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You can use Dr. Bronner's soaps for washing your face, body, hands and hair, for bathing, shaving, brushing your teeth, rinsing fruit, aromatherapy, washing dishes by hand, doing laundry, mopping floors, all-purpose cleaning, washing windows, scrubbing toilets, washing dogs, controlling dust mites, and killing ants and aphids. Now, that's eighteen uses right there, but customers have told us over time about many more uses they have found for our soaps. Let us know what else you use our soaps for!

To get you started with recipes and dilutions, check out Lisa Bronner's "Liquid Soaps Dilutions Cheat Sheet."

In earlier centuries, an all-vegetable-based soap was made in the Castile region of Spain from local olive oil. By the turn of this century, "Castile" had come to mean any vegetable oil-based soap, as distinct from animal (tallow) fat-based soap. "Pure-Castile" is now also your guarantee that what you are using is a genuinely ecological and simple soap - not a complex blend of detergents with higher ecological impact and slower biodegradability. Unfortunately, many synthetic detergent blends are deceptively labelled as "liquid soap" despite the fact that they contain absolutely no real soap whatsoever.

Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Liquid and Bar Soaps are both completely vegetable oil-based. The difference between the liquid and bar soaps is that the liquid soaps use potassium hydroxide to saponify the vegetable oils, while the hard bar soaps use sodium hydroxide instead.

To learn more about the difference between our liquid and bar soaps, check out Lisa Bronner's related blog post.

In general, we recommend using Dr. Bronner's body care products within three years of purchase. Soaps are self-preserving, but because our products are biodegradable, it's best to not leave them on the shelf for too long, as they may start to lose strength.

To find out when our personal care products were manufactured, you can consult the "lot code", a number that appears printed or etched on the packaging, typically just below the label. The first digit refers to the year (i.e., "2" is 2012, "3" is 2013, etc.), while the next three digits refer to the Julian Date (i.e., the day of the year out of 365 total days). So if the first four digits of a lot code are "3165", the product was manufactured in 2013 on the 165th day of the year (June 14th).

Due to space limitations, we use a different system to code our Organic Lip Balms, so if you have a question about the expiration date for a lip balm, please contact our Customer Service Department directly.

Yes, absolutely, and many people do! However, it is important to pair the soap with an acidic conditioning rinse like our Organic Citrus Conditioning Hair Rinse.

Our soaps clean hair very well, but they can leave a tangly look and feel. Our conditioning rinse tamps down the cuticles in your hair and leaves it smooth and silky.

To learn more about shampooing with our soaps, check out Lisa Bronner's related blog post.

Although our product lines are otherwise vegan, our lip balms are made using certified organic beeswax. We have not yet been able to find a certified organic plant-based wax, and Sue Kastensen, the creator of our balms, has not found a plant-based substitute for the amazing qualities of natural beeswax. Based on her experience, and her extensive training and mentoring under the Native American herbalist Keewaydinoquay, Sue formulated her original lip balms with just avocado oil and beeswax, because beeswax has natural antibacterial and sunblock qualities and provides a superior barrier to keep moisture in.

As our company continues to grow, we are able to partner with more and more organic & fair trade projects around the world, supporting organic farming practices, fair wages, and economic development. Adding organic & fair trade palm kernel oil to our soaps allows us to support the good work being done by Natural Habitats in Ecuador, where small-scale farmers grow oil palms sustainably and receive a fair price for their palm fruits. Because the fatty acid profile of coconut and palm kernel oils are so similar, they can be used interchangeably in soapmaking, where they produce an identical rich and copious lather.

No rainforest habitat or wildlife is harmed in the production of their palm kernel oil, and Natural Habitats is certified under IMO's "Fair for Life" program, the most rigorous fair trade and sustainable certification in the world, and the same program that certifies Dr. Bronner's existing fair trade coconut and palm oil sister companies, Serendipol and Serendipalm.

Some Dr. Bronner's customers have been concerned that the palm, palm kernel and coconut oils we use in our soaps may come from plantations that were established on recently-cleared tropical forestland or from operations that otherwise contribute to environmental destruction. But rest assured, we purchase from growers who are all certified organic - no agrochemicals (chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides) are used, and soil fertility is replenished naturally using compost, manure and mulching with crop residues. And unlike palm oil grown on huge plantations like those in Indonesia, the production of our oils does not contribute to deforestation.

