What's your preferred Natural, Cheap soap?

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One Awesome Inch

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I'm looking for recommendations for some decent soap/shampoo some that meets these criteria:

1. Can wash hair and dishes (Its fine if its just a shampoo)
2. Its green. I may on occasion want to dump my grey water in the bushes.
3. Its cheap.
 
One Awesome Inch said:
I'm looking for recommendations for some decent soap/shampoo some that meets these criteria:

1. Can wash hair and dishes (Its fine if its just a shampoo)
2. Its green. I may on occasion want to dump my grey water in the bushes.
3. Its cheap.
 Like most other things, you get 2 out of 3 of works, safe and cheap!

Campsuds and Dr. Bonners are both biodegradeable and can be used for all cleaning from your body and hair to the dishes. Campsuds is readily available in Canada, haven't found Dr. Bonners yet but you may fare better on the right coast.

It's not cheap!

BTW, something I recently found out most people don't know is that 'biodegradeable' does not mean that it can or should be used directly in or around a body of water. Some camping friends thought that it was okay to wash their dishes directly in the lake....BIG NO NO!

Biodegradeable means that if you pour your grey water on the ground well back from any water source, that by the time it filters through the earth, it won't have done any harm to the environment. It's actually better to toss your water, thereby distributing it widely than to just pour it all in one spot.
 
FWIW I use dollar store dish soap for everything, and try to dump it on plants, trees, or flowers, and they seem to love it.
 
imo camp suds is not worth the bottle it comes in, I rather just boil the dishes. this is my preferred method. if I have something greasy a drop of dawn. biodegradable is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot to raise the price of products. EVERYTHING is biodegradable except some of the elements and these are naturally occurring. some things take longer to biodegrade like some radioactive substances that have like a 50,000+ year half life. highdesertranger
 
Well, I am trying to avoid the nasty ingredients that have been proven to cause cancer such as sulphates etc. The less harmful chemicals the better. Dollar store, made in China (with no regulations)? Not for me, thanks.
 
Hmmm, sounds like maybe you want a liquid castile soap? You can use that for all kinds of cleaning from hair to dishes to even brushing your teeth with it. You could keep a small jar of coconut oil as lotion and use a few drops after shampooing for a conditioner.

I've used Dr. Bronner's before (I liked the sweet almond) but it's kind of pricey. There is a Dr. Woods brand that is less expensive on Amazon and also a brand called Desert Essence, I have not personally tried those two.

If you found a good castile base that you like, you could then add natural things to enhance what effect you desire. Lemon juice, citrus oils and/or table salt (you can also add a little washing soda) for dishes, colloidal silver for anti-bacterial, maybe some essential oils for fragrance. :)

Some people don't like the results when washing dishes with castile - Dr. Bronner's also makes something called "Sal Suds" which is supposed to handle grease-removal pretty well and is biodegradable, etc.
 
I've washed my hair with baking soda for years---other than the first 2 weeks when you start and your hair may feel really dry it leaves it soft enough I don't use conditioner and haven't had dandruff.  My hair is long enough I can almost sit on it. You can brush your teeth with baking soda though it's best to alternate it with something like coconut oil. You can get laundry detergent box sized baking soda at places like sam's club and costco if you have room for one---can't remember if GFS has it though they probably do.  If you have short hair you can make up a baking soda/water mixture to keep in a bottle.  Recipes can be found with a search for baking soda shampoo.

If dishes are cleaned up right away and not a gooey mess then there's a few different ways. With any way get to them as soon as possible and scrape food off into trash and wipe them out first.  You can use vinegar in the wash water if you have the water supply.  If you don't have spare water for boiling for dishes then if they wiped mostly clean you can wipe them down with a slightly diluted vinegar on a rag or hydrogen peroxide on a rag, or alcohol (like a high proof vodka, not isopropyl) on a rag for disinfecting. (Paper towels if you use those.)

For super sanitizing of surfaces like counters you can spray on vinegar then spray on hydrogen peroxide and let it sit for about 5 minutes then wipe off.  One caveat: I haven't researched whether this combo would be safe for the teflon coated non-stick pans.  You don't have to use expensive vinegar and white vinegar will do for wherever I mention vinegar in this post.  Apple cider vinegar would be up to personal choice.

If you cook with a lot of oil or cheese then a couple drops of diluted original formula dawn stirred around in the pan with a coating of hot water---if you can get it in while the pan is still warm it cleans up even easier.  I figure if it's safe for them to use dawn for wildlife rescue from oil slicks then a little bit is ok---I always water mine down in the bottle by at least a third.  If there's room to store the economy refills then as the small bottle daily bottle gets emptied a new batch can be made with some from the economy bottle plus water---shake well to mix.  

