Ok.. I don't want to admit this....

[Victorian]

But, I really don't like Dr. Bronner's soaps. I wash grocery shopping and was amazed to find it in the organic isles... I bought the small lavender to take home and try. I hate it.

I've tried using it different ways, with washcloths, poufs, just my hands, and in the bath AND shower...

I hate it. I know this is blasphemy to say.. but I hate Dr Bronner's Soaps.

Has anyone known of anything else that is safe to use out on the playa?
Or do all natural, organic based soaps work ok? I've heard conflicting opinions about this...

Please and tanks..

Kate<3

[Plumeria]

What don't you like about it?

[Victorian]

It has that glycerin feel like a bar of soap does, stripping your skin of all the natural oils.. I don't care for the consistency at all, and my skins way too dry afterward...

I'm already living in the Arizona desert, so most of my skin products are very, very moisturizing.. and lotion doesn't help because of the residue like feel on your skin after using this soap...

[girl Mark]

My favorite soap right now is Trader Joe's shea butter soap. I wish it was scent-free, but the lather is out of this world, and rather moisturizing. I'm guessing that other shea butter soaps are similar.

There's nothing wrong with using a regular bar soap on the playa- you're not going to put dirty greywater on the ground anyway so whatever you use, natural, detergent, whatever, is all going into the landfill with whatever your greywater residue is at the end of the event, you're not trying to get it to biodegrade. If you're worried aobut soap drying your skin too much, look for a moisturizing soap, which Bronner's isn't.

I'm actually trying to get it together to make my own soap right now after being frustrated with my scent-free options. I wish I had a hunk of shea butter to start with= I actually had one for a while that someone had brought back from Africa and I eventually threw it out last year. Sigh...

[fciron]

I don't understand the obsession w/ dr. B either.

Hell, if you already live in the desert then you already have a pretty good idea of what soap you need.

My .02

[ygmir]

I wash with diesel

[ibdave]

I wash with diesel

You wash with Vin Diesel???

[illy dilly]

Ok, I'm glad I'm not the only who didn't get it. I understand bacon, its delicious, it smells great (invites neighbors), its full of protein, and its easy to cook.

ygmir you know gasoline will kill the crabs too?

[ygmir]

I wash with diesel

You wash with Vin Diesel???

did I say "Vin", IBD?........no, no, that's your fantasy........."no hands"........


I've heard that, Illy Dilly........but, the diesel is a solvent, moisturizer, and flea repellent, as well as helps with poison oak oil removal...........

how could it be any better?

Gasoline has no lubricant...........

[Ranger Genius]

Incidentally, if by "safe to use" you mean safe to dump the greywater on the playa, there are none. including Dr. Bronners. Any water you've soaped up has to be collected and evaporated or hauled off.

[C.f.M.]

Ha ha ha ha...that was a little anti-climactic (you don't like Dr. B).

None of the water you use will be touching the sacred playa. All of the water you use will be packed out with you, since you packed it in.

Use whatever you want.

As far as Dr. B, I use it mainly because it's cheap and follows my KISS beauty care rule. Plus, I don't have issues with dry skin.

Many use it as the base for making their own soaps/shampoos, so theoretically you could make it do/smell as you please (by adding oils and such).

[Fire_Moose]

I wash with diesel

I use Kerosene since it's ok to let that drip onto the playa

[ConnieH]

I don't like Dr. Bronner's either, I tried washing dishes with it once because someone said it made a good natural camp soap (somewhere other than the playa, of course), it was awful, all the dishes had a slightly sticky film on them - gross. Tried it on my hair once, too...double gross. Still have the little bottle I bought 6 years ago, maybe it'd be good for handwashing, but I don't have the love affair with it that others do, either.

[Captain Goddammit]

I am curious about what you mean by safe to use on the playa.
Dr. Bronners is what hippies bathe with. That about covers that subject.

[Ugly Dougly]

For the All-In-One Dr. Bronner wisdom:
http://iconocla.st/dr.bronner/

[C.f.M.]

I am curious about what you mean by safe to use on the playa.
Dr. Bronners is what hippies bathe with. That about covers that subject.

Dr. B's is touted as being "biodegradeable," and safe for lakes, rivers, etc., human consumption and so on.

Can be good for those with sensitive skin, due to it's lack of chemicals - and the peppermint? Well...it can get "fresh" depending on where applied.

But, since Miz Victorian will carefully ensure not a DROP of her moop touches the playa, or remains there after her departure, it isn't a big deal @ Burning Man.

ETA:

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[Victorian]

Thank you all...

CFM. I Freaking love you.. seriously.

But what I meant, is some people have been saying here and there, that it's still not safe to use other soaps incase some spills? Didn't make sense to me either.. but yes, I want to be as moop free as possible.

[C.f.M.]

I want to be as moop free as possible.

So don't bathe. Or use any dishes, or anything else requiring soap and water.

[Ugly Dougly]

Since you're not leaving any trace of your passing upon the desert, it doesn't matter that you wash with Dr. Bronner's or Kickapoo Joy Juice. Except that we all live downstream.

[phil]

> incase some spills?

There used to be a BLM ranger at Winnemucca named Bilbo, if I recall his name right. He was very interested in the playa and wrote very interesting several articles about it. They were posted for awhile on the Winnemucca site of the BLM, but they've been taken down or amended. He's been transferred as part of the normal process of being a government employee in the BLM.

