Question for Dr. Bronners Soap Users?

[Gingerella72]

I bought a travel size bottle of the lavender Dr. Bronners liquid soap to test drive it and have kept it by my kitchen sink for hand washing. I'm addicted to the scent and find it lathers well enough for hand washing to appease my must-have-suds-to-clean ideologue.

I know the suds thing is something we've been brainwashed about so I'm trying to reprogram myself. With that said, I thought I'd try washing my dishes with some, since that is one of the purported uses (hand wash, not dishwasher). I put in about 1 tablespoon and filled the sink 1/3 full with hot water. I used my sprayer hose to break up the soap to make it lather, but I got no suds whatsoever. None. The water turned a cloudy white and I proceeded to wash my dishes sans suds, which was rather disconcerting I have to admit.

I looked up other opinions online and found many people saying that they love the fact that Dr. Bronners lathers so well! I was thinking, huh?

So my question after so much rambling: does it matter if you have soft water or not? We have hard water, but never have any problems with conventional soaps lathering. I'm assuming these other folks lovin' the lather had soft water?

I'd like to also use it in the shower but with no lather.....ack!

[Gardenarian]

I put the soap directly on the sponge, rather than in the dishwasher.
For hand washing, I have a self foaming dispenser. I love it!

[Dhiana]

I've used Dr. Bronner's for 20 years and love it! The Peppermint kind wakes me up in my morning shower :) It doesn't lather a lot on my skin (I don't use a washcloth or sponge) but plenty for me to be clean and use it to shave my legs.
It does not work well as a shampoo for me.

The only time I've ever used it to wash dishes by hand is if I'm out camping or completely run out of regular dish soap. That milky dishwater is just not right to me either.

The label used to say to douche w/it as a contraceptive =0

[herbgeek]

I don't use it for dishes, but I do use it for body cleaning. I mix it half and half with almond oil for a facial soap. Yes, oil. It seems counterintuitive to add oil to clean skin, but it works really well and my skin doesn't need as much moisturizing afterwards. I started doing this with my shower gel too- I usually would get a flaky dry rash in the winter with the low humidity, but not this year.

[Poco Pelo]

no it's not the hard water, if you put a little more you would have suds. >8)

[Mrs-M]

This is a great thread, because nearly every time I'm out shopping I run across something or another from Dr. Bronner's, yet so far I haven't been brave enough to give it a whirl.

[pony mom]

I love the peppermint too. I use it as a shower gel but to get suds I have to use one of those meshy poofy puff things. I also dilute it with water to make a bottle last longer. The peppermint scent is so addictive that I find myself sniffing my forearms during the day for a minty fix.

They also make another product called Sal's Suds, which I'm assuming is used more for household cleaning than personal use. Maybe that one lathers more than the soaps.

[Gingerella72]

no it's not the hard water, if you put a little more you would have suds. >8)

One tablespoon isn't enough? Holy cow. If I need to use more just for suds then no thanks. I want to be environmentally responsible but at the same time can't afford to blow a hole in my budget just for soap. I typically only use a teaspoon of conventional dish soap to wash a sink full of dishes (with suds).

[Anne Lee]

When soap has phosphorous in it, it really did help attract food and dirt as phosphorous is a very sticky molecule. Anymore, soap is mostly for breaking up grease. Do your dishes look clean and feel clean after you wash them?