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Make your own liquid castile soap.

February 28, 2012 by Karl

Liquid Soap berry berry berry berry berry


This article will show you how to make your own liquid castile soap like Dr. Bronners. Buying 32 ounces of Dr. Bronners soap can cost you between $16-$35 US. In addition, if ordered on-line, you need to pay for shipping. Here I will show you how to make your own liquid castile soap for between  $1-$5 US depending on the cost of your source materials.

To make this, you will need 1 bar of castile bar soap.  You can use one of Dr. Bronners bar soaps, or you can follow my directions HERE to make your own.  You will also need a gallon sized zipper freezer bag, and a scale capable of measuring up to 5 pounds.

Here’s the simple description of the process:

Place soap in bag and add water in a ratio of 1 part soap to 4 parts water by weight.  Let it sit in a large bowl for 5 days.  Congratulations, you now have liquid castile soap!

Here’s the wordy long-hand version for people who like everything spelled out:

The process is fairly simple.  Place the bar of soap in the bag.  Now place a large mixing bowl on a scale and zero out the scale.  Place the bag (with the bar in it) in the mixing bowl.  Write down the weight of the bar.  Multiply this number by 4.  Write down the product (answer).

Now re-zero the scale.  Add water (preferably distilled) until you have reached the new number you just wrote down (in ounces).  Zip the bag closed.

Leave the bag in the bowl and set it aside for 5 days.  Massage the bag with the water / soap mixture in it once a day or so.  This comes naturally because you will not be able to resist looking at it from time to time.  Don’t be concerned.  The first day it looks like there is too much water in there.  Over the next few days you will see that it thickens up very nicely.

By the end of the 5 days, you should have a bag full of very thick liquid soap.  You can now add more water and mix it up to get it to the consistency you want.  When it is all done, I simply clip a small portion of the corner off the bag with scissors and let it pour into my waiting empty container.  No mess.

Enjoy!

I love your feedback!  If you have found this article useful, please comment!  I also like to hear different ways that people like to use this liquid soap.  There are thousands of applications!



120 Comments »

  1. Ann says:

    Wow…had no idea that would work..lol..awesome!!!

    • Shanna says:

      Yeeaah… Um… This isn’t exactly the same thing as liquid soap and will probay be nearer to the constancy of snot. Bar soap is made with sodium hydroxide lye and liquid soap is made with potassium hydroxide lye. Adding all that water to bar soap will knock the ph ratio out of wack and cause there to be more unsaponified oils in the soap. More oils means more moisturizing so while it will do fine for hand soap, I wouldn’t use it for cleaning. Trust me… I’ve done everything there is to do to a bar of soap before giving up as learning to make liquid soap from scratch.

  2. Now that is easy and completely doable! I had seen other directions that involved grating the soap and melting it and I didn’t want to mess with that. This I can do!

  3. Amy says:

    Thank you, thank you, thank you and incase you missed, thank you! We literally use Dr. Bonners for everything and it tends to go fairly quickly. When you’re cheap like me, $16 a bottle can make you think twice about your purchase. Now we just spend $3.50 for a generous bar of their lavendar castile soap and follow your instructions. Works great and is easy on the wallet.

    • Karl says:

      Glad I could help out Amy! If you are on Facebook, be sure to share this page with your friends (at the top of this page). Also, be sure to check out the other money saving ideas on frugalberry.com. And as always, don’t be afraid to click on any ads that might interest you. This is how I make my money!

      Blessings,

      Karl

  4. Marcella F says:

    Thank you so much for posting this! I have a almost three-year old daughter who likes to help me “make soap”. I really don’t like her to help me since I don’t want her to get burned. Now, she can help me squeeze the bag every day. Thank you again!

  5. Diana says:

    Wow. This is a really really good idea. I don’t have a scale at home and I’m wondering if you can use one regular bar of Dr Bronners Magic Soap and combine it with 32oz of water (one of the bigger jars of Bronners soap).

  6. Karl says:

    You could do that. I will probably come out really runny though. I believe the Dr Bronners bar soap is 5 ounces. This means you want to add about 20 ounces of water. If I remember my high school chemistry correctly, one fluid ounce of water is the same as one ounce of weight. That means you could use a measuring cup to add 20 ounces of water also.

