Dr. Bronner’s soap is a versatile, all purpose cleaner that is a great addition to any household. But let’s face it, it’s can be quite expensive. Learn how to make a multipurpose liquid Castile soap at home. It’s easy, frugal, and very rewarding.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know by now that I love making soap.
Making bars of soap is a lot of fun, and you can experiment with all sorts of ingredients, colors, and other additives to customize your soap exactly as you like. If you’ve never made a bar soap before, take a look at my easy, beginner soap recipe, which shows you exactly how to start making bar soaps and also gives you ideas for customizing the soap to suit your needs. That beginner soap recipe is a modified Castile soap recipe, just like this one.
What is Castile soap?
I call this recipe a modified liquid castile soap recipe because it uses a variety of vegetable oils. Pure Castile soap normally refers to a soap made with only olive oil.
Over the years, the definition of “Castile soap” has been extended to include other soaps made with not only olive oil, but that also add in other vegetable oils. Other vegetable oils are added to change the properties of the soap, normally to give it more lather and make it more cleansing.
Soaps made with only olive oil are on the conditioning side, meaning that they are mild, and not stripping, when used on skin. On the other hand, they don’t form as much lather and aren’t considered highly cleansing soaps.
Coconut oil in soap makes a nice lather and is very cleansing, but it can be drying on the skin when used alone.
Combining a variety of oils allows you to add the beneficial properties of each oil in the soap, making a soap that can be ideal for a number of uses.
Why make your own liquid soap?
While it is fun to make bar soaps, I find it more rewarding to make liquid soaps at home.
Let’s face it, Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile soap is a very handy soap to have on hand, but it can be pretty pricey. By making your own liquid Castile soap at home, you can save yourself a lot of money. (And it’s actually pretty easy to do too!)
What’s in Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap?
Despite the fact that they call it a “pure Castile soap,” it isn’t a soap made only with olive oil. In fact, coconut oil is the main ingredient of the Dr. Bronner’s soap that I tried to copycat (and of all the Dr. Bronner’s soaps that I can find here.)
I chose to try to make a soap similar to the Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-one Hemp Baby Unscented Pure Castile Soap. One of the reasons I chose that particular soap is that it is unscented, and it allows for me to see if my homemade liquid Castile soap has a similar natural scent. (I’ve noticed that my homemade liquid coconut oil soap and my homemade pure liquid Castile soap don’t have the same scent. Both have a mild natural soap scent, but my coconut oil soap smells a lot more like the Dr. Bronner’s soap than my soap made with olive oil.
Interestingly enough, I’m seeing that the version sold on Amazon in the US appears to be different from the bottle I bought at a local shop here in Spain.
Here in Spain palm kernel oil wasn’t listed at all, but in the US it is the oil that is used in the highest concentration after the coconut oil.
In the US, the soap has this ingredient list: Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Organic Palm Kernel Oil, Organic Olive Oil, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol
You’ll notice that the main oil used is coconut oil, and that all of the other oils are used in a lesser quantity than even the lye itself. (In the case of liquid soaps, potassium hydroxide is the lye used.)
When I made my copycat liquid Castile soap, I didn’t use palm kernel oil because I was trying to copy the bottle of soap that I had at home. I had no idea that they made different formulations of their soap here in Europe.
I tried to make my recipe as similar to theirs as possible, so I used coconut oil as the base oil for my liquid Castile soap recipe, and used the other oils in descending order, using a smaller amount of those oils than the potassium hydroxide just like theirs.
The last two ingredients in Dr. Bronner’s soap are citric acid and tocopherol. Citric acid is likely used to neutralize the soap to keep it on the mild side. (You can read more about that in the section below about superfatting.)
Tocopherol is a form of vitamin E. It is often added to soaps to help extend the life of the soaps as it can help keep any excess oils from going rancid. In the case of liquid soaps that aren’t normally superfatted, it probably doesn’t help as much in this way, but it still may somehow help extend the shelf life somewhat. (Keep in mind that while the antioxidant properties of vitamin E can help extend an oil’s shelf life, Vitamin E is NOT a preservative, and won’t prevent bacterial or mold growth.) Still, vitamin E is a nice addition to any beauty product that will be used on face and body as it helps add moisture and can help soothe skin. You can most definitely add a few drops of vitamin E to your homemade liquid soap when you dilute it to help gain some of its positive benefits when using your liquid soap.
