Chemicals are everywhere and are virtually unavoidable here in the city. Pollution fills my lungs everyday and you never know what kind of mass produced junk surfaces the glass I drink out of at a restaurant. I never really cared too much about what I was putting in my body, but not because I didn't care. I just didn't know. I wasn't aware of the many ways I was poisoning my body on a daily basis just by using shampoo or deodorant.
I have always wanted to make my own stuff, no matter what it was. When I was little I wanted to make my own jewelry and begged my parents for a rock tumbler. I made so much jewelry out of rocks and I enjoyed doing it. A couple years ago I ventured into crocheting and made scarfs galore and even a little rug for my bedroom. The main reason for my crocheting habit was to make cute baby clothes for my friends unborn child, just like my grandmother did for me. Ideally I want to make everything all by myself. My own clothes, my own pottery, my own jewelry, and bath products. The problem is that I'm a college student and I work here and there. I don't have all the time in the world to do all the crafty things that I would love to do. I love knowing exactly what goes into the products I use and if I make it myself then I can ensure that everything I use is good and not being made by underprivileged children in my own backyard.
This brings me to a recent vacation I took to South Lake Tahoe, California. I had a lot of free time on this trip and finally decided to learn how to make my own shampoos and other bath products. I learned about all the chemicals that are put into commercial soaps and how easy it is to make your own. The main ingredient I would need is pure castile soap. Then I discovered Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. He claims there are 18 uses with this one bottle of soap and I'm fascinated by this claim. As soon as I got home I went to my local Long's Drug Store where I found all the wonderful scents of Dr. Bronner. I picked up two 8 oz. bottles of Lavender and Tea Tree to experiment with. I love the scents of these soaps that are all natural, organic, fair trade, and just wonderful. So far I've only used these to wash my hands, my face, and most recently my laundry. I'm reluctant to try this product on my hair even though Dr. Bronner claims it can be used as a shampoo. It doesn't contain panthenol (vitamin B5), which is a detaingler. I have very long and straight hair and from what I've read from other users of Dr. Bronner's soaps, this product will only dry out my hair and tangle it. I do plan on making my own shampoos out of this product though after I purchase a few items, including panthenol. In the meantime I'm using Alba for my hair needs and I love this product, but I could do without the price.
As a laundry soap I am very impressed. I read a review somewhere that the oils used to scent the soap left oil stains on someone's clothes so I decided to test it on my bed sheets first. To begin with, I love doing laundry. I can spend all day washing everything I own. I love the fresh and clean scent when I rotate my clothes from the washer to the dryer and the warm and soft feeling when I pull my clothes out of the dryer. I could lie in a pile of freshly laundered clothes all day, or at least until they're not warm anymore. We have a front loading washer and dryer, which means I get to watch my clothes get spun clean.
The recommended usage, according to Dr. Bronner's website, is to use 1/3 cup for a regular load. Well, I filled my measuring cup with the lavender scented soap and started to put it in the washer, but I felt that I didn't need that much. We have one of these high efficiency washers and I don't use too much soap in them, and since this soap is concentrated, I think I only put about 1/4 cup. I didn't see the soap get sudsy and I'm not sure if it happened and I missed it or it just didn't sud up in the washer. When I pulled my sheets out they had this overwhelming scent of lavender. It was great! I didn't see any oil stains and I feel confident to use this on a regular basis to wash my clothes.We're almost out of dish soap and I plan on trying Dr. Bronner's soap on my dishes and eventually the dogs. I'm really happy with this product, especially the price. I believe I only paid a few bucks for an 8 oz bottle of this concentrated and chemical free multi-use soap. Did I mention you can use this to brush your teeth? If anyone tries this feel free to let me know. I haven't built up the courage to brush my teeth with soap yet.
