Dr. Bronner's Magic Pure Castile Liquid Soap Bodywash - Peppermint - 16 fl oz: Vegan, Paraben-Free, Whole Body, Normal Skin

A: Hi, thank you for taking the time to reach out to Dr. Bronner's. I’m very sorry to hear that you have experienced discomfort after using our Peppermint soap, as I can assure you that this is not common! I hope that you are feeling better and truly apologize for any stress or inconvenience this may have caused you. I’m happy to confirm that our products have been tested and deemed safe in toxicological assessments, below the safety limits suggested by the governing authorities. However, please note that all fragrance oils are composed of constituents that may cause skin irritation for some, particularly in sensitive areas. For this reason, we recommend our unscented products for those who may have skin sensitivities as it is free from any essential oils that may contain skin allergens. For now, I encourage you to discontinue the use of your product to be safe. Unfortunately, because we are all so different, we’re unable to be sure what could be causing this. If you’re aware of any possible sensitivities to specific ingredients, we can gladly confirm if these are found in our product. We take the quality of our products very seriously and would be more than happy to inspect the specific product batch you have purchased. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly so that we can better assist you. Should you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to let us know.

A: It is usually in the Health & Beauty section in the natural beauty products aisle. It's usually found on the bottom shelf close to the ground. Good luck!

A: In the soap section.

A: Hi, thank you for reaching out to us at. Dr. Bronner's! Although we do not yet have a gluten-free certification for our personal care products, all our products—Castile Soaps, Lip and Magic Balms, Lotions, Sugar Soaps and Shaving Soaps, Hair Rinse, Hair Crème, Toothpaste, Hand Sanitizer, and Coconut Oils are not made with ingredients derived from grains containing gluten, and we do not process gluten in our factory. When dealing with health concerns or specific dietary needs, we always recommend consulting with your dermatologist or physician to ensure the product is appropriate for you. Please feel free to reach back out if you need any further assistance or have more questions about our products!

A: Hi, thank you for reaching out to us! You can shampoo with the Castile Soaps, although we do not recommend using them with color-treated hair. There is no need to dilute even if you are using our Pure-Castile Liquid Soap. Just start with a dime-sized amount in your palm and lather it into your hair. The water present in the shower is enough to dilute the applied soap. However, it is important to pair the soap with an acidic conditioning rinse, such as Dr. Bronner’s own Citrus Organic Hair Rinse. Our soaps clean hair very well, but without the acidic rinse, they can leave a tangly look and feel. So, use our conditioning Hair Rinse to smooth your hair and give it a silky after-feel. To learn more about shampooing with our soaps, please read this definitive guide on Lisa Bronner’s blog Going Green with Lisa Bronner (https://www.drbronner.com/all-one-blog/2017/03/definitive-guide-washing-hair-dr-bronners/) Here are the instructions from our website: • Important: Rinsing with our Citrus Organic Hair Rinse results in spectacular look and feel! Just stir 1–2 capfuls of this rinse into a cup of water, close eyes, and slowly pour while massaging into hair. Keep hand combing hair until hair feels entirely sleek (~30 seconds). Rinse out well. Repeat if necessary in extra hard-water conditions or with longer hair. • Optional: After drying lightly with a towel, massage in Dr. Bronner’s Organic Hair Creme for added silkiness and softness. Should you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to reach out directly to us!

A: Hi, Thank you for reaching out to Dr. Bronner's! Soap that is labeled “antibacterial” means that active antimicrobial ingredients have been added to it. At this time, none of our soaps or cleaning products contain these specific ingredients; therefore, we do not label them as “antibacterial.” However, the US Food and Drug Administration published a report indicating that soap and water are just as effective at mechanically removing microbes as antibacterial soap is at killing microbes. Also, keep in mind that antibacterial soap can also kill good microbes along with the bad, often containing known toxins such as triclosan. For these reasons, we believe our soap is safer and more effective than an antibacterial agent, even though it is not labeled as such. For more information on this topic, we encourage you to check out Lisa Bronner’s blog post Ditch the Antibacterial: Soap Is All You Need (https://www.lisabronner.com/ditch-the-antibacterial-soap-is-all-you-need/). Should you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly!

A: Thank you for reaching out to Dr. Bronner's! Although it is safe to use our Castile soaps to make an insecticidal spray for plants, and trees, we have not tried to use our soap to make a rodent repellent. Below we have included the link to the Lisa Bronner Blog, where you can find more helpful tips and dilutions for an insecticidal spray: http://www.lisabronner.com/spraying-for-garden-pests/ Also, bugs do not like Peppermint or cayenne pepper, so we recommend using our Peppermint Castile soap, and adding some cayenne pepper to your dilution. In general a combination of Peppermint and cayenne are not appealing to different animals, so perhaps it can help them not get so close. Should you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