Differences between oils in liquid soap
When I first started making liquid Castile soap, I made the pure Castile soap with only olive oil as often as I made a liquid soap using coconut oil. I figured that for face and body use, the pure liquid Castile soap would be a lot better to use because soaps made with olive oil are milder and more conditioning than soaps made with coconut oil.
I wanted versatility, though, so I was making batches of both types of liquid soap to later combine them dependent on each particular use. The nice thing about liquid soaps is that you can combine the soaps after having made them. I used a mixture of different liquid soaps, using mostly olive oil soap for general bathing and mostly coconut oil for cleaning around the house.
Since then, though, I’ve found that I use my homemade liquid soap made with coconut oil much more than I use the liquid Castile soap made with only olive oil. I even occasionally use it 100% in the shower, and don’t find it to be drying on the skin. I think part of that may have to do with me using the glycerin method of liquid soap making. I use glycerin as part of the water component of the soap. I do it to help make an easier to use soap, but I think the extra glycerin (all soaps have glycerin in them that is made during the soap making process) likely helps prevent drying and makes a more conditioning soap.
Despite its popularity here on the blog (more than twice as many people check out the olive oil liquid Castile soap recipe over the coconut oil liquid soap), I have to admit that I rarely make that recipe anymore. I find myself often making double batches of the liquid coconut oil soap, though. I think people are so used to seeing “liquid Castile soap” for sale, and assume that the olive oil soap, being called “Castile soap,” will be closest to what they would normally buy.
That’s part of the reason that I decided to come up with another recipe that would be a nice, versatile, all-purpose cleanser like Dr. Bronner’s liquid Castile soap. This new recipe would combine coconut oil and olive oil, along with a couple of other oils, to make one batch of all-purpose liquid Castile soap. Some people had no desire to make two different batches of liquid soap, and I totally understand! Don’t get me wrong; either of the other recipes is pretty multi-purpose as well, but this one allows you to make just one batch and use it for pretty much anywhere you’d want to use liquid soap.
This soap compare vs. Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby Mild Liquid Castile soap
Scent comparison
While this soap had a similar scent, Dr. Bronner’s has a natural fragrance somewhere between this soap and that of my coconut oil liquid soap. I think my soap smells a bit more like hemp oil than Dr. Bronner’s version, which makes me think that I used higher concentrations of hemp and jojoba oils than Dr. Bronner’s does. (This, of course, is all guesswork on my part!)
Seeing as how hemp oil and jojoba oils are the more expensive oils in those recipe, that would make a lot of sense. To save even more money, you could definitely reduce those oils in this recipe, but you’d have to run the new formula through a lye calculator first to make sure that you use the right amount of potassium hydroxide. When formulating liquid soap recipes, I usually use the Summer Bee Meadow lye calculator, as I’ve often read that it’s the best calculator for liquid soap making. Not only does it take into account the water component in KOH vs. NaOH, but it also allows for calculating in glycerin and alcohol should you choose to use them.
Color comparison
My diluted soap is slightly lighter in color than my bottle of Dr. Bronner’s. Dr. Bronner’s soap is closer in color to my liquid soap paste. That likely means that their soap is a bit more concentrated than the soap I diluted to use as a hand soap. That makes sense when you consider that Dr. Bronner’s soap is marketed as being very concentrated, and most people dilute it further before using it. If I were to dilute my liquid soap paste with less water, I’d likely be able to make a liquid soap of the same color as theirs.
I would like to say that I’ve also had the bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap for longer than my homemade liquid Castile soap. I’ve found that my liquid soap pastes tend to get slightly darker with time, so that could be another factor that affects the difference in color.
Use comparison
When using them, both soaps lather up nicely, and neither is drying on the skin. I don’t really notice any differences while using them.
Why use Glycerin (When Dr. Bronner’s doesn’t list it)?
