6 DIY Natural Cleansing Recipes with Liquid Castile Soap for Body and Home

As you may know, we advocate budget-conscious, eco-friendly natural products, at Men's Soap Company. Our shaving products are made from natural ingredients that are packaged minimally with recycled materials (some cases re-fillable when bought in containers) and last 6 to 12 months with normal use. The result is little to no waste added to the environment. 

Cleansing and shaving go hand in hand, and yet we haven't pursued cleansing products, because they pose a few challenges.

We are in the process of working on our natural body soaps line, but liquid shampoo, face, and body cleansers are hard to produce in a natural, eco-friendly manner.

Every Month, the Average American Spends $100 on Personal Care and Cleansers

Besides the effects on your budget, do you ever wonder what effects these commercial products may have on your skin, health, home, and the environment?

We need to reduce the use of plastic when possible. Most commercial cleansers are made and packaged for store shelves, often in plastic containers that are replaced on a monthly basis by customers, further perpetuating the plastic pollution problem. Sure, our cities, towns, and buildings have recycling programs, but when you recycle, are they really being recycled? The truth may shock you.

If you're looking for a way to spend less money, use cleaner, "greener" ways to effectively cleanse your body and home, and reduce the clutter of multiple products, then look no further than one simple ingredient: liquid castile soap. Simple yet effective, this gem of a cleaner can be hailed as the superpower of the cleaning cabinet for its versatility and gentleness to the environment. Read on to learn how to use liquid castile soap in six recipes that will have you saying goodbye to some of those expensive household products.

What is Liquid Castile Soap?

Liquid castile soap is a simple olive oil soap, based on the soapmaking style of the Castile region of Spain. It is sometimes referred to like the camping soap, as it has so many uses and is gentle on the environment.

While even biodegradable soaps shouldn't be used in a natural water source, they can be used 200 feet away from a lake or river and then disposed of in a small hole dug in the ground. Experienced campers love that they can pack one small bottle of this soap and use it for bathing, shampooing, washing dishes, soothing bug bites, cleaning sunglasses, pots, and pans, and even brushing their teeth.

It's that gentle!

This little wonder soap has many uses, as well. The key is in its dilution. Some heavy-duty jobs need a higher concentration of the liquid, while others need less for a gentler, less sudsy version. And while we're making our own bathing and cleaning products, it's nice to add a few simple, natural ingredients to boost its cleaning or moisturizing properties.

For Your Body

Recipe #1 - Facial Cleanser

A good facial cleanser needs to gently clean and moisturize without leaving a greasy film. It doesn't need extra ingredients that may strip your skin of its natural oils (can contribute to dry skin) and be harmful to the environment. For some, dry skin can lead to painful shaving experiences as well. Here's a simple recipe that you place in a foaming soap dispenser to provide just the touch of suds that you love:

What You Need 

• ½ cup distilled water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable glycerin
• 7 drops lavender essential oil
• ½ cup liquid castile soap
• 8 oz. foaming soap dispenser
• Small funnel

Directions

• Slowly pour each ingredient through the funnel into the foaming soap bottle. Be sure to add the liquid soap last, and pour slowly to avoid foaming. 
• This is an excellent facial cleanser that works gently and adds moisture to your face with the glycerin. Lavender oil is known to be antiseptic and to soothe any skin inflammations, as well as leaving a beautiful scent.  

Recipe #2 - Body Wash with Coconut Oil & Honey

If you've ever read the ingredients on a bottle of commercial body wash, you may have been overwhelmed by the long list of hard-to-pronounce chemicals. These often include sodium laureth sulfate and methylparaben, whose safety is questionable. The following recipe keeps the ingredients simple and natural, with no questions hanging in the air over their safety, just wonderfully refreshed skin, kissed with moisture and fresh scent, too!

What You Need

• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup raw, unfiltered honey
• 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
• 10 - 15 drops essential oil
• ½ cup liquid castile soap
• Recycled plastic bottle (can wash and reuse an old body wash container)
• Glass Pyrex bowl
• Rubber spatula
• Small funnel

Directions

• Place the coconut oil in the glass bowl and melt in a microwave, by short increments. (30 seconds max.)
• Add the next 3 ingredients and stir. Add the liquid castile soap and stir slowly to avoid foaming.
• Slowly pour the mixture through the funnel into the empty plastic bottle.
• Shake well before each use.

Recipe #3 - Shampoo with Coconut Milk and Liquid Castile Soap

While liquid castile soap can effectively be used alone as a shampoo, either straight or diluted, it's usually preferable to add a few nourishing ingredients to help balance your hair's texture.  Everyone's hair has its own special characteristics and needs, so we will share different versions of this recipe for different hair types.

What makes this recipe special is the use of coconut milk. This healthy drink, rich in fatty acids, is also very nutritious and moisturizing for skin and hair. It cleanses the scalp, balances the pH level, nourishes hair follicles and strengthens hair strands.

As mentioned before, the liquid castile soap is a very pure, gentle soap that's wonderfully versatile for many uses. You will note, however, that this shampoo will not bubble up as much as conventional shampoos do. That is because most commercial shampoos add ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a foaming agent that has been linked to cancer, skin irritation and other toxic effects. Once you make the transition to natural shampoo, you won't miss the extra bubbles and will instead enjoy the benefits of pure, healthy hair.

Essential oils are also superheroes in this natural recipe. Extracted directly from plants, these oils contain unique properties to sustain good health in a myriad of ways, not least of these, for healthy hair! 