A: Thank you for contacting Dr. Bronner's! While our soaps clean dishes very well, we do not recommend using our soap in the dishwasher and currently do not offer a soap specifically for use in the dishwasher. Our soaps are great cleaners for almost any household purpose, with the only notable exception being that they should not be used in the dishwasher unless you’d like to have a bubble party on your kitchen floor! Some customers say that our soaps have worked in their dishwashers, but we simply can’t recommend them as they suds too much. Even though there are no foaming agents, added for the sole purpose of creating more foam, the fact that our soaps are highly concentrated makes them high foaming. Our soaps do a great job of cleaning the dishes, but they could cause damage to your dishwasher because it gets overfilled with suds. If you do decide to try it, we suggest using a tiny amount of soap. To handwash your dishes with either our Pure-Castile Liquid Soap or Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner, we recommend a couple of methods. The first is to fill your sink with water and add either 1-2 Tbsp. (15-30 mL) of our soap or 1/2 – 1 1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) of Sal Suds. If you prefer to use a dispenser, we recommend only using a foaming pump dispenser. Our Pure-Castile Soaps are quite concentrated and inevitably, the regular pumps always clog. For use in a foaming pump, dilute either ¼ cup Tbsp. (60 mL) of soap or 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) of Sal Suds into an 8oz container of water. You are aiming for a 1:3 ratio for the soap and a 1:15 ratio for our Sal Suds. The last way we recommend is to make an all-purpose spray cleaner by combining ¼ c. (60 mL) of soap or 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) Sal Suds with 1 qt. (1 L) water or in a spray bottle. Then all you need to do is spray the dirty dishes down and scrub them. You can find a full breakdown of how to make an all-purpose spray also of Lisa Bronner's blog, Going Green with Lisa Bronner. (https://www.lisabronner.com/giy-all-purpose-cleaning-spray/) When diluting our soaps, please keep in mind that we only recommend diluting a portion that will be used up within 2 weeks to a month. We do not add any harsh preservatives to our products, so once diluted, they will not last longer than 1 month. Using distilled water will be more helpful since hard water can cause separation within our Castile Soap. Lastly, if you have hard water, it is possible to encounter some mineral build-up when using our Pure-Castile Soap. The interaction of hard water, and even soft water, with any true soap (not synthetic detergent-based soaps), can leave behind a thin film of minerals that appears as residue or “soap scum.” Hard water contains dissolved minerals in the form of calcium and magnesium. All true soaps, such as castile soap, will react with these minerals to form insoluble stearates, which are visible as a whitish precipitate. This whitish precipitate builds up primarily on surfaces where water is left to dry, such as in sinks and showers. It is typically not an issue on floors, counters, or other hard surfaces where the castile soap is diluted for cleaning and standing water is mopped or wiped up. You can easily dissolve residue left from our soap with vinegar by diluting one cup (240 mL) of vinegar in a quart (1 L) of water and spraying it on the affected surfaces. Let it sit for about 5 minutes (not long enough for it to dry), and then rinse it away with very hot water. Should you have any future questions, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

A: While both our Pure-Castile Liquid Soap and Sal Suds Biodegradable Cleaner can work very well to clean leather car interiors, it is important to reach out to the manufacturer in the case that there is a special cleaner for this surface. Rest assured that if the finish manufacturer calls for a mild cleaner, both all-purpose sprays fit the bill. If you have a surface that is unusual, spot-testing is always a good idea. While Castile Soap is a great cleaner, Sal Suds is great for spot-treating carpets and for cleaning leather and microfiber furniture. It’s also great on cars and for degreasing engines. Depending on what you have on hand, either the Sal Suds All-Purpose Spray (1 Tbsp. in a quart of water) or the Castile All-Purpose Spray (¼ c. in a quart of water) will do a quick clean. If the leather needs to be nourished, you may want to consider a leather polish made from ⅓ c. vinegar with ⅔ c. olive oil and ½ tsp. pure essential lemon oil. Shake this up and rub it on with a soft rag. We do want to mention that if you are using our Pure-Castile Soap and have hard water, it is possible to encounter some mineral build-up. Rest assured that this is completely normal as the interaction of hard water, and even soft water, with any true soap (not synthetic detergent-based soaps), can leave behind a thin film of minerals that appears as residue or “soap scum. Please note that our products are not specifically formulated for interior car cleaning, and we have not tested them for all types of fabrics, including vegan leather. Our Organic Hand and Body Lotion, Organic Hair Crème, and Organic Hand Sanitizer are the only products we currently manufacture that contain alcohol as an ingredient. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

A: Hi Emily, Thanks for reaching out! We use citric acid in almost all products as a pH adjuster. Our All-One Toothpaste also uses it as a chelating agent to solubilize any mineral elements, making the product more stable. Our soaps use it to neutralize any unreacted hydroxide that’s left over from the saponification reaction (soap-making process). Each batch of soap is carefully tested to see how much alkali remains, and then just enough citric acid is added to catch that alkali. The citric acid reacts so quickly with the hydroxide that it completely bypasses the soap molecules.

A: Hi Judy, While our soaps have been used around the garden area, we unfortunately cannot guarantee that they will get rid of Japanese Beetles. To read more about how to use this product around your garden, we invite you to visit the Lisa Bronner Blog, and check out the article "Castile Soap Spray for Garden Pests" https://www.lisabronner.com/castile-soap-spray-for-garden-pests/