Adding glycerin does add to the cost of making your own liquid Castile soap, but it does have several added benefits.
When I first started developing liquid soap recipes, I remember reading about people who replaced all of the water in the recipe with glycerin. The idea was that it makes the process more fool proof and speeds up the process of making a clear liquid soap.
I wanted to make the process of making liquid soap at home the easiest I could, so I chose to substitute part of the water component for glycerin. I’ve found that not only does it help move the process along quickly, converting the soap quickly into a liquid soap paste, but it also seems to make a very nice, mild liquid soap, even when only using coconut oil. When you take into consideration that liquid soaps aren’t normally superfatted, that’s saying a lot.
When making a homemade glycerin bar soap, I learned how glycerin can be a solvent of sorts that helps make a more transparent soap. My guess is that the addition of glycerin to my liquid soap helps to make it a bit more transparent even when I don’t use excess lye in the recipe.
I also think that the addition of glycerin helps make a liquid soap paste that easily dissolves in water. I’ve read horror stories from people who have a difficult time trying to dilute their soap paste in water. On the other hand, I’ve always easily dissolved mine just by adding some water to it and leaving it alone for a few hours.
What is superfatting?
Superfatting is the process of adding more oils to a soap than what are needed to react with all of the lye used. The idea is that not only will all of the lye be safely converted into soap, but that leftover oils also remain in the soap to help leave the skin conditioned and soft.
While most bar soaps are superfatted, especially those meant for face and body, leftover oils in a liquid soap can cause cloudiness. Because most people are aiming to make a transparent liquid soap like the ones sold in stores, liquid soaps aren’t normally superfatted. In fact, they are normally made with a lye excess and later “neutralized” to bring down the pH from the unreacted lye. You can read more about how to check the pH of soap and how to neutralize liquid soaps here. (The term neutralizing is a bit misleading as it will only bring the pH down slightly to a non-irritating range. You won’t be bringing the soap to a neutral pH. It will still be alkaline.)
You’ll notice that Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap lists citric acid as one of the ingredients. My best guess is that they are using the citric acid to help neutralize their soap so that the pH isn’t too high and doesn’t irritate your skin, all while allowing for a nice, clear, transparent soap.
To simplify things, I’ve calculated all of my liquid soap recipes to be 0% superfatted. Basically that means that if the recipe is followed precisely, you shouldn’t have any unreacted oil or any unreacted lye left.That said, it’s very possible that even if you follow the recipe precisely with a well calibrated scale, that you may have the tiniest bit of one or the other leftover, but it shouldn’t be enough to throw things far enough in either direction to make a big difference. If the soap is slightly cloudy, you may have some unreacted oils, but that will also make for a more conditioning soap. I personally don’t have a problem with cloudy liquid soap, but if it bothers you, you can try making with a lye excess and neutralize the soap later. Or you could go the easy route and use an opaque soap dispenser. (There are some beautiful stainless steel and ceramic ones available.) 😉
If you do end up with some unreacted lye, as long as it isn’t enough to bring the pH high enough so that it irritates the skin, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you find the soap irritating to your skin, though, you can check the pH and try neutralizing the soap. Up until now, I’ve never had an issue with any of my homemade liquid soaps using the recipes I’ve shared with you.
Video
Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Copycat (Updated Recipe)
When I originally posted this recipe, I used larger quantities of the hemp and jojoba oils. Not only does this make the recipe more expensive to make, but I also found that it made for a cloudier soap.
I had a reader comment to me that she had made all of my liquid soap recipes, and that while the others were crystal clear, this one stayed cloudy for her. Mine was cloudy at first, but then an opaque layer settled out and fell to the bottom of the jar. Neither of us found it to affect the quality of the soap, but I didn’t really find it to improve the soap either. I decided to give you an updated version of the soap, with reduced quantities of the more expensive oils. I’ve found this updated version to much clearer, and I think it behaves similarly to the soap I bought in the store.
For those who want a soap without the hemp and jojoba oils, try the last recipe on this page. I’m guessing it’s perfectly clear and cheaper to make. I’m not convinced that the hemp and jojoba oils are providing any benefit in this soap anyway. (They are likely added for label appeal.)
Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Copycat (Updated)
Materials
- 28 oz. coconut oil
- 8 oz olive oil
- 1 oz hemp oil
- .5 oz jojoba oil
- 9.4 oz KOH
- 20.2 oz distilled water
- 8 oz glycerin
Instructions
- Weigh out all of the oils and add them to a slow cooker on low heat.
- Weigh out and mix together the distilled water and glycerin.
- Dissolve the Potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the distilled water and glycerin mixture in a well ventilated area. Add the KOH to the water and not the other way around. Use gloves and safety goggles when working with potassium hydroxide. the mixture will heat up and get hot. Avoid inhaling the fumes.
- Add the potassium hydroxide solution to the oils in the slow cooker and begin to slowly mix them together.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and potassium hydroxide solution together. At first it will get opaque and thicken slightly, then it will look curdled. Keep blending!
- Continue blending until it gets more opaque and begins to get too thick to blend with the immersion blender. I stopped blending as soon as I felt too much resistance so as not to burn out the blender, and my soap paste turned more solid almost immediately after I stopped.
- Continue to heat the paste, stirring as best you can with a spatula or spoon every half an hour or so. You want to continue to cook the soap paste until it becomes translucent. A good way to check what your final soap should look like is to dissolve a small amount in some distilled water and see if it dissolves clear. If not, continue to process a little longer. You’ll probably end up cooking the paste for a few hours.
- Once processed, you can store the soap paste in glass jars in a cool, dark place until you are ready to dilute it to make your liquid Castile soap.
- Depending upon how concentrated you want your soap, dissolve the soap paste in distilled water. I usually use somewhere between 2-4 parts water for every 1 part of soap paste. I dissolve small amounts at a time and leave the rest as a soap paste until I need to use it. The soap paste will keep for longer than diluted liquid soap.
- You can now add in any essential oils that you want to use to add a fragrance to your soap, or you can keep in unscented. You can also add in a few drops of tocopherol (vitamin E) at this time.
- Enjoy using your homemade liquid Castile soap.
Notes
- This recipe makes 4-4.5 lbs. of soap paste which can be diluted to 10-20 lbs. of liquid soap, or 1-2 gallons, depending on your dilution rate.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. You’ll find that this soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, doesn’t need to look thick to be a concentrated, effective cleanser.
- Find more information about diluting your liquid soap paste here.
- Read more about checking the pH and neutralizing liquid soap here.
Dr. Bronner’s Copycat soap recipe (Original version)
This was my original recipe for this post
Version 1: Dr. Bronner’s Copycat
Ingredients
- 25 oz. coconut oil
- 8 oz olive oil
- 5 oz hemp oil
- 3 oz jojoba oil
- 9.68 oz KOH
- 21.05 oz distilled water
- 8 oz glycerin
Instructions
- Weigh out all of the oils and add them to a slow cooker on low heat.
- Weigh out and mix together the distilled water and glycerin.
- Dissolve the Potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the distilled water and glycerin mixture in a well ventilated area. Add the KOH to the water and not the other way around. Use gloves and safety goggles when working with potassium hydroxide. the mixture will heat up and get hot. Avoid inhaling the fumes.
- Add the potassium hydroxide solution to the oils in the slow cooker and begin to slowly mix them together.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and potassium hydroxide solution together. At first it will get opaque and thicken slightly, then it will look curdled. Keep blending!
- Continue blending until it gets more opaque and begins to get too thick to blend with the immersion blender. I stopped blending as soon as I felt too much resistance so as not to burn out the blender, and my soap paste turned more solid almost immediately after I stopped.
- Continue to heat the paste, stirring as best you can with a spatula or spoon every half an hour or so. You want to continue to cook the soap paste until it becomes translucent. A good way to check what your final soap should look like is to dissolve a small amount in some distilled water and see if it dissolves clear. If not, continue to process a little longer. You’ll probably end up cooking the paste for a few hours.
- Once processed, you can store the soap paste in glass jars in a cool, dark place until you are ready to dilute it to make your liquid Castile soap.
