I will admit it! I can be a health nut from time to time . . .
Wheesht! I'm glad I got that off my chest . . .
But, to be fair, I have had some rather terrifying health issues in the past. Not cancer, but hypothyroidism and a ruptured colon are no joke. Added to that were years of boobs that were too large and weighed heavily on my shoulders and rib cage. (I wrote about my breast reduction here.)
You keep asking questions and posing situations, and I keep thinking of my father: A man whose sink had on it one big bar of durable, good soap. And that bar of soap was used for cleaning, shaving, and brushing his teeth. It worked fine; it was fast; it was economical. He could then get on with his day.
Katherine Hepburn, New York City, 1990, found in James Grissom's book 2014 book Artistic Suicide.
My Healing Journey
It was trying to heal from hypothyroidism, though, that pushed me into learning about all sorts of health issues that are compounded by what we eat, the air we breathe, what is touted as healthy by people who have an agenda to sell food, etc.
One of the things I discovered along the way was that things we put on our skin as well as what we wash with - shampoos, soaps, lotions - all cross the skin barrier and leech into our bodies and our bloodstream. Most of what is available on shelves is full of chemicals, even though our grandparents and ancestors created things from their own garden and the world around them to do the same work of cleaning and moisturizing.
The Health Nut vs the Penny Pincher
I had been using up some older soaps/bathwashes around the house. Yes, I like to be healthy, but I also am a spendthrift. If something is here, and if it is really not going to kill me in the short term, I will use it up first.
But, I ran out of those few products, and so at Walmart this past week I had to buy bath soap.
Boy, did I get a surprise on prices. One bar of Dove was over $3. So was Ivory. (Yes, bar soap will ALWAYS be cheaper than body washes, and they produce less soap scum in showers and bathtubs.)
And then, my eyes lit onto Kirk's Castile Soap. And I remembered I had fallen in love previous to my being a penny-pincher.
And I am a happy girl again!
What is castile soap anyway?
If you are looking for something more all-natural that does not cost an arm, a leg, and your firstborn child, I cannot recommend this soap enough.
So, what is castile soap?
Castile soap originated in the Castile region of Spain hundreds of years ago. Orignally made with olive oil, it now includes a variety of vegatable oils (you have to be careful there, too) but mostly today, it is made with coconut oil.
And yes, all coconut oils are not the same either. But that's a post for another day.
The switch to coconut oil was a cost-effective one, for coconut oil is more readily available and less costly than olive oil. Usually, castile soap is purchased in liquid form, hence Dr. Brommer's Castile Soap which I am a great fan of as well. I use it to make our handwashing soap around the house.
Castile soap is a true soap, meaning that it is made from natural oils and fats with a base such as sodium or potassium hydroxide, or as you have probably heard of - potash. Most of the cleansing bars and soap liquids manufactured today are really detergents, because they are made from ingredients that are non-biodegrable. Castile soaps, because they are naturally derived, are biodegrable. They are also better for your skin and your home.
Those leaching, blood-sucking, everlasting endocrine disruptors . . .
Almost all of the major soap brands, because they are synthetic, are endocrine disruptors.
But what are endocrine disruptors?
Endocrine disruptors are just that - they leech into your body, either through your skin, the air, or digestion, and they interrupt the work of your endocrine system. Your hormones, thyroid function, nervous sytem, brain function and more is operated by your endocrine system.
Unforuntately, endocrine issues can come on gradually, be insidiously hard to uncover, and can take a while to repair. One way to minimize the amount of endocrine damage is to find products for cleaning, especially body cleaning, that have fewer to no endocrine disrupting potential.
Kirk's Castile Soap
Kirk's Castile Soap is made from 100% coconut oil and a few other natural ingredients. It contains no pthlates, sulfates, parabens, glutens, or colorants. It has been around since 1839 and is american made.
It leaves you with a clean, not oily feeling after you shower or bathe or wash your hands. It has a fresh scent without being overwhelming. It lathers, but it doesn't overly lather. Real soap does not produce an enormous amount of suds. We have been conditioned to believe the more suds the better. That is not necessarily the case.
Hypoallergenic? Have sensitive skin? Kirk's Castile Soap - or a similar product with natural ingredients is going to be your best option.
And unlike a lot of more natural or all-natural products that cost that arm, that let, and your firstborn child - Kirk's Castile Soap is actually a cheaper option. I bought a four bar pack for $4.97. That's roughly $1.25 a bar. That's a far better deal than the $3.50 single bar of a name brand soap that has all sorts of made made chemical and endocrine disruptors.
Like I said, I purchased my soap at Walmart, but you can also find their soaps, with some other scents and in a variety of other packaging options, on Amazon and other places.
For more information on Kirk's Castile Soaps, including a list of ingredients and their history, feel free to go to their website here.
For the full text of Hepburn's quote, go here.
Donna Hechler Porter is a real estate agent with Keller Williams Elite Realty in Baytown, Texas. An educator, a published author, and an arm-chair historian, Donna runs a small publishingbusiness in addition to
educating people about how to build future wealth through home ownership. Feel free to contact Donna at dhporter@kw.com.