    Keep me posted. Let us know how it goes!

  7. Danielle says:

    Thanks for posting this! I agree, Dr. Bronner’s is just too expensive! I’ve started using Kirk’s for face and body and just discovered I can make my own shampoo with rosemary steeped in water, baking soda, and a bit of castile soap. Instead of buying some Bronner’s this will let me use the less expensive bar of Kirk’s, which is a win-win! Love it! Thank you, I’ll be adding your blog to my weekly reads. 🙂

    • Karl says:

      Thanks for the info Danielle! I’m very interested in the shampoo recipe. I’ll need to check it out! Blessings!

  8. Glenda says:

    I enjoyed watching you make this. You make it so simple and easy, unlike others. Easy to follow instructions and love the warnings regarding the lye. I will be trying this out for sure and will check out your site.

  9. While this works, I simply use A recipe for liquid soap, and use Potassium Hydroxide. Learning how to make liquid soap, is easy with the correct books.

  10. Emilie Roush says:

    Hi, I am very interested in trying this out. At the end when you have the very thick liquid soap, how much water do you usually add to it? How many ounces of liquid soap do you usually end up with? I’m not very good at just winging things. Thanks!

    • Karl says:

      Emelie,

      Thanks for the comment. You end up with the same number of ounces as the total you measured with the scale. The liquid ounces should be very close to the dry scale weight.

      Karl

      • Emilie Roush says:

        Thanks, but I actually meant something a little different. Your post said:

        “By the end of the 5 days, you should have a bag full of very thick liquid soap. You can now add more water and mix it up to get it to the consistency you want.”

        How much water do you add at this stage? I’ve never had liquid castile soap (it’s new to me) so I don’t know what consistency to shoot for.

        Thanks.

        • Karl says:

          Emilie,

          It all depends on what you want to use it for. If you are using it for hand soap at the sink, then you may not need to do anything. If you like it a little thinner, then you can water it down. It all has to do with personal preference.

          I hope this helps.

          Karl

        • Jenny Groening says:

          Wow, I just found this site, so don’t know if you’ll get this, Emilie… I have a recipe for foaming soap that calls for 1 part of the liquid soap to 3 parts water plus a few drops of essential oil for fragrance if you wish, all into a foaming dispenser. A lot of people like the feel of the foam and it really stretches the soap, plus it doesn’t slide off my hand and down the drain before I can scrub it in! 🙂 I’m going to use this for Christmas presents this year.

  11. Anthony says:

    Hi!

    What kind of scale should I buy?

  12. Sue says:

    I love this idea! I’ve been having fun making homemade products lately like; laundry detergent, deodorant, body wash and bathroom cleaners. I’ve been experimenting with different recipes for liquid hand and dish soaps with mixed results. Usually they come out very watery. I tried your method with the zipper bag and a bar of Kirk’s castile soap and Voila! Hand soap! I don’t mind the recipes that call for heating and melting grated soap and then adding other ingredients, what bugs me is after all that work, it’s just cloudy, soapy water. This one works…Thank You! I love how cheap it is too!

  13. kt0519 says:

    Trying this tomorrow! I recently made homemade dish soap and while I loved it was expensive because the main ingredient is liquid castille soap. Now that I found this it works out to be cheaper than commercial dish soap. YEA!

  14. Sue says:

    I have a dish soap recipe that I really like. It’s great on greasy pots & pans too. It’s a bit thin and runny but it works wonderfully!
    1/2 cup liquid castile soap
    1-1/2 cups very hot water
    1 T. White Vinegar
    1 T. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda)
    6-8 drops Tea Tree or Lemon essential Oil (optional for disinfecting)
    2 T. Vegetable Glycerin (this ingredient makes the soap last longer on your sponge)
    Add all ingredients to an empty, clean dish soap bottle with a squeeze cap. Close the cap shut and shake to combine. That’s it, no boiling or cooking the ingredients.
    Also, I found an excellent tip on another blog for removing tough stuck on foods. Keep a shaker type container near the sink with baking soda and just sprinkle it on when needed. It’s an awesome scrubber without all the chemicals in typical powdered scouring cleansers. I went to my local GoodWill store and found one of those small glass jars with the holes in the lid used at Italian restaurants for sprinkling parmesan cheese. It was $.49.