- Depending upon how concentrated you want your soap, dissolve the soap paste in distilled water. I usually use somewhere between 2-4 parts water for every 1 part of soap paste. I dissolve small amounts at a time and leave the rest as a soap paste until I need to use it. The soap paste will keep for longer than diluted liquid soap.
- You can now add in any essential oils that you want to use to add a fragrance to your soap, or you can keep in unscented. You can also add in a few drops of tocopherol (vitamin E) at this time.
- Enjoy using your homemade liquid Castile soap.
Notes
- This recipe makes 4-4.5 lbs. of soap paste which can be diluted to 10-20 lbs. of liquid soap, or 1-2 gallons, depending on your dilution rate.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. You’ll find that this soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, doesn’t need to look thick to be a concentrated, effective cleanser.
- Find more information about diluting your liquid soap paste here.
- Read more about checking the pH and neutralizing liquid soap here.
Don’t want to use hemp and jojoba oils at all?…
Multipurpose Liquid Castile Soap (Coconut + Olive Oil)
Some people have been asking me for a soap without hemp and jojoba, so I decided to calculate it out for you. I haven’t personally tried this recipe myself yet, but I imagine it would make a wonderful soap.
Multipurpose Liquid Castile Soap
Ingredients
Instructions
- Weigh out all of the oils and add them to a slow cooker on low heat.
- Weigh out and mix together the distilled water and glycerin.
- Dissolve the Potassium hydroxide (KOH) in the distilled water and glycerin mixture in a well ventilated area. Add the KOH to the water and not the other way around. Use gloves and safety goggles when working with potassium hydroxide. the mixture will heat up and get hot. Avoid inhaling the fumes.
- Add the potassium hydroxide solution to the oils in the slow cooker and begin to slowly mix them together.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the oils and potassium hydroxide solution together. At first it will get opaque and thicken slightly, then it will look curdled. Keep blending!
- Continue blending until it gets more opaque and begins to get too thick to blend with the immersion blender. I stopped blending as soon as I felt too much resistance so as not to burn out the blender, and my soap paste turned more solid almost immediately after I stopped.
- Continue to heat the paste, stirring as best you can with a spatula or spoon every half an hour or so. You want to continue to cook the soap paste until it becomes translucent. A good way to check what your final soap should look like is to dissolve a small amount in some distilled water and see if it dissolves clear. If not, continue to process a little longer. You’ll probably end up cooking the paste for a few hours.
- Once processed, you can store the soap paste in glass jars in a cool, dark place until you are ready to dilute it to make your liquid Castile soap.
- Depending upon how concentrated you want your soap, dissolve the soap paste in distilled water. I usually use somewhere between 2-4 parts water for every 1 part of soap paste. I dissolve small amounts at a time and leave the rest as a soap paste until I need to use it. The soap paste will keep for longer than diluted liquid soap.
- You can now add in any essential oils that you want to use to add a fragrance to your soap, or you can keep in unscented. You can also add in a few drops of tocopherol (vitamin E) at this time.
- Enjoy using your homemade liquid Castile soap.
Notes
- This recipe makes around 5.5 lbs. of soap paste which can be diluted to 12-25 lbs. of liquid soap, or around 2 gallons, depending on your dilution rate.
- Keep in mind that liquid soap is not as thick as commercial gels and surfactants. You’ll find that this soap, like Dr. Bronner’s, doesn’t need to look thick to be a concentrated, effective cleanser.
- Find more information about diluting your liquid soap paste here.
- Read more about checking the pH and neutralizing liquid soap here.
Ellie Y
Hi, so I know you are trying to replicate the Dr Bronner’s recipe.
Wouldn’t the water amount in the label be for both the one used for the base plus the one used for diluting? Or do you not include the second one on your labelling?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Ellie,
I’m not sure I understand your question. The labels of the soap don’t say an amount.
When you make liquid soaps, though, you first need some water to make the liquid soap paste. Once you have that paste, you dilute however you like to make your soap. I have a post about diluting liquid soap pastes if you want to read more.
