FAQ
Find answers to some of the common questions we receive here
What makes your Castile Soap different from the other brands? How does it compare?
Regarding liquid Castile Soap, we pride ourselves on having more skin loving oils in our soap than most if not all other Castile Soap brands. Castile Soap has many uses, both for body and non body use. Ours is no exception. Our biggest strong point is in body use. Check our ingredient label, our number 1 oil ingredient, used more abundantly than any other oil ingredient in our formula is Organic Olive Oil.
Olive Oil soap (Potassium Olivate) is incredibly gentle on the skin. Coconut Oil, while by itself is great for your skin, once it has been converted to soap can be drying if it’s not offset by a healthy portion of more skin loving soaps like Olive Oil Soap. Most other brands have Coconut Oil as their number 1 oil ingredient. Why? Because it’s dirt cheap in comparison to oils like Olive Oil. Coconut Oil does still give some great bubbles and powerful cleaning to a Castile Soap formula, so you really cant do without some amount of it in a quality Castile Soap. We feel like we’ve put just enough oils like Olive Oil and Cocoa Butter to make our soap fantastic to use on the body but have also included enough Coconut Oil to help it clean like it should and also make it versatile enough to use for non-body type cleaning.
Regarding bar soap, our bars are triple milled making them super long lasting. Check out our article on what is triple milled soap. Our Castile Bar Soap is really creamy feeling and glides over your body in the shower or when washing your hands. Something that makes our bar soap special is that we add in Organic Olive Oil and Organic Fair Trade Cocoa Butter after the soap is made and blend it all together before pressing the bars. You are literally rubbing your body down with Cocoa Butter and Olive Oil while you are washing.
When it comes to soap, we don’t pretend to have the only good product on the market. There are a lot of great soaps out there and one of the great things about soap making is that there are so many different possibilities, combinations, scents, colors, etc. It’s an art and a science.
There are some great other Castile Soap brands out there too. We just like we’re offering something that many are not and are giving consumers another choice to suit their particular preference.
Do your Products contain Gluten?
No. Neither our liquid soaps or our bar soaps contain gluten.
Do your products contain soy?
No. Tocopherol (Vitamin E) can be a source of soy, however, our Tocopherol is Sunflower Oil based.
Do your products contain corn?
We use citric acid in our soap and it is made from either Non-GMO Tapioca or Non-GMO corn depending on availability.
Are your soaps vegan?
Yes
What is the shelf life of your soap?
24 months is the expected shelf life after opening our soaps. Keeping the cap closed after opening will help prevent evaporation of the water content. You want to avoid this as it only takes a little water evaporation to lead to a clogged cap orifice. Keeping the soap out of direct sunlight will also help retain it’s color.
Generally speaking, it is a good idea to use your soap within 3 years of purchase.
Do your bottles contain BPA?
No. BPA is not used in PETE or HDPE. As of late 2017, we are only using PET/E and HDPE plastics in our bottles.
Is it ok to mix your liquid Castile Soaps?
Yes! And, please do share with us your favorite combinations!
Is your castile soap concentrated?
Yes, our liquid Castile Soaps are concentrated. And, while we’re at it, let’s talk about Castile Soap viscosity. We cannot attest to the concentration of other brands of Castile Soap. However, a common theme across brands is that Castile Soap is on the thin side of what most people are used to. People have become accustomed to the gel-like soaps, many of which are not “true soap”. Regardless, Castile Soap is thin. Many of the high coconut oil Castile Soaps which tend to be more drying than ours, will appear even thinner than our soap. We choose not to add thickeners to our soap as they do not make the soap any more concentrated, in fact they would make the soap less concentrated as we would then have an additional, non-soap ingredient. Soap thickeners also tend to make the soap less sudsy. We don’t feel that a soap thickener should be put on your skin if possible.
Should your soap be diluted? If so, how much?
It depends on what you are using it for but the answer is almost always, yes! We’ve outlined some of the most common uses and some dilution guidelines here.
Do your soaps contain Palm Oil or Palm based products?
Our liquid soaps do not contain Palm. Our bar soap does contain certified organic, RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) Palm Oil.
You can read on our Castile Bar Soap page about our contributions to the Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit network of farmers, foresters, communities, scientists, governments, environmentalists, and businesses dedicated to conserving biodiversity and ensuring sustainable livelihoods.
Do you sell wholesale to retailers?
Please see our Wholesale Castile Soap page about purchasing wholesale Castile Soap from us.
Can I add essential oils to your soap? If so, how much?
Many of our customers do this. They will purchase our Gentle Unscented Castile Soap and add their preferred oils. We suggest adding 1-3 oz of essential oils per gallon of soap. Please be sure you are using skin safe essential oils. Also, note, that, depending on the particular essential oil and the quality of that oil, certain essential oils can cause the soap to turn cloudy or may not stay in solution after adding it. Some oils will settle back to the top.
Can I use your soaps on my dog?
Yes! We, as well as many of our customers have been safely using our soaps on our dogs for years. We even have several pet groomers that use our soap in their practice.
Are your soaps safe for use on babies?
Yes. The son of Carolina Castile Soap’s founder has used our soap since the day he came home from the birth center. He’s now five. Warning: Our soaps are NOT tear-free! Do not get our soap in anyones eyes.
Where are your soaps made?
Our liquid soaps are made in the United States of America. Recently, we switched our bar soap to being made in England due to supply chain issues here in the United States.
How can I order your soap and have it delivered to a country outside of the United States?
We do not ship individual orders internationally from the United States. However, we do sell our soaps with limited availability on Amazon Australia. For those in other countries, the best option we can offer is to visit our store on Amazon to see if Amazon will offer international shipping to your country. We are not selling our soaps anywhere in the European Union at this time.
What does Oregon Tilth Cerfitied Organic Mean?
See our blog about our liquid soaps being certified organic by oregon tilth.
Is the fragrance used in your Tobacco Vanilla soap “all natural”?
Our Tobacco Vanilla fragrance contains a proprietary blend of various natural ingredients including components of clove, cinnamon, citrus, geranium, and vanilla, although, not ALL the ingredients of the fragrance qualify as “natural”. For this reason, we do not list the fragrance as “natural fragrance” and we also do not use the Oregon Tilth Certified Organic logo on that particular product. It still contains the same, certified organic soap base as our other liquid soaps. We hope you’ll give the Tobacco Vanilla Castile Soap a try.