  15. Latifah says:

    Hi thanks for the recipe how long does this keep? Thank you

  16. Bonnie says:

    I tried this with an 8oz. bar, adding 32oz. of water but it was still very thick. I kept adding water untill I finally had nearlly a gallong and it was still thick and way too diluted. I then heated it, it all melted and I let it boil down until it was less diluted but how it’s hard, though not as hard, as it was in the beginning. Could it be the brand of castile I used? I don’t get it.

    • Karl says:

      Bonnie,

      Sorry you didn’t have good luck with this. I’m a little confused by your second sentence. How can it be too thick AND way too diluted? What brand of castile soap did you use? I’ve never had an issue with the 1:4 soap to water ratio. I’m not sure what happened. Did you use distilled water? I’m curious to hear your response.

      Karl

  17. Sue says:

    I stopped using the Kirks brand of castile soap for this project. I love the soap but it’s very temperamental. Meaning, it keeps wanting to separate long after the dissolving process is over. Even if I continually stir or shake the mixture. After the entire bar has melted into the water in the bag, I then pour it into a bowl and mix it briefly with my stick blender. This works great for all kinds of soap except the Kirks brand for some reason. When I try to pour some from the jug into my soap dispensers, it’s super thick like lard with some water at the bottom. This bag method works great with Burt’s Bees soap bars though, as well as many others. Because I hate to waste anything, the Kirks soap ‘experiment’ will be used to make my own body wash diluted again with more distilled water, some essential oils and a small amount of sweet almond oil.

  18. Tracy says:

    By far the easiest way to make liquid soap no more grating, then boiling, then waiting for the soap to thicken. Thank you so much for posting

  19. Sheila says:

    Hi there

    I just loved your instructions on making Castile soap, video included, and I’ve been able to make a few batches now.

    I, too, have had the same experience (Bonnie, September 14, 2012 at 11.20 am) with making liquid soap.

    I used a bar of Castile which I had made myself, but which was only 3 weeks old. Once I had added a little tap water the whole mixture seemed to be softened by day but hardened overnight. I kept adding more tap water and it simply got worse and now I’m left with a bag of solid soap which seems to change consistency when squeezed.

    Maybe I measured wrong and shouldn’t have used tap water, but have you any ideas about what I can do with this liquid mistake now, please?

    Thanks

    • Karl says:

      Sheila,

      I’m very interested in this. I’ve never experienced this issue with my liquid soap. The only suspect I have at the moment is your tap water. I’m curious if you have public water or well water? As far as what to do with what you have….. Can you try pouring it back into soap molds and see if it hardens over the next few days? Sorry. That’s my only suggestion without seeing it.

      • Sheila says:

        Thanks for the prompt reply, Karl 🙂

        I’m on public water which is fluoridated.

        It doesn’t look as though it is ever going to harden up so I think I might use it as gloopy hand soap – my grandchildren will love it!!

        Anyway, I will try another batch using distilled water and let you know how I get on.

        Thanks so much.

  20. Julie says:

    Hi Karl,

    I’d like to try this recipe and make/use your castille bar soap recipe to do that.

    My question is, do I need to wait two months for it to harden and cure like you mentioned in your video if I want to make the liquid castille soap or can I use it after it’s un-molded (48hr)?

    Thanks!

  21. JAMI says:

    Just wondering if you need to add hot or cold water or does it matter? Also, if you have a soap dispenser that foams, you just need to put a little of the liquid castile soap in it and add the rest up with water and it really makes your soap go a long way.

  22. karen says:

    Hi Karl
    Thank you very much for posting this information. Could I use this liquid soap as a shampoo?
    Cheers

    • Karl says:

      I know some who do use this for shampoo. I find it drys my hair out. You will need to try it to see how it works for you.