Monique Giannikos
Hi there Tracy
I am thinking of making my own after a long time buying the 5L of castile online so thank you for taking the time to make a comprehensive post and working through all the kinks, really appreciate it.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, can it be done of a gas stove on low?
What type of coconut oil did you use, refined or virgin? I imagine virgin might give the soap a bit more of a scent?
Best Monique
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Monique,
I’ve been meaning to try baking it in the oven as I’ve heard some people do it that way. I’d like to try for an alternative method for those who don’t have a slow cooker.
As for the type. I usually use refined just because it’s a lot cheaper and I really don’t notice much of a difference, if any, between using that and a virgin coconut oil.
Lisa Kennedy
Is the coconut oil solid at room temperature or liquid coconut oil?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Whether it’s solid or liquid will depend on the environment where it’s stored.
It will melt at 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not use fractionated coconut oil, which is liquid even at cold temperatures. It has a different saponification value, meaning it will need a different amount of lye. It’s also more expensive.
Nat
Absolutely love your formulations and recipes. A question though, i don’t have a slow cooker but I’m desperate to make liquid soap, can I do it on double boiler (I know one book I’ve read used double boiler in hot process and milled soaps) or is that too much heat?
Your rose petals bath bombs were a hit with the class of 5 – 12 year olds. I had range of ages youngest being 5 and they all loved the results.
I’m itching to start…but trying to read my way first. Sending love, light, laughter, healing and rainbow energy from down under.
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Nat,
Awww- I’m so happy to hear that you had kids making fun projects like that! (And that they enjoyed it!) 🙂
Yes, you should be able to use a double boiler. It just may be a bit trickier to work the bigger batch over hot water. That said, I’ve read that you can bake it in the oven too.
I actually planned on trying to use th oven with my next batch so that I can give people another option. It seems like it would be much easier and less messy than trying to use a double boiler!
Nat
Thanks Tracy for the reply. My mum has kindly handed me hers, so I will be able to have a dedicated soap cooker.
Hmm, oven method sounds like it would be interesting to try. Makes
me think that maybe even a bain marie could be used? I know I’ve used one for chocolate before because the are basically the same as double boiler. I’m not sure at all but because they generally have a low heat source it might work.
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Nat,
Yes, you could also use that. The problem I see is that it’s something that you’d have to keep a closer eye on- to make sure the water doesn’t boil over, etc.
I use a double boiler a lot for other projects, but it’s generally for things that don’t take so long.
Also, it’s harder to make a double boiler for such a large batch.
I think the oven would be the best method for making the process simple and not super messy. 😉
I’m getting through updating some of my lotion and emulsion recipes right now on the blog, but will be moving to the soaps again as soon as I can. I’m definitely going to give it a try!
Moksha Ess
Thank you for sharing that detail. It was fascinating and insightful. Continue to share useful resources over these blogs…
Megan
What is the recommended shelf life for this?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Megan,
If you keep it stored well, the paste keeps for a very long time. I have some from years ago that are still like new. In some cases, they can start to smell rancid after a while (Many months?). For a long shelf life, I wouldn’t recommend storing in metal anything. I’d also keep it in paste form and only dilute a small amount at a time.
Stefano
Hi,
Can your Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Baby-Mild Copycat Soap be used as shampoo as well? Or would it be too aggressive for the hairs?
Besos and thanks! you write really well
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Stefano,
I never use soap on my hair for shampoo. The pH of all soap is too high for hair. Some people do use soap, though. It’s generally not great for hair, though.
I write more about my reasoning in my shampoo posts. (I have a liquid shampoo and a bar shampoo recipe.)
Moya Jones
???? this soap recipe
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Aww, thanks, Moya!
Jeri Butler
Hello…thanks for such a great post. My question is regarding adding essential oils to the castile soap. How do companies get that wonderful scent where the fragrance will survive the wash/dry cycle, scenting the finished clothing/linens etc. and do so economically? I wonder if there is something that could be added that would give substantivity to the essential oils. My experience in adding eo to the soap base, there is really no scent at all after the wash/dry cycle. I would appreciate any thoughts, ideas you may have…thanks!
