 3.8 L jug of Baby Unscented is the refill size. Keep it in the cupboard and top up a smaller pump bottle, foaming dispenser or spray bottle as you go.

Dr. Bronner'sBaby Unscented liquid soap, 3.8 L refillNo fragrance, in a 100% post-consumer recycled bottle. Made for topping up smaller bottles.Shop →

Undiluted, the soap has a shelf life of three years from the manufacture date. Once a bottle is open, use it within 24 months, and no later than three years after it was made. Diluted soap is a different story: make only what you'll use in a couple of weeks.

Questions we get a lot

What is so special about castile soap?

It's a true soap made from plant oils, with no synthetic detergents, and it's concentrated enough to dilute for dozens of jobs. One bottle can cover body wash, hand soap, dishes and household cleaning.

What are the downsides of castile soap?

It can't be mixed with vinegar, it isn't tear-free, it doesn't suit automatic dishwashers, and it can leave spots in hard water unless you dry dishes by hand. Because it's alkaline, follow it with an acidic rinse when you wash your hair.

Is Dawn a castile soap?

No. Castile soap is a true soap made from plant oils. Dish liquids like Dawn are synthetic detergents, which is a different kind of cleaner.

Is Dr. Bronner's good for sensitive skin?

Many people with sensitive skin find Baby Unscented gentle, since it has no fragrance at all. It's the one to try first if scent bothers your skin.

Is castile soap ok for private areas?

For gentle everyday washing on the outside only, many people use a few drops of Baby Unscented in plenty of water and rinse well.

Can I use Dr. Bronner's in a regular pump bottle?

Not for the diluted hand soap mix. Use the 1-to-3 mix only in a foaming hand soap dispenser.

Dr. Bronner's castile soap is in the personal care section at both stores: 486 Starboard Drive in Bedford and 590 Portland Street in Dartmouth, open seven days. For more cleaners, see our household shelf and our guide to eco-friendly cleaning products. If you like the bar, our natural bar soap guide covers Canadian small-batch soaps, and for unscented laundry and dishes, see our fragrance-free cleaning guide. In HRM, order by 11 am with Luminate Express for same-day delivery, or choose pickup. Anywhere else in Canada, orders over $80 ship free.

Sources: Dr. Bronner's dilutions cheat sheet; Dr. Bronner's, What is castile soap?; Lisa Bronner, A word of caution about vinegar and castile soap; Bob's Red Mill, About Us; product labels.