Just wondering if anybody here has actually tried washing their hair, clothes, or dishes with Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap. If so, how were the results? (I’m about to leave on a long backpacking trip and I want to pack light … pretty sure I draw the line at brushing my teeth with the stuff, though.)
Grandpa washes his hair with it. It’s a little harsher than normal shampoo, according to him, but he has naturally oily hair, anyway. If your hair is dry, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Why not get some of those little soaps and shampoos that they offer guests at hotels? They wouldn’t take up much room.
Yes, I have used Doc B’s soap for washing my hair and clothing while backpacking. Results: Hair feels kind of “crunchy” for lack of a better word after 3 or 4 days, but still clean. Works on clothes, just rinse well. For washing dishes, use water and sand, works great.
Lissa, the main reason that people use Dr. Bronner’s while backpacking is not that it comes in little bottles – it’s that it’s biodegradable. You want to leave as little behind as possible, and the little hotel shampoos often have stuff in them not designed to break down quickly. Dr. Bronner’s is probably only well-known because of this ( I don’t think he has too many followers.) For a long time, it used to be the only soap you could find in stores like REI.
Nowadays, there’s more options; places besides camping stores sell soap that will break down quickly. That said, you still want to avoid strong fragrances (which might attract animals) and remember that it doesn’t go away in a few minutes; you shouldn’t just dump the stuff into streams. The sand and water mix does work pretty well, especially in the desert. As for the Dr.'s soap, I’ve used it several times and I think it’s okay, not great. Mostly just jumping in a stream is good enough for me; if you don’t want to use it, a chunk of no-fragrance glycerine soap works nicely (this you can find in lots of places.)
panama jack
It really is good soap, but at the label says, “Dilute! Dilute!” A mix of 10 parts water to 1 part Dr.B’'s is about right for bathing. It does have a strong taste, so use it for toothbrushing as a last resort. I cannot comment on Dr.B’s claim that the stuff can be used for birth control.
I wash my hair with Ivory soap; due to the slightly hard water in Dayton, it leaves a nasty residue in my hair, which I remove with vinegar. My wife tells me I should dilute the vinegar, but I haven’t tried that.
I did try Coca-Cola, though. It works well, although not as well as the undiluted vinegar.
I suppose I could try other acids. Are nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid toxic independent of their acidity? i.e. if I diluted them so they wouldn’t burn my skin, would they be safe to pour on my head?
I guess I should clarify that by “backpacking” I mean low-budget Europe-wandering – not camping. (Been spending too much time at the Lonely Planet web site, where they automatically assume that’s what you mean.) I’ll be gone for about two months, so hotel soap and shampoo is not the most efficient option, and I’d rather not buy stuff over there because it tends to be more expensive. Dr. Bronner’s is concentrated and therefore lightweight, so I’m taking a small bottle of it anyway for hand-washing; just wondering how well it works for other purposes. After reading the responses, I think I may find room in my pack for a bottle of shampoo, after all…