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Jeri,
Yes, essential oils don’t have a scent that lasts as long as artificial fragrances. I don’t normally bother with adding them to my laundry detergent.
I do like adding a few drops of lavender essential oil to a wool ball in my dryer and that does a decent job of at least temporarily scenting clothes. I actually hate my clothes having much of a scent, though, so it’s not a major issue for me.
Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything that you can do to extend their scent… at least not that I know of.
Nat
The best (and only?) way would be to use a oil that acts as a fixative. Like synthetic scents, botanical perfumery uses a top, middle, base and fixative note. In my head base and fixative are the same but probably they aren’t.
SO, I think if you blend more than one essential oil the scent will last longer. While a botanical fixative will impart longevity and help extend the sillage of a natural scent, in most cases it will not be as effective as a synthetic fixative. This could be a good thing as our noses have been infiltrated by years of overpowering synthetic scents.
Some examples of botanicals that are classed as fixtures are
Agarwood, amber(fossilised), ambrette, amyris, angelica, balsam of Peru, beeswax, benzoin, butter, cedarwood, cistus, clary sage, coriander, cypress leaf, fir (balsam absolute),
fir (Douglas), frankincense, galbanum, labdanum, liquidambar and liquidambar oleoresin, myrrh, oakmoss, orris, patchouli, sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver, violet leaf, ylang ylang….
Warning….Agor, amber, galbanum and angelica have intense odours and should only ever be used in teeny amounts.
Experimenting with flavour notes are fun and can be as complex as you want.
If you want to learn more about botanical perfumery check out (the must read), Julia Lawless’s “Encyclopaedia of Essential Oils” (Julia is my aromatherapy hero and fellow Queenslander). There’s also an excellent book by Valerie Ann Wormwood called “The Fragrant Pharmacy” (Valerie also has an essential oil encyclopaedia). There are several more worth mentioning but I’ve rambled enough already (and typing on phone isn’t fun!)
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Thanks for the tips, Nat!
Jeri Butler
Hello…thanks for such a great post. My question is regarding adding essential oils to the castile soap. How do companies like Dr. Bronner’s, Mrs. Meyer’s, etc. get that wonderful scent where the fragrance will survive the wash/dry cycle, scenting the finished clothing/linens etc. and do so economically? I wonder if there is something that could be added that would give substantivity to the essential oils. My experience in adding eo to the soap base, there is really no scent at all after the wash/dry cycle. I would appreciate any thoughts, ideas you may have…thanks!
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Jeri,
I’m not sure. It may depend on the oils chosen and the quantities used. Certain oils do leave strong scents (like eucalyptus).
Kizzy
Hiya Tracy,
I tried this recipe for the first time but while I was using the hand blender it overflowed quite alot actually and my end product was nothing like the ones in your photo or your youtube videos, my soap paste kept getting softer and softer as I cooked it , I’m guessing the reason for that was because alot of the KOH had overflowed as it happened just at the beginning of the cooking process. Do you know why it might have overflowed? Thanks
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Kizzy,
I’m not sure, unless the heat was high and the reaction with the lye ended up being more violent because of the heat?
I’ve never had that issue, so I don’t know.
Anita
Thank you for your “tweaked” Dr. Bronner’s recipe. You also have the most comprehensive explanation on surfactant I can find. I have been using Dr. Bronner’s Sal Sud for mainly dish washing and it works really well. But, it is not ideal because of the price and plastic bottling. Do you think you can experiment on reproducing that recipe at home?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Hi Anita,
Thanks so much!
You’re actually in luck. I’ve been meaning to make a separate post calling it a Sal Sud copycat for those searching for that- but as it is right now, my homemade laundry detergent recipe was based on Sal Suds! 🙂
I’ve been using it for a very long time now and use it as a multipurpose cleanser and love it!
Vijay Lad
my cold process soap paste is not dissolving fast ,any remedies?
Tracy Ariza, DDS
Is there a reason you made it with a cold process?
I have found that if you don’t cook the paste, that it stays opaque and makes for a cloudy soap. It may also not finish the saponification process completely.
I’d probably try cooking the paste for a little while if possible. You can also try heating the soap paste with water to help dissolve it.