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Decluttering with castile soap

Do you ever reach the point where you feel your home is overwhelming??? As an upcycler/recycler I tend to gather objects and items naturally, it’s as if I’m a magnet! A few weekend’s ago we decided to have a blitz on the house, to sort, clear and tidy. We managed to part with two car loads of items.

Decluttering without sending items to landfill takes time and patience. I took a carload of items to Big C Charity Craft shop, listed items on ebay and gumtree. Clothes beyond their best went to a recycling clothes bin, others clothes to the local charity shop. The house remains full of stuff but it feels like a good start.

My daughter and I tackled the bathroom first, in some ways this seemed an easy room, small without too much stuff! (Yes I know this picture is a little embarrassing but it was the reality, it demonstrates just how much a declutter was needed!)

I quickly realised how many half-used bottles of all sorts we had, abandoned. This was harder to deal with, having first checked no local charity takes opened bottles I set my son to making Georges Marvellous Medicine, at least the plastic bottles could go into recycling once emptied and washed out.

We have also finished our former everyday products so I am replacing them with castile soap based recipes. The thought of one product for everything is very appealing. Not only does this simplify the bathroom I am hoping it will reduce our plastic footprint, refilling former containers for shower gel etc. In light of the recent news of a sea of plastic found in the ocean this can only be good. The castile soap comes in a 100% post-consumer recycled bottles with recycled paper label.

Castile soap is an all-natural vegetable oil-based soap, biodegradable and free of artificial foaming agents, colours, fragrances, chemical detergents, petrochemicals and toxic anti-bacterial agents.

 Castile soap in the bathroom

Shampoo – 1/2 tbsp worked into your hair well, then rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar. I am eager to try this (I finished our former shampoo in our home yesterday) the combination should help my scalp which has a tendency to dry out and become flaky.

Body Wash – apply a few drops on a cloth and wash, if you prefer you could try this recipe which adds in oils and honey.

Liquid Soap – Create a foam soap and place in a dispenser.  I am a little wary of reintroducing liquid soap into our home as our son loves it so much, going through a bottle a week!! That being said I would love having no bits of broken up hard soap round the sink to clean!

Shaving – Dilute one part liquid castile soap to two parts of water and massage into skin as a shaving lubricant.

Face Wash – 2-3 drops on your hands and wash your face, that simple!!

Cleaning your teeth – yes you read that right, you can use it to clean your teeth – I’m not sure I can get over my prejudices about putting soap in my mouth!

Make-up Brush Cleaner – I found this recipe over at one of my favourite green blogs moral fibres.

I was kindly provided with the castile soap by Dr Bronner for the purpose of a review (as alwsays all opinions are my own).  Do you have any top tips for reducing plastic in the bathroom?

 

 

 

 

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City Skater

Wednesday 15th of November 2017

Great post! Soaps are the very thing my grandmother used for nearly every single job in the house and personal care. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Allison Dey

Saturday 11th of November 2017

Great post! Simple soaps are the very thing my grandmother used for nearly every single job in the house and personal care. I never learned to buy cleaning products because plain soap and hot water were the mainstays of the home and person. I would caution against soap for those with hard water or extremely hard water. I recently moved into a house with extremely hard water and no money for a home water softener. Within a few weeks my hair was breaking off midway and my skin was rough and raw. There is no way to use plain soaps in hard water. The excess minerals bind to soap and are left on hair and skin. However, to reduce clutter, a hard water shampoo can be used as for hair and skin both. We dilute it for a soft hand soap and use it as body wash and shampoo. There are chelating agents in the shampoo that bind to the minerals and allow them to wash away. It's amazing how in any situation the magic is not so much in which product to use to simplify (though I have loved Dr. Bronner's since the 70s), but how it is possible to use any number of simple products in a variety of ways to make life easier and less cluttered.

Vicky

Sunday 12th of November 2017

Thanks for your thoughtful comments - I am in a hard water area so I will be careful about hair washing. I guess for me it is decluttering because I had way too many bottles of half used products accumulated through the years 3 bottles.

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