Why Castile Soap?
If you take a quick look underneath your kitchen or bathroom sink, there’s a good chance you got some sprays, bottles, liquids, cans, unidentified objects. You try to be clean and diligent to maintain the cleanliness of your personal space, but life can be so busy these days that it’s no longer possible to keep up with your work, your family, and your living space.
Every once in a while, during spring cleaning, you see a clutter of products that you just don’t know where to start with...Maybe something similar to this image below:
Everything is bought with great intentions, to clean and do away with bacterium, fungi, dirt, grease, dust, etc - We know, we do it, too. However, products now are getting more complex, new ingredients are being used, chemicals are being added, smells are getting more irritating, and now we just don’t know what is cleaning our more personal spaces and most frequently visited spaces.
I won’t even start to mention how the world is rapidly becoming more conscious of our earth (rightfully so). With all the complicated things in the world, we sometimes need to go back to the basics. And sometimes, what we need isn’t something that needs to be created or innovated, it can be something that has been here all along…
Castile soap is one of the oldest known soaps - it is a traditional soap created in the medieval ages but has withstood the test of time and still keeps its place as one of the best versatile soaps today.
Not only is it used multi-facetedly, but it is is an all-natural soap that cleans practically everything and anything in your home (including your family)!
So we really get down to the basics and ask the question - why castile soap? I’ll break down a few of the most fundamental reasons to give castile soap a try and understand why people call it the ‘miracle soap’
A brief history of this soap
Castile soap is one of the oldest known soaps (back to the 11th century - more than 1,000 years ago!), yet it continues to be used today. Originated in the Castile region in Spain - hence the name Castile Soap.
Supposedly in the 11th century in Aleppe of the Levant region, Aleppo soap was created and became such a game-changer in hygiene when the Crusaders brought the soap back. It then expanded to the Mediterranean area.
Traditionally, original castile soap is a hard form vegetable based oil made from laurel oil and olive oil.
Obviously through time, changes to the formula were made, so when soap made its way to England, early soap-makers did not have access to laurel oil from the formula and used mainly olive oil. Today, you’ll see it made with coconut, olive, sunflower oil, etc. (but never animal fat oil)
Castile Soap, different from “normal” soap - is that it uses vegetable oils, not animal fat oil. This simple difference in manufacturing is a huge reason for it’s tremendous benefits - both for us and the environment.
This amazing soap has served millions of homes in so many different ways - I may have to change the post from “Why Castile Soap?” to “Why NOT Castile Soap?” Let’s look at few of the many reasons why castile soap should be in every household today;
I’m sure today you see so many products in the market claiming keywords such as “all-natural”, “vegan”, “non-gmo”, “cruelty-free”, as if they were new revelations to the market. Castile soap has been around for centuries and has been able to claim these keywords before any hashtags, social media and followers.
It’s in the basis of its formula - because it is vegetable based, there is no involvement of any animals - this is a huge difference between Castile Soap and “Normal Soap”
Castile soap can be biodegradable - meaning it can be decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms, becoming one with the world. This is great because it allows us to use castile soap in the outdoors, when hiking, at the beach (of course, keeping “leave no trace” ethics! Learn more here)
That’s what makes it great for the environment - whenever there is an outing or some sort of trip, it is still important for hygiene purposes to clean your belongings, yourself, your surroundings, but it would be a pain to take numerous different products. Even for yourself, a hand wash, body wash, shampoo, face wash, that’s already 4 basic products just to clean yourself! You can rethink cleaning as a simple yet effective task by taking castile soap as part of your journey.
Castile soap is famous and well-known for its versatility. There is a plethora of information that shares the numerous ways that castile soap can be used. Obviously it helps to understand the rationale behind castile soap and why it’s such a versatile product that can be used from your hand soap to your toilet cleaner; it all comes down to the basics of what castile soap is and the formula used to make the soap.
In Castile soap, soap molecules have two sides - one that is attracted to water and another side that avoids it. So when castile soap is combined with water, one of the sides collects dirt, grease, bacteria - separating from the surface, and the other attracts to water, allowing the “cleaning” - removing unwanted material from the surface.
This basic rationale of soap will work on your hands, body, dishes, pets, counters, toilets, you name it; it will work pretty much anywhere!
We know there’s so much customization for each occasion, product, needs, etc. Even more so, with the growing urge to make your own products - DIY - there are infinite possibilities for castile soap.
Castile soap is a basic formula that can have so many different additions to it for all your needs.
You can start by adding your preferred essential oils for additional benefits, we will touch on this in a separate post. But as an example, lavender oil, which is known for having aromatherapy benefits, can add an aspect of calming or relaxing impacts to your soap.
You can also add other ingredients such as Jojoba oil or honey to add other functions to your soap!
Keep us in your thoughts and come back shortly as we plan to write more about the different ways to make castile soap variations and DIY formulas! Can be great fun!
(Notes: be careful when you mix ingredients or on what surfaces you use your soap with. When you consider the pH scale(base vs acid, anyone?), Castile soap is considered a base. When you mix a base with an acid, you will get a reaction - aka, you will create salt like texture. Don’t mix it with acid-like ingredients such as vinegar or lemon. The best way to use Castile soap is for personal use. Focus on getting a soap that has high quality ingredients - high quality vegetable oil, organic level products (remember, there are different levels of organic), added essential oils for added benefits.)
Conclusion:
Soap has become such an essential part of our everyday life - without even thinking about it, we can use it up to 10 times a day and use it in every room in your house. You use it on your bed and clothes (laundry soap), your food (dishwasher and veggie wash), yourself (body and hair wash), and your living space (counter, floors, toilets, sink). Basically, anywhere that can be exposed to bacteria needs to be cleaned - it’s a lot of products and places that need your attention.
To understand soap is to understand how to maintain hygiene. With such an important and necessary part of your life, it really makes sense to take the time to learn about how it impacts not about it’s purpose (to clean, obviously), but how it affects everything else.
Castile Soap can be a great option for all things cleaning while having minimal impact on our earth.
Here at Rich Farmers Co, our goal is to create the highest quality castile soap using the most organic ingredients possible. We’re big believers in the importance of taking care of and doing what’s best for our two homes - our body and our Planet Earth.
Learn more about Rich farmers Co and our Organic Castile Soaps - check us out!
