What is Castile Soap, and What is it Used For?

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If you're anything like me, you're passionate about eliminating chemicals from your home in every manifestation possible. This focus is often placed on food, as I'm huge on healthy eating and an ardent supporter of clean, green, and organic.

But there are a lot more chemicals disguised in your home, nasty carcinogens that do nothing but harm to our bodies. They're hiding in your pots and pans, dish detergent, toothbrushes, and all sorts of sly material items mass-produced in factories led by greedy CEOs. Especially your soap…

Ordinary soaps and other bath cosmetics are terrible for your body and skin. Just give the ingredient list a read, and you'll be running for the woods. This brings us to castile soap and why I want to take a few moments to share my personal opinion on this chemical-free soap alternative.

What is castile soap, then? If you haven't heard of it, check it out, your life's about to change!

Originating in the Castile region of Spain, castile soap is an all-natural, chemical-free, vegetable-based soap typically made from olive oil! Although, nowadays you can find castile soap made from hemp, coconut, avocado, and a few other similar oils.

Where most commercial soaps are made with artificial ingredients and chemicals like sulfates that strip the skin of healthy oils and protection, their high or neutral acidity eating away at our beneficial bacteria, castile soap does the opposite.

Instead, castile soap cleanses the skin without the toxins, and it's perfect for sensitive skin types. Castile soap is typically enhanced with all-natural essential oils for fragrance. These 100% natural oils also present their own health benefits, such as lavender's antibacterial/anti-inflammatory properties.

Meaning: castile soap is a great way to combat acne, eczema, and oily skin. It doesn't clog your pores, it's super-hydrating, and it digs deep into the pores to clean & hydrate them. The rich vitamin E and A content of olive oil is a potent ally in anti-aging, and overall, your skin and hair don't just feel and look healthier, but it is healthier.

This non-toxic, highly versatile soap features no synthetic or animal-based ingredients, it's entirely biodegradable, and it works insanely well for all sorts of different uses throughout the house.

Thought castile soap was just for skin and hair? Think again. The astonishing versatility of castile soap has helped my salty family remove multitudes of carcinogen-ridden products from the house; this killer soap flaunts a plethora of various uses both on the body and in the home.

Plus, another benefit is the affordability! The fact that castile soap is highly concentrated, with one bottle and so many uses, means you'll save some green by not having to buy all these other expensive products.

Seriously, don't kill your skin with cosmetic junk and allow sly marketing to fool you into thinking your average product on store shelves is safe and healthy. The skin is our barrier, and lathering yourself with sulfates and parabens literally pushes these harmful chemicals directly into your body!

Replace these chemical-packed bodies and face washes with castile soap and discover healthier, cleaner, smoother, and naturally hydrated skin. Plus, castile soap is perfect for your littles one's bubble bath!

For pretty much the same reasons as above, castile soap also doubles as shampoo! Similar to body wash, most shampoos trick you into thinking your skin is healthier. What they really do is alter the appearance of your hair, making it 'look healthier', while stripping your hair of necessary oils and inversely damaging it!

This means you'll find yourself constantly needing more of these products to combat their ill effects, which ensues the downward spiral. Keep it simple and improve the health of your hair by introducing Castile soaps rich in vitamins and complemented with hair-healthy essential oils, such as rosemary, that also smell amazing!!

Whether you keep it classic and hand wash the dishes or rely on your dishwasher to do the heavy lifting, I dare you to look at the ingredients of your dish soap. Once again, chemicals galore! Lucky enough, castile soap works as a killer, all-natural dish detergent, and you can feel good about placing the food that goes into your body on plates cleaned without carcinogens.

As an addition to your first aid cabinet and alcohol/saline, castile soap is shown to be a powerful asset in minor wound healing and skin regeneration!

Tip: Did you know that walking barefoot has also been shown to increase the rate of wound healing?!

I think that clogging the body's largest apocrine gland is never a good idea. Instead of preventing much-needed sweat, try to instead only cover its odor. Basically, you still sweat, which is healthy-as-heck for the body, but it just doesn't smell as bad.

Mix ½ tsp of castile soap with water in a spray bottle, add a touch of Himalayan or dead sea salt, and give the pitties a few sprays!

A tiny dabble of castile soap diluted with water, and you've made yourself a slippery shaving clean that helps reduce irritation and redness!

So many commercial house cleaners rely on chemicals to get the job done. And their scents? Again, more chemicals. That lemon smell isn't from lemons, my friends. It's probably from a lab. Basically, a ton of products don't even kill germs or work like they're marketed to, and instead, you are just left with 'lemon scented germs'.

Castile soap is a powerful acting house cleaner that actually goes to work on bacteria and germs. You can use castile soap as:

• Window cleaner
• Floor cleaner (mix 1 cup of soap to 1-gallon water)
• Toilet Cleaner
• All-purpose cleaner: bathrooms, kitchens, everywhere!

Keep your Salty Threads Clean with Castile Soap!

Washing clothes in chemicals means that technically, you're wearing these chemicals around all day, slowly accumulating into the skin. Castile soap is a powerful laundry detergent that smells amazing and doesn't irritate the skin!

I personally don't do this, as there are plenty of options for natural toothpaste/mouthwash, but you can mix a very minute amount of castile soap in water and use it to achieve a shiny smile and excellent dental health!

You can spray your plants with a light solution to protect them from pests, and castile soap works perfectly as an ant spray.

Just like it's healthy for humans' hair and skin, castile soap is also perfect for animals. Use it as an all-natural pet wash for your furry friends.

With a little Castille soap and witch hazel, you've made yourself one of the best working, soothing makeup removers on the planet that deeply cleans your pores.

If you don't clean your fruits and veggies with more than just water, there's a pretty high chance you aren't stripping their typically tough skins of the pesticides, bacteria, and other germs/buildup. Amp-up your food cleaning game by washing fruits and veggies in a bowl of water mixed with ¼ tsp castile soap. Rinse with water one more time before cooking!

Breathe in the steam of a castile soap (1 tbsp) and boiling water concoction with a moist towel over your head, and reap the benefits of this powerful sinus steam for congestion.