Thread: Shaving with Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap

I read somewhere that Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap has 18+ uses, including toothpaste and shaving cream. Well, I happen to have a bottle of the biodegradable hand soap in my camping supplies. I’ll skip the toothpaste option (soap in the mouth just doesn’t sound appealing), but I gave Dr. B a try this morning to shave with. It worked OK, I suppose – managed to complete the entire shave with just Dr. Bronner’s. However, I don’t recommend it as a daily option. But it’s nice to know that it works as a backup if I ever run out of the good stuff. Or if I'm slaying whiskers campside out in the wild somewhere.

(Note that I am referring to their standard liquid soap, not their dedicated shave gel)

Did you lather it with a brush? How was the lather?

Michael

I used a brush. I think it would be very hard going with this soap without a brush. The lather wasn't very good - just good enough to get the job done.

the toothpaste use is not as bad as you would imagine, at least for the peppermint variety.

Originally Posted by griff199

the toothpaste use is not as bad as you would imagine, at least for the peppermint variety.

Just be sure to use about 1/2 a drop!! Just enough to look a little white on your brush. More than that, it gets really soapy Dr. B's was my all purpose cleaner on climbing trips. It took only once to cut way back on the amount.

I never shaved on those trips, so I never tried it for shaving.

I've been using Doc Bronner's liquid soap (mainly peppermint) as a component of homemade tooth paste for 10+ years. I mix baking soda with water in a glass jar to form a stiff paste and then add a small amount of the soap to make for foaming action. Far far superior to manufactured tooth pastes IMO. My dentist approves. My wife uses the same. Just dip your toothbrush in the paste and you're good to go.

ChrisL

With the 'Dr', do you use the liquid or the bar??

Curiosity got the best of me and I tried brushing my teeth with Dr. Bronner’s (and with the baking soda/soap mix). Surprisingly, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected. I didn’t care that much for the baking soda/soap mix, but the straight up soap wasn’t that much different from using regular toothpaste. The trick, it seems, is to use only a drop of soap (literally, one liquid drop). I tried both the almond scent and the peppermint scent – the peppermint worked better for brushing teeth in my opinion. You don’t get the same minty fresh feeling you do when you use commercial toothpaste, but Dr. B’s soap is certainly a viable option if one was so inclined.

And if I become brave enough, I just might scrap the toothpaste for my next backpacking trip and use the soap instead. We’ll see.