Using Liquid Castile Soap for Body Wash

If you’re visiting this page today, it is probably because you’ve become interested in learning more about Castile soap and the many ways to use it. One of the unique benefits of switching to Castile soap is that its applications are nearly endless, but each use of the soap may require or benefit from slightly different recipes or preparations.

Today we are covering one of the most popular uses of castille soap: Body Wash. 

Castile soap has been gaining popularity for a number of years, with one of the most common uses being to wash your skin. As a body wash, Castile is preferred to other types of soap because of its ingredients. Castile soap is not made with lard (animal fat), as most other traditional soaps are, but is instead made with vegetable or olive oil.

As a body wash, this means that Castile soap is much less likely to strip the natural oils from our skin. Traditional lard-based soaps often lead to excessively dry skin and other related dermatological problems because of their tendency to strip these necessary oils and destroy the skin’s microbiome, its protective layer of defense. Many people who have struggled with dry skin for years have found that switching to Castile soap has improved or solved their dry-skin woes.

Some commercial preparations of Castile soap recommend diluting the product when using as a body wash, but we have found this is not necessary with our liquid Castile soap formula. We keep a container of full-strength liquid Castile soap in our shower, and when ready to wash, we simply squirt a small amount onto our sponge, loofah, washcloth or hands, and suds away. We have found that the water that is already present on your skin from the shower or bath is sufficient for use and that further dilution of our product does not improve its performance.

Pro Tip:

One quick tip when using liquid Castile soap in the bath or shower is to make sure you do not keep the soap in a pump-style container. Due to the lower viscosity of Castile soap, when kept in a pump-style container, some of the product will inevitably solidify in the pump.

When this happens, the next time you try to pump the soap, this solidified soap clogging the pump means the liquid Castile soap can not pass through the pump normally. This often leads to liquid soap shooting through the sides of the clog in the pump’s nozzle in a smaller stream with much greater force. This can lead to soap squirting in unexpected directions, frequently upwards towards the eye. Castille soap in your eyeball does not typically lead to lasting injury but is nevertheless VERY painful and difficult to rinse away because of the concentrated nature of the soap.

We want our friends to be safe and avoid any accidents of this nature, so please always keep your liquid Castile soap in a container that has a non-pressurized dispenser, such as a standard screw-top or flip-cap style bottle. A squirt-type container that uses gravity instead of pressure for dispensing the liquid (many toiletry bottles designed for travel work this way) also works well.

How to Use Castile Soap as Body Wash

Step 1:

Liquid Castile soap can be used full-strength as a body wash, or it can be diluted if you wish (such as if using for a baby* or child, or someone with excessively dry or sensitive skin).

REMINDER: If transferring your full-strength or diluted Castile to a separate container for this use, make sure to choose a container that does not use pressurized dispensing (ex: a container with a pump). Since liquid Castile soap will solidify at room temperature, choose a container that will allow you to avoid dangerous clogs and exercise more control when you pour or squirt the soap.

Step 2:

Wet your whole body (or the parts of your body that you want to wash).

Step 3:

Pour or squirt a small amount of liquid Castile soap onto whatever you like to use for washing. Some examples would be a sponge, loofah, washcloth, body brush,  or even just your hands.

Step 4:

Rub your body with the Castile soap creating suds. You will likely be surprised at how little soap you need to use, due to the concentrated nature of liquid Castile soap. A little goes a very long way!

FYI: Castille soap can be used anywhere on your body, which may save you lots of time and money since you likely won’t need multiple washes for different body parts. We love to use liquid Castile soap as our face wash, whole body wash, and even for shaving! Of course, some people may find they are more sensitive to Castile in certain areas, such as the face or groin. While this is unlikely, we want to encourage our friends to always start slowly when trying a new product.

If you have exceptionally sensitive skin, we would recommend considering testing the product on a small part of your body such as the upper arm, and waiting 24 hours to ensure no negative reactions occur (commonly called a “patch test”). If you find you enjoy using the liquid Castile on most of your body but it feels too strong for sensitive areas, consider trying it in diluted form, instead.

Step 5:

Rinse your body and enjoy the clean! Because Castile soap contains no unnecessary, artificial, or synthetic ingredients, you will notice it rinses away much more easily and cleanly than most traditional soaps and body washes.

Optional Step 6:

Even though Castile soap will not strip your skin’s natural oils the same as traditional soaps, the act of washing (especially if you use hot water and/or an exfoliating instrument) will always lead to decreased moisture and often a feeling of “tightness” in your skin. If you have more oily skin, you may especially love Castile as it can help your skin’s natural oil production to decrease over time, since this overproduction of oil is often a response to over-drying cleansers. However, if your skin naturally tends towards the drier side, you may find that you benefit from a post-wash application of your favorite body lotion or oil to restore your skin’s hydration.

*Tips For Using Liquid Castile Soap as Baby Wash or for Sensitive Skin

Castile soap is an excellent face and body cleanser for all members of your family, but babies and those with exceptionally sensitive skin may find full-strength castile soap to be a bit too strong.

In this case, we recommend following the same procedure as described above, but first diluting the castile soap with distilled water in Step One. Start with a dilution ratio of one part liquid soap for every four parts distilled water. For example, for eight ounces of water, you would add two ounces (¼ cup or four tablespoons) of liquid castile soap to make a total of ten ounces of diluted body wash.

Some children and people with sensitive skin or compromised respiratory tracts may also find certain essential oil scents to be irritating. Some scents can also be a trigger for migraines and other sensory-related ailments for some people. In these cases, unscented liquid castile soap is the best choice for your family members and guests.

For babies and young children, it’s also important to remember that liquid castile soap is not “tear-free”, so take extra care to ensure the soap suds do not get into the child’s eyes. Of course, accidents do happen, and in the case of castile soap in the eyes, a gentle rinse with clean water until the soap is cleared should be all that is needed.  A small amount of liquid castile soap in the eyes is not usually harmful to most people, but it does burn and can be very uncomfortable, especially for babies and kids.

Check out our brand new Liquid Castile Soap. This is the latest addition to our Lactosoapcillus line of all-natural probiotic and vegan soaps, and you can count on it to deliver all of the same skin-loving probiotic benefits that you have come to love.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or feedback, as always please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Happy Washing!!