Homemade Soap

I've been preparing to take steps toward making my own soap. I've read recipes, bought ingredients, and waited for a day when I had the time to invest in the project.

Well, turns out "homemade" soap is much simpler than what I initially thought (as so many "whole" things turn out to be). A recent trip to Portland and the legendary Powell's City of Books turned up this wonderful little gem:

This little book helped me focus in on my goal for wanting homemade soap.

The goal is purity.
Soap free of dyes, perfumes, chemicals and anything that doesn't need to be in there.

Virtually all of the "Super Easy Herbal Formulas" in this book required either Borax, castile soap, or both (with the addition of some essential oils).

Enter in Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps:

Apparently all I need is a few ounces of this stuff diluted in water and "spiced up" with some essential oils, and voila! Pure, "homemade" hand soap, dish soap, body wash, shampoo... You name it, it seems like the sky's the limit here. And all with the same stuff! This is quite a game changer for me- I have a hard time wrapping my head around this concept!

I am starting small to see how it goes and I may expand from there. I have so far refilled my dish soap bottle, my hand wash bottle, and created a body wash from castile soap.

From reading The Naturally Clean Home, it seems that essential oils do a few thing for cleaning:

• they help to enhance the cleaning power of the mixture
• citrus oils (in particular) are natural degreasers and have antimicrobial properties
• they provide a soothing, natural scent

Ms. Siegel-Maier (author of The Naturally Clean Home) provides recipes for combining essential oils, and the differences seem to be personal preference on fragrance. I'm experimenting with a lemon-mint combo. 

The hardest part for me was determining how to dilute the Dr. Bronner's. It comes concentrated with no directions on the bottle!

After searching a few websites, it seems that for household cleaning a 1:40 ratio of castile soap to water will do the trick. 

For bodily cleaning, most recommendations were for a few drops in the shower to clean the skin and hair. I bought my Dr. Bronner's in bulk and wanted a more practicle solution. So I'm experimenting with 2 oz of castile soap per 12 oz bottle. 

Wish me luck!

Other, more serious cleaning recipes (bath tub, oven, toilet, laundry) in The Naturally Clean Home call for Borax and other common household items (like salt and baking powder). Stay tuned...

(Images courtesy of powells.com & drbronner.com)