Magic Soap?

Since starting out on my quest for more eco-friendly practices, I have been hearing about castile soap. I saw it everywhere but never knew how well it worked or if I would like it. Organic soaps always sound hippie-ish to me. But I got brave a few weeks ago and bought some. I use it exclusively for shaving since I have goat's milk soap for bathing.

So far I have been pleasantly surprised. It builds a great lather. It doesn't leave a residue, and I don't have to use any more lotion....than normal. It is great, and I am sold. Castile soap it is from now on!

I am pleased to see that it is eco-friendly, organic, fair trade certified, and isn't tested on animals.

Here is a little more information on the Magic Soap from Green Living Tips:

What is castile soap?

Castile soap isn't a brand but a type of soap made exclusively from vegetable oil rather than animal fat or synthetic substances. The purists feel it should be made from olive oil but there's a wide variety of castile variants that use oil from plants such as coconut and jojoba. The simple nature of the soap means a lesser environmental impact due to reduced waste stream during manufacture and also faster biodegradability.

While castile soaps can have additional synthetic ingredients, usually you'll find if it's marketed under that name, it's a fairly natural sort of product.

Castile soap - so versatile

Castile soap has many uses aside from washing your skin - it's also known as seafarer's soap due to its versatility.

I use an olive oil based one in place of shampoo - works great for me and I don't need to use a conditioner. I also don't have to wade through the dozens of shampoo brands at the local supermarket trying to translate what all the darned chemicals they use are any more - I tried that once and gave up in total confusion. As the soap I use comes in a simple paper based box, that also saves on packaging. Another benefit is that castile soap is far cheaper than other fancy label soaps and shampoos!

If you've ever tried using normal soap to wash your hair, you would have likely found your hair very dry afterward, but for some reason I haven't experienced that with castile soap - it's likely because the glycerin content is retained, whereas in normal soaps much of the glycerin is removed and sold separately in moisturizers.

Liquid castile soap uses

While bar castile soap is pretty amazing stuff, in a liquid form it's even more versatile.

- Liquid castille soap can be used for a shaving lather

- It can be used as a pet shampoo

- Great for washing clothes and diapers

- General cleaning, diluted and used in a spray bottle

- Heavy duty degreasing

- I've heard that pure liquid castile soap can even be used for brushing your teeth! But of course, don't swallow the stuff. I don't think it would kill you in small doses but I'm sure it would taste pretty yuk.

I think I will definitely have more to say about this stuff as time goes on, but I hope this helps for now.