Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap

On the longer of my tours last year, I brought along a bottle of Dr Bronners castile soap to use for cleaning myself and my clothing. I used it in my hair a few days before, but but long enough to really judge it's effectiveness, and I was still using conditioner. The tiny travel-sized bottle ran out after a week, and I went back to using dish liquid for all my chores.

A while back, after drinking a cup of nettle tea and subsequently wandering down a trail of links, I came across a recipe for castile-soap-and-nettle shampoo, along with a rather compelling damnation of name brand shampoos and the damaging chemicals they contain.

Now I'm looking at my store-brand dandruff shampoo, fruity-smelling conditioner, skin cleansers, astringents, and lotions in a whole new light. It sure would be convenient to replace all these things with some diluted Dr. Bronner's...

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It may look a bit swampy, but you can bet it smells fantastic.

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So, in the usual fit-of-motivation way I have of doing things, I picked up a 32oz bottle of Dr. Bronners, in peppermint, about two hours later. Here is the recipe I used for my shampoo and bodywash:

• 7oz distilled water. Spring water can also be used. I ended up using filtered, melted snow, having neither of the above on hand nor the patience to distill 7oz of water on the lid of a saucepan.
• 3 to 5 Tbsp various dried herbs. My selections where nettle, rosemary, lavender, and chamomile, in a peppermint soap base.
• 4 Tbsp pure castile soap.

Bring the water to boil, and add the herbs. Cover, remove from heat, and let sit for up to 30mins. Strain water through a coffee filter into container suitable for storage, and add soap. The color will change from murky green to brown overnight.