Also included in this shampoo are jojoba oil and vitamin E oil. Jojoba oil is great for moisturizing the scalp, and may even cure dandruff. It is known to strengthen and thicken hair, and can even prevent hair loss. Vitamin E is added to extend the shampoo's shelf life.

What You Need

• ¼ cup coconut milk (canned is fine)
• ¾ cup liquid castile soap
• 2 tsp. vegetable glycerin (you may also substitute aloe vera gel if needed.)
• 15-20 drops essential oils (lavender, lemon, rosemary, or try one of the variations below for your hair's specific needs)
• 1 tsp. jojoba oil
• 1 tsp. vitamin E oil
• Glass Pyrex measuring cup
• Clean recycled plastic dispenser bottle (reuse an old shampoo bottle)

Directions

• Mix glycerin, essential oils, jojoba and vitamin E oils in a glass measuring cup. Add coconut milk and liquid castile soap. Stir well, and gently, to avoid foaming. Pour into shampoo bottle.
  
  Variations:
  
  Substitute one of these essential oil blends, created especially for different hair types, for the essential oils in the recipe above.
  
  
• Dry Scalp
• 5 drops - rosemary essential oil
• 5 drops - clary sage
• 5 drops - tea tree
• 5 drops - lemon
• 5 drops - lavender
  
  
• Oily Hair
• 5 drops - rosemary
• 5 drops - peppermint
• 5 drops - cypress
• 5 drops - basil 
  
  
• Dry Hair
• 6 drops - lavender
• 6 drops - rosemary
• 6 drops - geranium 
  
  
• For Added Shine
• 10 drops - rosemary
• 10 drops - chamomile 
  
  
• For Hair Growth
• 6 drops - veviter
• 6 drops - rosemary
• 6 drops - cedarwood

For Your Home

Liquid castile soap has proven to be a great base for these natural DIY beauty products. Let's move on now to some of its other beneficiaries, natural DIY cleaning supplies. Making your own cleaning products with natural ingredients will help keep your family safe, your home fresh and naturally clean, and our environment protected from unnecessary toxins from both the manufacturing and disposal of chemical ingredients. These recipes use simple ingredients and can be placed in reused plastic bottles you already have at home, thus reducing the need for more plastic manufacturing.

Recipe #4 - Natural Countertop and All-Purpose Spray

Keeping countertops and kitchen surfaces clean doesn't always require strong chemical, antibacterial potions to kill deadly diseases lurking in your cooking area. Everyday messes like bread crumbs and butter spills only need a gentle cleanser to wipe away grease and sticky spots. The following recipe is the perfect blend of pure cleaning power and fragrant essential oils that also add their own natural antibacterial properties.

What You Need

• 1 cup all natural liquid castile soap
• 2 cups distilled water
• 1 tsp. borax (a laundry booster, found near detergents in grocery stores)
• 1 tsp. tea tree essential oil
• 1 tsp. lavender essential oil

Directions

• Place all ingredients in a plastic spray bottle, slowly pouring the liquid castile soap in last to prevent foaming.
• Shake well before each use.  

This natural disinfectant surface cleaner is also useful in places outside the kitchen. Use it to clean up fingerprints on walls and minor messes throughout the house. Used outdoors, it's the perfect clean up tool for outdoor furniture.  

Recipe #5 - Natural Window Cleaner

If you've ever read the label of a bottle of window cleaner, you've likely seen the long list of warnings, precautions and toxic ingredients. These ingredients may clean your windows, but used improperly, they can cause severe skin and eye burns and a trip to the emergency room. Not to mention the overall effects the manufacturing and the fumes have on the environment. 

The following recipe takes advantage of one superpower cleaning ingredient you may likely already have in your kitchen: vinegar! By combining vinegar with a couple of other ingredients, you'll have clean, streak-free windows, naturally!

What You Need

• 1.5 cup hot water
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 5 drops liquid castile soap
• 10 drops essential oil (lemon, peppermint or tea tree oil for its antibacterial properties)
• Empty spray bottle
• Funnel
• Microfiber towel
• Newspaper

Directions

• Combine all ingredients in the bottle.  
• Shake bottle before each use.
• Spray the window and wipe with a microfiber cloth.
• Dry and buff with crumpled newspaper (the secret to a streak-free shine!)

Recipe #6 - Toilet Cleaner

Another bottle of toxic chemicals you'll be glad to get rid of is commercial toilet cleaner. This natural recipe adds baking soda to its arsenal to clean and deodorize your toilet bowl while being kind to the environment. The antibacterial powers of the essential oils also leave a clean fresh scent, not a strong chemical odor.

What You Need

• ½ cup baking soda
• ½ cup liquid castile soap
• 15 drops tea tree essential oil
• 15 drops lemon essential oil
• 1 cup water
• Clean, empty plastic bottle with a lid, OR an old toilet bowl cleaner container
• Mixing bowl
• Funnel
• Whisk

Directions

• Whisk all ingredients together in the large mixing bowl.
• Slowly funnel them into the plastic bottle or toilet bowl cleaner container.
• Squirt about a ¼ cup into the toilet. Scrub around the bowl, under the rim, and flush.

 

Whether it's for cleaning your house or your daily beauty routine, liquid castile soap has great value as a base for many natural products. Give it a try, and you will experience its pure cleanliness and gentleness to our environment.