Our palm oil comes from about 2,500 acres of smallholdings in Ghana that were established decades ago, and our palm kernel oil comes from sustainable small farmers in Ecuador. We support growers in improving palm fruit yields by getting more oil out of the same area of land. Our coconut oil comes from about 500 small to mid-size farms in Sri Lanka, most of which have been in the owner's family for generations. We encourage our growers to intercrop with other beneficial species and supply organic fertilizer at subsidized prices. This improves the soil fertility, yields, and profitability of small farms, allowing them to compete with larger plantations.

To learn more, see our Our Suppliers page.

Dr. Bronner's soaps are exceptionally mild and safe for babies, however they are not tear-free so it's important to be very careful that the soap does not get in your baby's eyes.

For babies, we especially recommend our Unscented Baby-Mild line, as their skin can be sensitive to the essential oils in our scented soaps.

Yes! Dr. Bronner's soaps are wonderful for washing pets, especially dogs - see Lisa Bronner's demonstration. For cats, you have to be a little more careful. Many essential oils can be toxic to cats, especially tea tree, lavender, and peppermint oils. So for cats, as for babies, best to use one of our Unscented Baby-Mild varieties.

Absolutely not. Dr. Bronner's soaps are 100% true pure-castile soaps. The high-foaming lather comes from their high coconut oil content, which creates a more luxurious and richer lather than any detergent could ever produce. "Pure-Castile" is your guarantee that what you're using is a genuinely ecological and simple soap - not a complex blend of detergents with a higher environmental impact due to the waste stream created during manufacturing and the detergents slower biodegradability. Unfortunately, many synthetic detergent blends are deceptively labelled as "Liquid Soap" even though they contain no real soap whatsoever.

In general, Dr. Bronner's products are gluten-free, and do not contain soy, nuts, or any other common allergens. However, there are a few exceptions:

Our Lotions contain xanthan gum derived from non-GMO corn.

Our Castile Liquid Soaps, Castile Bar Soaps and Pump Soaps contain citric acid derived from tapioca. If you are having an allergic reaction, it's possible that you're sensitive to one of the essential oils in our products, like peppermint oil or lavender oil. If you have sensitive skin we recommend using our Unscented Baby-Mild varieties.

Our Toothpaste contains glycerin derived from organic soybean oil.

Our coconut oils are produced and bottled in nut-free facilities with equipment used exclusively for our coconut oils. Coconut is not a botanical nut; it is classified as a fruit, even though the Food and Drug Administration recognizes coconut as a tree nut. While allergic reactions to coconut have been documented, most people who are allergic to tree nuts can safely eat coconut. If you are allergic to tree nuts, talk to your allergist before adding coconut to your diet.

It's not common (most experience a "tingly cool" feeling from the menthol) but some people have told us they feel a burning sensation, especially over sensitive areas. Unfortunately, there isn't much to be done in this case and our only recommendation is to switch to one of our other scents.

Experiencing cloudy soap is completely normal. Our Pure-Castile Liquid Soaps turn cloudy white when exposed to colder temperatures. Some varieties of our Pure-Castile Soap will even turn cloudy faster than others as every essential oil has unique chemical and physical properties.

Previously opened bottles may also turn cloudy more readily. This is because once our soaps are opened, they can begin to lose their water content. The more the soap's water content has evaporated, the more susceptible the soap becomes to turning cloudy when the temperature drops.

To regain the clarity of the product, you can reheat the bottle gently in a sink or bowl of warm to hot water, not boiling. Rest assured that this will not affect the quality or efficacy of the soap.

Our soaps and balms contain essential oils in amounts of 2% or less, so it's unlikely that significant amounts of essential oils would enter your body. In addition, none of the essential oils in our products are ones you are advised to avoid during pregnancy. See a site like

Our Pure-Castile Liquid Soaps are readily biodegradable (safe to go back into the earth or be processed by a water treatment facility) which is different than aquatic toxicity (safe for fish). We do not recommend washing directly in the ocean or body of water. Instead, we recommend using our products to wash boats on land or 200 feet away from a body of water.

In January 2025 we migrated our website to a new platform and in doing so were not able to migrate order history. If your order was placed before January 2025, your order history cannot be viewed in your customer account. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.

We ship to counties in the mainland of the United Kingdom and the Isle of Wight. We do not ship internationally. If you do not reside in the UK and would like to purchase our products please visit https://www.drbronner.com/wholesale/international/ where you can view all Dr. Bronner's international distributors and online stores.

Shipping costs vary depending on the chosen service at checkout, with prices starting from �4.50. For orders over �50, we offer free shipping.