My Dear Readers,
I always find it fascinating when I talk to friends who are aficionados when it comes to food. They are truly passionate about how food is enhanced by strategically combining wines, flavors, and even textures together to enhance their gastronomic experiences. I am in awe of their expertise and love dining with, and learning from, my companions who know so much more than me!
When it comes to Castile Soap, I feel confident that I understand the best pairings too! For cleaning, I love sharing my favorite combination of scents and dilution ratios. The creation of our Castile Soap has truly been a transformative experience. I have immersed myself in a community dedicated to reducing our environmental impact on the world, one soap at a time! Ready to learn about some castile soap great pairings?
Things that go GREAT with Castile Soap
Essential oils
Essential oils have a lot to add to cleaning solutions both for personal care and for house
care. They can give you a personalized scent and add therapeutic qualities.
Borax
Borax is an effective cleaning agent and has beneficial effects when combined with
Whole Naturals Castile Soap. It has a pH of 9.3, similar to that of the soap. It buffers
the Whole Naturals Castile Soap, protecting it from acidic substances that would break it
down, thus helping the cleaning process. It should be kept well away from children and
gloves should be worn when handling it.
Sugar
Sugar is a natural humectant, which means that it draws moisture into our skin. You can
make a lovely scrub by mixing it with Whole Naturals Castile Soap
Glycerin
Whether you’re looking to thicken the soap or make it smoother, Adding
glycerine increases the moisturization potential of the soap but above 2-3% it
decreases foaming properties.
Vitamin E -
Mixed tocopherols – aka vitamin E – is perfectly fine to mix with Castile – in fact, it
can even preserve it to make your mixtures last longer! These are the antioxidants we
use in our soaps. For personal care, vitamin E is usually recommended for anti-aging
properties. For house care, mixed tocopherols is an antioxidant in DIY solutions.
Washing Soda - Sodium Carbonate
Did you know: Washing soda is a common ingredient in homemade laundry detergents?
Washing soda acts as a water softener as well as a powerful scouring agent effectively
cleaning heavily soiled laundry like towels or work clothes. Add sodium carbonate to
your hard water, precipitating the calcium carbonate and improving the soap’s cleaning
capabilities.
Baking Soda - Sodium bicarbonate
Baking soda adds a soft abrasion to the cleaning power of the soap, which makes it a
good scrubber for grimy sinks and laundry. In the laundry, it is a whitener and deodorizer. It
also buffers the Whole Naturals Castile Soap, protecting it from acidic substances that
might affect its pH.
Things that don't go GREAT with Castile Soap
Acids (like Citric acid, Vinegar, and Lemon juice) are great separately, if mixed with Castile soap, they’re like the siblings who just can’t leave each other alone! Vinegar un-saponifies
soap. It’s not dangerous, just messy, and ruins the cleaning ability of either. We do not
recommend adding acids to Whole Naturals Castile Soap.
Epsom Salt
Epsom salt is not compatible with Whole Naturals Castile Soap. Magnesium sulfate
(Epsom salt) has a slightly low acidic pH, around 6. The Whole Naturals Castile Soap has
a pH of around 9. Adding the magnesium sulfate reverses the soap and releases the fatty
acid, producing visible flakes of oil.
We love learning about YOUR favorite pairings! And psst...we'd like to share a secret - we're developing a great pairing with our Castile Soap, and you'll be the first to know about it! We'll keep you posted!
Happy Soaping!
