What we put on our bodies is almost as important as what we put into it. We hear it from all kinds of sources and articles these days: chemicals are in everything and they are changing how our bodies exist. They are giving us cancer, disrupting our endocrine system, and more. I don't like to give up modern conveniences for the sake of just living longer, but I've switched one major thing in our household: soap.
I don't recall why I bought that first bottle of lavender Dr. Bronner's castile soap but I used it in the shower, and to wash the dogs too. It's great, we all smell awesome and our skin feels good.
Castile soap for laundry
I read about it being a great laundry substitute so we now have a gallon of lavender castile soap from Amazon. Our clothes have not deteriorated or felt weird so we continue to use it. It even works fantastically in our front loader and uses so little that it took a few years for the lavender soap to run out. We tried a few new scents in smaller bottles and found some that are not as great as you'd think (almond and rose) and some that are pretty decent (tea tree and peppermint) and another just as good as lavender (citrus!).
Castile soap around the house
Other uses for the castile soap that I am looking to incorporate into our lives is using it in the hand soap containers around the house, something I don't know why I wasn't doing before. It also makes a nice bath, and it supposedly can be used to clean windows, mop, and even kill ants and other bugs.
Castile soap is made only from vegetable oils, no animal fats. There's some science explanation makes it to where its atoms want to absorb dirt and other non-water soluble molecules that usually make up dirty things. It's biodegradable and nontoxic, making it safe to the earth, people, animals, and everything. There are brands other than Dr. B's but theirs is the most widely recognized and most readily available, plus the variety of natural scents is a bonus too.
Where to buy castile soap
If you too, like not having to make big sacrifices for health and the environment but still want to do something, this is an easy place to start and it affects several major parts of the household: by the sink, in the shower, and in the laundry room. You can buy a gallon of castile soap on Amazon for around $55-60 dollars, but locally in Columbia I like to wait until 20% off day at Rosewood Market where you can get a gallon for $51.20. I picked up a gallon of peppermint for the laundry and bathing. I'll probably go back soon and get a 32 oz. bottle of another scent for some variety too, plus it's nice to be able to open the bottles in-store and get a whiff of each of them. If you think about the financial and physical savings of only having to buy a store one gallon of soap rather than separate containers for laundry soap, hand soap refills, and shower gel, it's definitely worth looking into.
Are you planning to switch to more natural products for personal health, or for the environment, financial savings, or other reasons? What's the next logical step for you to remove chemicals from your grooming routine?