Liquid Castile Soap Recipe

We started using Dr. Bronner's about 14 years ago.  We used to have it special ordered into the Vitamin Shoppe by the gallon, and then we'd pick it up.  It's good stuff, but of course it's not easy on the piggy bank:)  About a year ago, after one year of resisiting, I caved and opened up a Pinterest account.  I now have almost 5000 Pinterest stalkers, which doesn't say a whole lot about my habits:)  The good news is, I've cut WAY back on my e-life time....and it's been a beautiful thing:)  Anyway, I digress.....I found some liquid castile soap recipes on Pinterest, played with them, and tweaked, to find my perfect formula:)  We use this as body wash and liquid hand soap....and it's perfect!!

**note: you'll want to save a few smaller, sturdy containers, such as your Dr. Bronner's, for refills.  You'll also probably need two gallon size plastic containers for the bulk soap.  (I just washed out plastic orange juice containers...since they are under our sinks, they don't have to be pretty:)***

and....here's the recipe!

--4 cups (about 3 bars) of shaved castile soap bars (I use Kirk's brand, that I just find at Target or Walmart; Dr. Bronner's also offers castile soap in bars as well). 

--16 cups of water (I use reverse osmosis water)

--8 tbsp of  liquid glycerin (I had trouble finding this in my small-townish neck of the woods, so I ordered this off amazon

--essential oils, optional

Bring your water to a boil and slowly add glycerin, and soap shavings.  The soap shavings wil probably clump together, no matter how slowly you add them.  Stir (I use a silicone spoon, so nothing sticks), and heat until the ingredients are completely dissolived.

Let cool on stove top.  It may start out watery, but will gel up as it cools.  Transfer to large and smaller containers as desired.

***I use essential oils in mine....lavender is my favorite to use, or sometimes peppermint oil.  I add the desired amount of drops to the smaller containers and not in the big batch, because I love the smell:)***

***Your liquid castile soap will gel up in the smaller containers over time.  This is a beautiful thing, as you just thin it out with warm water, shake it up to mix, and you wouldn't believe how long you can stretch one batch of soap!***

***Liquid castile soap is great for cleaning too***

Enjoy your home-made soap, and the unbelieveable cost savings!  (We used to spend $45 for a gallon of this, now we spend about $5 for 1.5 gallons!)