      Karl

      • karen says:

        Thanks for the speedy reply. Sounds like the liquid is very concentrated. I will definitely experiment and I may give it a go on my hair.
        Thanks again.
        Karen

  23. caroline says:

    I’m wondering if preservative needs to be added with all that water added to the soap? If not, how long will it last unpreserved?

  24. Karen says:

    Hi again Karl
    Your directions worked beautifully. I used my liquid soap today on my face and it felt lovely afterwards. Have just bought a new liquid dispenser to celebrate.
    Thank you so much. I will spread the word.

  25. Dearlylovedaimee says:

    Just out of curiosity, can this method be used to turn any type bar of soap into liquid or will it only work on castile soap? I have like a bazillion different kinds of bar soaps lying around the house that I’m trying to pawn off on my girlfriend because her skin can handle anything where as mine cannot. 🙂 She’s a bigger fan of liquid soap then she is of the bar and it would make her day if we could turn all those miscellaneous bars into liquid so she can loofah away!

    PS – We love your blog!

    • Karl says:

      Dearly,

      I have not tried it with other soaps. My understanding is that most store bought soaps have hardeners added to them that will not allow them to easily be turned into liquid using this method, but I have never tried it. Why don’t you give it a try and let us know how it works! I’ve actually been curious about this myself!

      Glad you are enjoying The Frugal Berry!

      Karl

      • Dearlylovedaimee says:

        Update: Well we successfully made our first batch of liquid hand soap using a bar of Dove unscented! I would have posted this update early, but my girlfriend hasn’t quite mastered the fine art of reading and added way too much water on our first try and I had to add another bar just to even it out. That’s okay, I still like her! 😛

        The one thing we did not do is add distilled water, but rather we used plain tap. I’m not sure if it will have any kind of negative affect on our soap but it appears okay for human use. Depending on costs, we are thinking of adding glycerine to ours so it thicken it up a bit more. If that stuff is too expensive, we’ll stick with what we’ve got.

        Thanks again!

  26. Bren says:

    I’ve seen recipes for laundry detergent that use liquid castile soap, and was just wondering if this homemade liquid castile soap works as well as the regular castile soap? Thanks!

  27. Catalina says:

    Dear Frugal Berry,

    I would like to know if you have a recipe for making liquid castille soap from scratch, instead of just grating a ready made bar of soap. I ask because most liquid soap recipes recommend that you use potassium hydroxide instead of sodium hydroxide when making liquid soap. Or do you recommend that I just make the solid soap bar and then melt that down? If not, do you know where can I find a liquid castille soap recipe using potassium hydroxide?
    Thank you,
    Catalina.

    • Karl says:

      Catalina,

      You are right. Most of the recipes use potassium hydroxide to make their liquid soap. I do not have a recipe to make it this way. My recipe is an alternative designed to save people lots of money by making it from a bar. One day I may try making it from scratch using potassium hydroxide, but for now this method is working great for me.

      Best of luck,

      Karl

  28. Linda says:

    Wow, I find your article literally a day after purchasing the $17 32 oz bottle -.- I will def. be returning this!

  29. Sarah says:

    Hi Karl, I started trying to turn a bar of Dr Bronners into liquid soap by grating and stirring (didn’t work), so then (having read you could melt the bar on its own) I tried melting the water/soap mixture in the microwave. That worked, until it cooled again, whereupon it turned back into a semi hard state. This sounds like the problem some of your other readers have had. If you then stirred it, it went like foamy gloop. I currently have 1 bar to 4.5cups of water, but I can’t keep it from hardening up – I certainly can’t pour it into a bottle. I’m trying to make bubble bath – any clues as to what might be going wrong? Or shall I throw the lot out and start again, or have I just not added enough water? What sort of proportions do you estimate you need to get a consistency of bubble bath (thick liquid)? Any suggestions appreciated. Cheers.

    • Karl says:

      Sarah,

      Just to clarify, did you microwave the current batch, or just add water to it? Using my method you only add distilled water to it. If you have a 5 ounce bar, you would add 20 oz of water and just let it sit. Is this what you did?