For stuck on stuff a combination of baking soda and vinegar or hydrogen peroxide enough to get the baking soda moist makes a great scrub, let it sit a couple minutes first.  It will fizz.  I accidentally discovered that hp will clean most of the burnt on stuff off an electric stove burner enameled reflector if left to sit for 10 minutes or so.

I do recommend using paper towels for the heavy duty cleaning like cheese or stuck on stuff or any cleaning where there's been raw meat as you don't want food gunked rags sitting around til laundry day---but mostly you won't need them, unless you choose to use them, except for dealing with areas that had raw meat if you take care of things before they get dried out and stuck on.

These are just a few ideas that I've found useful and are about as basic as you can get.  Take what you can use and leave the rest. :)
 
I can't take perfumes and such in my soap, had a lot of skin issues until a doctor said to use Ivory bar soap. Haven't used anything but Dawn for dishes since it came out in the 70's.
 
jimindenver said:
I can't take perfumes and such in my soap, had a lot of skin issues until a doctor said to use Ivory bar soap. Haven't used anything but Dawn for dishes since it came out in the 70's.

I am a longtime Ivory Soap user too, though because of Navy service.  Having no perfumes or coloring agents, it is the only bar soap that will not discolor the white piping on Navy crackerjack uniforms, and also doesn't yellow the Dixie Cup hat.
I use a variety of dish liquids, usually lemon scented.  Whatever is cheapest.  Sometimes quick-wash undies and shirts in it too.
 
I'll have to see what the difference between Ivory bar and dish soap. I know the dish soap doubled as laundry soap for my grandma.
 
I use very little soap. I usually just wipe out my dishes but if they are really greasy I also use white vinegar out of a spray bottle. I haven't used hot water or soap on any of my dishes in 7 years and I never boil them.

I rarely use shampoo on my hair and use Dr. Bonners to wash my body.
Bob
 
great post anewbiewannabie. boy if ivory soap ran that poster nowadays there would be a lot of screaming. highdesertranger
 
Going camping while we were growing up we learned if the old man came out of the trailer with a bar of soap to run. He fully intended on sneaking up on one of us, tossing us the lake in fully clothed and telling us to take a bath while fetching the soap which he threw out into the lake too. I got lucky one time when he threw the bar of soap out and was waiting to toss me in but the soap never surfaced. It wasn't Ivory. lol
 
jimindenver said:
Going camping while we were growing up we learned if the old man came out of the trailer with a bar of soap to run. He fully intended on sneaking up on one of us, tossing us the lake in fully clothed and telling us to take a bath while fetching the soap which he threw out into the lake too. I got lucky one time when he threw the bar of soap out and was waiting to toss me in but the soap never surfaced. It wasn't Ivory. lol

Bet that lake had a catfish with the cleanest innards ever!!  :D
 
Tropical Traditions and Nutribiotic are two brands that carry soaps containing only soaponified coconut oil. The first has it available in either solid or liquid form. When I use soap, that's my go - to.

If you want the most natural soap ever consider looking into soap nuts, soapwort, or other plants high in saponins. Many plants produce a soapy substance as part of their immune system, and certain plants do so much they can literally be used for soap.

My first exposure to this was way out in the boonies of West Africa watching the local tribeswomen haul about a dozen large basketfuls of bark up to the crest of a waterfall. Next thing we knew the entire river had at least a foot of thick foam over the top of it, like a gigantic bubble bath! All the villagers pitched in, young and old, parting the suds in search of fish that were now floating on top and easily snatched up. It was great fun and the kids were making mounds of foam and throwing handfuls of it at each other just like westernized kids do.

I was just a kid myself at the time, but it was a priceless lesson in both the existence of natural soap and the effects of using soap on fish! The locals had been doing it periodically for a while so whatever ecosystem was there had obviously adapted to it.
 
anewbiewannabe said:
I've washed my hair with baking soda for years...

How do you wash your hair with baking soda, use a shaker to shake it onto your hair in the shower?
 
skyl4rk said:
How do you wash your hair with baking soda, use a shaker to shake it onto your hair in the shower?

In the shower I put about 3 tablespoons in a small container and after getting my hair nice and damp I either use my fingers to scoop it or just tip it out of the container onto my scalp so that when I massage it around all areas get covered. I did try the shaker method but dampness creates lumps that don't shake out very well.
 
I use Dr. Woods liquid castile soap. It is bought cheaply through Vitacost and they have very fast delivery and well packed. The citrus and almond are both wonderful. Citrus especially for dishes and wiping counters. For bar soap I like Sappo Hills made in Ashland, Oregon. It comes in many varieties and is just a great, gentle soap. I am lucky to get the mis-shaped round bars at a cheaper price by the pound. They are a great gift. I have just started washing my longish hair with baking soda and rinsing with diluted cider vinegar. My hair feels healthier than ever. Smells funny at first but the vinegar smell goes away pretty quickly. 
 

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