Castile Soap

My Castile Soap Questions, Answered by Lisa Bronner

I interviewed Lisa Bronner, the granddaughter of Dr. Bronner, on my Talking Clean With Irene podcast. Dr. Bronner's was founded in 1948 by Emanuel Bronner, a third-generation soapmaker, and Lisa is the company's consumer educator and spokesperson.

Lisa is the person who knows absolutely everything there is to know about natural soaps, soap making and how to use them in every possible way around your home and your body.

What is castile soap?

"Castile is a traditional soap that was created first in the Castile region of Spain. It was created first by monks who used the local olive oil to saponify it into soap. So the castile soap has evolved a bit. It still is important to have that olive oil base. We also use other vegetable oils. And so castile soap now can incorporate other vegetable oils, but nothing synthetic and nothing animal-based, just pure saponified vegetable oils."

Do more bubbles mean it's cleaning better?

"The bubbles don't equal cleaning, but somehow we have really attached to them that bubbles equals cleaning. And I can assure you from a chemical perspective that that isn't the case. I can create bubbles that will not clean you and things will clean you without bubbling."

"A sulfate detergent bubbles wonderfully, and that's why they're so popular. But they're not the best for our skin. They don't nourish our skin like a plant-based oil does."

How long does a bottle last?

"It's also very concentrated. So, a little bit goes a long way. You can get a bottle to last for months and months."

She recommends "buying the larger size, because then you can refill your own smaller bottles and not have to buy as much plastic."

One bottle does 18 things, I've written a full guide to all 18 uses.
Read my full chat with Lisa