      Thanks,

      Karl

  30. Sarah says:

    Hi Karl, I microwaved the current batch. I hadn’t found your site prior to starting, and several sites called for heating it in pot/crockpot, so I figured it wouldn’t matter how I heated it. I didn’t use distilled water, but our water is as pure as it comes – triple filter and UV purifier. It just seems to get harder by the day – sounds like a similar problem to Sheila and Bonnie in September – and it isn’t a lovely runny honey consistency – it’s sort of porridgy (oatmeal in USA?). I think maybe I’ll stick the beater in it and if that doesn’t work – throw it away and start again. Thanks for your help. I thought it might help others to know that I certainly didn’t find the process foolproof!

    • Karl says:

      I’d be curious if the microwaving has anything to do with it. I am also wondering if some of the store bought castile soaps have chemical hardeners build into them.

  31. Sarah says:

    PS. Is your finished product clear or milky white?

  32. Sarah says:

    PS. I didn’t actually mean I’ll throw it away, but use it myself – I was trying to get my kids to make some homemade natural bubble bath as Christmas presents for their cousins – the porridgy thing doesn’t look that great! 🙂

  33. Bren says:

    Back with an update. I tried this with a bar of Dr. Bronners and it was so thick it was almost like a solid. Even after adding more water, it was still very thick and jello-like. So I dumped into a saucepan, melted it all down into liquid, and made my homemade laundry soap with much success. So it ended up not being a loss! I also tried this with a bar of Kirk’s, and while it is a bit runny and gloppy, works pretty well as a body wash! Lots of lather and love the way it makes my skin feel! So even though neither of these bars ended up being the consistency I’d hoped for, it’s great to know I can still put them to good use and save money in the process!

    • Karl says:

      Hmm. I’m starting to wonder if Dr. Bronners & Kirk’s puts some chemical thickening agent in their soaps. Thanks for the report Bren!

  34. Christy Kennard says:

    Just wondering if you have a particular brand of castile soap that you recommend for those of us trying this for the first time. I am trying to make some homemade liquid dish detergent but don’t want to pay big $ for the liquid castile soap. I also want to be successful 🙂

    THANKS!

    • Karl says:

      Christy,

      I guess the short answer for the moment is that you need to make your own castile soap from the recipe in Frugalberry (because of all the issues people have been having). I want to get to the bottom of these issues, but I haven’t had time lately.

      Best wishes,

      Karl

  35. melissa says:

    Ill be making this tomorrow with a bar of Dr.Bronners, will let you know how it goes. I hope they havent changed there formula. I will make my own but, i live in a rural area and not sure where to get lye ingredients. could you help with some online contacts or where i could get ingredents? thanks Karl!

  36. Anna says:

    Great recipe, thanks for the tutorial. I will make your castile soap bar today, the bummer is waiting the 6-8 weeks for the curing process before I can try the liquid version!

    So, how about the lower end of the scale and only wait 6 weeks? Is there much of a difference? Since I will be making it into liquid how about 4 weeks? Yes, I know, I am impatient!

    Great blog, love it, lots of interesting “stuff” here, thanks for all your research time put in your blog.
    Anna

    • Karl says:

      Anna,

      You can make the liquid as soon as 48 hours after making the bar soap. The 6-8 weeks is only for the bar soap to be used as a bar soap.

      Karl

  37. Carmen says:

    Thanks for all the effort you take into helping.

    My question is, how about preservatives? By adding all that water won’t we get mould and bacteria growing?

    • Karl says:

      Carmen,

      Mold needs a food source in order to grow. Soap is not a food source for mold. If you use distilled water and all your containers are clean bacteria shouldn’t be much of an issue in a sealed container. If it’s a concern, you can always use a little essential oil to act as an antibacterial.

      Hope this helps.

      Karl

  38. Virginia says:

    Yummy aromas are what my family demands…what are the best you and your readers have found?

    • Karl says:

      Virginia,
      I like a soap scent called blueberry cobbler. It’s what I use in all my soaps. For deodorant I use cedar essential oils. It gives me that “Manly” cedar wood smell.
      Karl

  39. INES says:

    JUST FOUND YOUR SITE AND WAS (sorry about caps) tickled to find it.. love the liquid so am going to do it now…thanks for posting it..