In one of his articles, he mentions gray water. There's no standard definition of gray water; different organizations define it to meet their particular agendas. The BLM defined it for Burning Man 2 or 3 years ago for the first time.

Bilbo's article on gray water says it makes no difference on the playa since nothing in the gray water makes it to any potable water that is consumed. My hazy recollection is that there is no water table at all under the playa. The reason for prohibiting gray water disposal is that gray water contains bacteria and other life forms what will reach potable water and contaminate it. Dishwater, for example, is often included in the definition not because of the soap or other detergent, but because it contains food particles washed off the dishes. These food particles, as we all know, can cause food-borne illnesses as a part of the rotting process.

BMOrg used to have instructions on treating gray water and disposing of it on the streets to keep dust down - put chlorine bleach in a bucket of filtered gray water and let it stand till the chlorine odor disappears. The bleach kills the organisms. (Filtering it keeps the pieces of food out.)

Now this comment I'm making is 'real world,' not playa world. So whatever the rules are on the playa are the rules on the playa. If anyone is concerned about disposing of soap on the playa, soap is not the problem. It's whatever bacteria, germs, and such that you've washed off that are the problem. And in reality, it's not a problem on the playa because the germs will never reach a water table. They'll sit there in the silt for however long and die.

My comments do not apply to 'black water' which is untreated sewage.

[epic_elite]

i have no experience with Dr B's but ive bumped seen a bar of Bert's Bees spearmint and rosemary at the store one time

[BitterDan]

Capitalist pig!

[motskyroonmatick]

> incase some spills?

There used to be a BLM ranger at Winnemucca named Bilbo, if I recall his name right. He was very interested in the playa and wrote very interesting several articles about it. They were posted for awhile on the Winnemucca site of the BLM, but they've been taken down or amended. He's been transferred as part of the normal process of being a government employee in the BLM.

In one of his articles, he mentions gray water. There's no standard definition of gray water; different organizations define it to meet their particular agendas. The BLM defined it for Burning Man 2 or 3 years ago for the first time.

Bilbo's article on gray water says it makes no difference on the playa since nothing in the gray water makes it to any potable water that is consumed. My hazy recollection is that there is no water table at all under the playa. The reason for prohibiting gray water disposal is that gray water contains bacteria and other life forms what will reach potable water and contaminate it. Dishwater, for example, is often included in the definition not because of the soap or other detergent, but because it contains food particles washed off the dishes. These food particles, as we all know, can cause food-borne illnesses as a part of the rotting process.

BMOrg used to have instructions on treating gray water and disposing of it on the streets to keep dust down - put chlorine bleach in a bucket of filtered gray water and let it stand till the chlorine odor disappears. The bleach kills the organisms. (Filtering it keeps the pieces of food out.)

Now this comment I'm making is 'real world,' not playa world. So whatever the rules are on the playa are the rules on the playa. If anyone is concerned about disposing of soap on the playa, soap is not the problem. It's whatever bacteria, germs, and such that you've washed off that are the problem. And in reality, it's not a problem on the playa because the germs will never reach a water table. They'll sit there in the silt for however long and die.

My comments do not apply to 'black water' which is untreated sewage.

Doesn't this totally leave out "Leave No Trace." Do we want people thinking that if you can't see it then it is ok to apply it to the playa?

I think the depths of the playa hold a huge amount of water. Yah it may be bound up in clay and hard to get out. It may not migrate far like water in volcanic rock. I thought the only reason we can drive on the top of the playa is it's being exposed to the atmosphere so it dries out and stabilizes.
Didn't Thrust SSC have a problem with the pressure wave bringing liquid to the surface of the playa causing handling troubles?

[C.f.M.]

i have no experience with Dr B's but ive bumped seen a bar of Bert's Bees spearmint and rosemary at the store one time

I had one of those (it's a body/shampoo bar) and I loved it - left my hair fairly dry, but it was worth the convienence.

[rodiponer]

We don't buy Dr. B's soap because Mao Zedong is quoted on the bottle.

A mass murderer on soap. I don't get it. We bought the other brand.

[Elderberry]

I hate it too, and I'm not bringing it this year. We always evaporate all the shower water anyway, so what's the point?

JK

[epic_elite]

i have no experience with Dr B's but ive bumped seen a bar of Bert's Bees spearmint and rosemary at the store one time

I had one of those (it's a body/shampoo bar) and I loved it - left my hair fairly dry, but it was worth the convienence.

good to know. concidering i haven't seen a Dr. B bar n e where, and i know how to get this i may pick some up.

[C.f.M.]

i have no experience with Dr B's but ive bumped seen a bar of Bert's Bees spearmint and rosemary at the store one time

I had one of those (it's a body/shampoo bar) and I loved it - left my hair fairly dry, but it was worth the convienence.

good to know. concidering i haven't seen a Dr. B bar n e where, and i know how to get this i may pick some up.

Any place that sells the liquid usually sells the soap (Dr. B). I think they might have stopped making the shampoo bar (BB's) - since they got bought out by a big corporation who moved it all to WalMart...

[wraith]

Yeah, that annoyed the heck out of me. I used to -love- their bay rum shaving soap, but now you can't find the stuff anyhere.

[Ugly Dougly]

I dig this:



You know, scents are processed in the brain at a spot very close to your oldest memories. If you drop in some unique scent with your stay in BRC, then the next time you smell it again, you will return home in a very real way.

Choose your soap carefully.