Should I dilute the Pure-Castile Bar Soap?Updated a year ago

While you can dilute our Pure-Castile Bar Soap, this is not necessary for all uses and mostly comes down to preference. Some may prefer just lathering the bar between their hands for handwashing, and others may prefer to make a dilution and use it in a foaming pump.

Keep in mind, our soap is 2 - 3 times more concentrated than most soaps on the market; therefore, less is definitely more. 

Additionally, if you are diluting our Pure-Castile Soap, we recommend only diluting a portion that will be used up within 2 weeks to a month. We do not add any harsh preservatives to our products that will allow them to last longer than 1 month after being diluted. We also recommend using distilled water for the best results as hard water can cause natural soap separation.

Lastly, it's important to note that our Castile Soap does not work well with pump dispensers. We have tested a variety of pumps and dilutions over the years with little success. Inevitably, the very concentrated soap clogs the pump. We recommend keeping the soap in its original form and just lathering it between your hands for each handwashing. 

However, our Castile Soap does work well in foaming dispensers. Foaming dispensers “thicken” the soap with water and air. If you decide to use a foaming dispenser, we encourage making a soap creme first and using a dilution ratio of 1 part soap to 1 part water. This dilution doesn’t create the issues with clogging that undiluted soap would.

For an extensive guide on recipes and applications for our products, we highly recommend checking out Lisa Bronner's blog, Going Green with Lisa Bronner. There you can find Lisa's incredibly handy dilution cheat sheets.