  40. Vick says:

    I also tried this with Dr. Bronners bar and it kept gong back to almost a solid state. I have added water until I now have a gallon and I still can not squeeze any out it is so stiff. Not sure what to do with this mess. I have also read alot of blogs saying anything, including soap, that you introduce water to, you are subject to bacteria if not used up in a short amount of time.

  41. Erin says:

    Hi! Made the liquid soap this week. Mine is somewhat gloppy too. Could it be the palm oil in the bar soap? Besides water, it’s the only differing ingredient from the liquid Bronner’s. It’s still usable, and I have over 32 oz from it. I’m new to this, but need to save the cash. Any suggestions would be great. If it is the palm oil, is there a Castile bar without it? Thanks!

  42. Gina says:

    Karl, Thanks for your great ideas!! I recently made the liquid castile soap recipe using your bar soap. I followed the directions perfectly. It worked great and I am happy with the result except for one thing. The texture of the liquid soap, instead of being soapy and pearly, is kind of mucousy. Is there anything I can do to get a more soap-like, less mucus-like consistency? Thanks!!!

  43. Alison says:

    Hi
    For all the people commenting about gloopy soap that has always been a problem for me whatever soap I use.
    So now I always dilute the soap to about 32 ounces and add a tsp of xanthan gum and then blend it.
    This works for me and I have a lovely consistency if anyone would like to try that.
    Thanks Alison

  44. Emily says:

    I’ve enjoyed reading your ideas, and made some bar soap per your recipe yesterday. I have yet to venture into the realm of essential oils and such, so I was wondering whether you think they would incorporate into the liquid soap if I add them separately?

    • Karl says:

      Emily,

      Yes, the essential oils can be added to the liquid soap during any part of the process. The oils are actually better if not heated.

      Enjoy!

      Karl

  45. Ayu says:

    Wow! You have the most easy tutorial that i really need. I search lots of tutorialand i love yours.it is really easy to do that. But in malaysia, i found difficult to find castile soap. I would try to order it internasionally…

  46. Ann says:

    Thanks for posting all of this great stuff. Any chance you were able to modify this so that it doesn’t come out so thick? or should I just try the recipe you originally posted.

    Thanks so much!

    • Karl says:

      Ann,

      If you make your own bar soap as a base you should have no problems. It’s the Dr Bronners & Kirks bar soaps that seem to be causing problems. They must be adding some thickening agent to their soaps.

      Karl

  47. Anita says:

    Hi! I’m from Canada and I used a bar of Dr. Bonners Lavender soap with distilled water and it turned out just fine for me. Followed your recipe and smooshed it around everyday to break up the soap. Today was day 5 so I added some more distilled water to thin it out and get it to the consistency I’m happy with. Thanks for the recipe! wanted to know how to use it for laundry soap. Do you have a recipe? Thanks
    Anita

  48. northernglory says:

    Hello Karl, I made castile soap, and then a batch of liquid, this is so exciting! but I have very hard water, and the soap doesnt quite work satisfactorily. How would it work if I dissolved washing soda in my water before adding sodium hydroxide? Washing soda is a natural water softener.

    • Karl says:

      Northernglory,

      I would NOT recommend changing the formula while making the soap. If you do you may end up with something that will burn your skin. This recipe (along with any other soap recipe) is proportionally balanced to create an end product that is ph balanced. Adding other ingredients such as washing soda or baking soda will throw off that balance.

      As far as the hard water is concerned, the only thing I can suggest is a water softener. We have VERY hard water here too (31 grains) and without the water softener doing it’s thing, no soap will lather up.

      Karl

  49. Nikki says:

    I modified this a little. I melted the chopped up Kirk’s soap in about 6 cups of water. Then I added a tablespoon of shea butter, a teaspoon of vitamin E, a few drops of Lavender, and 2 teaspoons of glycerin. As it cooled, I poured it into bottles. It was super think liquidy stuff. I put it in the refrigerator for an hour, and it was still thin. I have well water. I read on another site some people think chlorine in the water, if it is tap, will mess up the formula. I have no idea though. My Kirk’s only lists 5 ingredients. And this formula worked awesome in a foam soap dispenser, I did half liquidy soap, and half water. I plan to modify it for shampoo, also in a foam soap dispenser.

  50. Janine says:

    Just wanted to let you know that we made this liquid soap this week using a bar of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap and it worked great! (Used filtered tap water, very soft water here in MA so no issues with that.) Ended up with a full 32 oz. bottle of thick milky white liquid soap that we will be diluting as needed. Thanks so much for the recipe!

  51. Sue Keida says:

    Hi Karl, I just ran over here from your YouTube video on the castile bar soap- thanks so much!! Can’t wait to look around.
    I’ve been researching soapmaking- I make my own laundry detergent and cleaning supplies and somehow never thought about soap until lately!!
    Sue

    • Karl says:

      Thanks Sue! Glad I can help! Please tell your friends!

      • Sue Keida says:

        I sure will- I really appreciated your clear instructions and the importance of safety using lye- you are the only person who really DEMONSTRATED that by your clothing, goggles, instructions etc.
        I’ve always been reluctant to use it but now I know how to be careful, thanks to you.
        Believe me when I say I’m going cross-eyed researching and you stand out 🙂
        Thanks again!
        Sue

  52. Samantha R. says:

    I myself never have the time to make my own. I have found that the best to get castile soap offline though is at http://www.naturalwayorganics.net. Their soap is very mild and does wonders for my skin.

  53. Monica says:

    Hi!
    Quick question, how long do I have to wait to use the bar soap in your DIY castile soap recipe to make liquid castile soap? I noticed that you suggest to wait up to 6-8 weeks before I use the soap. Should I wait that long to use it to make the liquid version?

    Thanks!

  54. Molly says:

    Luv it!!!!

  55. Sherry says:

    This is the best recipe I’ve found. I ended up using a 6 to 1 ratio for my mix. It was the perfect consistency. This recipe is much better than the ones that call for melting the soap. They tend to be slimy, but this one is not at all slimy. I love it. Thank you so much.

  56. greta says:

    Just wondering why some online use almost a gallon of water per 1 bar of soap…and this is sooo much less water?

  57. Suzanne says:

    Karl, do you know if reverse osmosis water would work in place of distilled water? Thanks!

    • Karl says:

      Suzanne,

      One of the main reasons to use distilled water is to make sure you are using water that has a neutral PH. RO systems are not effective at changing water PH. If the water coming into your house has a PH of 5 (acidic) or 9 (basic) it will not be impacted by your RO system. You want a PH of 7 in the water that you use, with all impurities removed. Distilled water is the only way to achieve this.

      Karl

  58. Emily says:

    I first tried this recipe back in February, and have returned to report my success with it! I just finished off my first pound of lye, making up another half-batch of the bar soap. I use it in a foaming dispenser even further diluted. I have made dish soap using ivory soap and borax, and for the price it works pretty well. I found the “missing link” though when I blended the liquid castile in with that formula. It added the grease-cutting element I’d been missing! I also bring it with me when camping, and it is a great everything soap, from dishes to hands! So glad to know how to make my own soap now, thanks again!

  59. Sandra says:

    This looks great, looking forward to trying it out. Do you know what the shelf-life is? I was also wondering if a preservative is needed seeing as water is being added? I would prefer not to use one but also don’t want the possibility of bacteria growing in it. Thanks

  60. Amy Moffitt says:

    Question: Do I need to wait for my castille soap to cure the 4 weeks before I liquify it?

  61. Gabrielle says:

    Fabulous! I’ve just made some after finding your post, and blogged about it (with a link to your site, of course). Thanks for sharing this method.

  62. Candie says:

    I was wondering if you can do this with the kirks Castile soap. Also, does it have to be distilled water?

    • Karl says:

      People have been having mixed results with the Kirks Castile soap. Read the other comments on this. Yes, I would recommend distilled water.

  63. I just made some Castile soap but it has goats milk it in. Would I be able to use it to make this liquid soap?

    • Karl says:

      Vickie,

      You can always try. My only concern would be how it ages on the shelf. There may be a bacteria problem here. Not sure.

      Karl

  64. Jodi says:

    Can I use this as laundry soap?

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