Is it safe to use castile soap to fragrance home?

[ItisI]

I have always loved the smell of castile soap and other oil soaps (like Savon de Marseille). It's clean, fresh/herbal and creamy scent is nostalgic for me. I've searched high and low for ANY type of fragrance that can replicate that scent, but no such luck.

I am looking for advice on ways to incorporate the castile soap scent to my home. I am not a fan of bathing or cleaning with it (not that it is bad, I just have other products I prefer using for those things), so I considered possibly steaming or simmering it in a pot, like potpourri. Maybe even adding some herbs to boost the scent. For example, I was thinking essentially a soapy water mix, with some rosemary, lemongrass, and lavender springs or oils (those are the common scents I see listed in the ingredients of castile soap.

And I guess my main question is, is it safe to simmer a pot containing castile soap? I'm not going to accidentally make some harmful fumes, right?

 

[AliOop]

Castile soap on its own doesn't have much smell. It sounds like you are after the fragrances that are often used to scent the soaps. Rather than wasting a bar of soap, just use a diffuser or some cotton balls with the EO scents that you are trying to recreate. Or burn candles or wax melts made with those EOs. Those will do a much better job of scenting your home with much less fuss and muss.

But if you insist on using scented Castile soap, I would not boil it or simmer it. It won't be dangerous, but it would make a mess. Instead, you could just grate some of the soap and put it in a bowl or sachet in the area you want to scent. But again, that's a big waste of time and money, IMO, when you could get a much better "scent throw" with candles, wax melts, or a diffuser.

 

[ItisI]

Thank you so much for replying and the ideas Alioop! The common herbs in the soaps I enjoy, definitely reminds me of those soaps. But on their own they are too pungent or missing something.

I don't have the best nose but there is just something about oil soaps that have like a milky earthy scent to my nose that I haven't been able to replicate (even the soaps without scents added still give me that nostalgic feeling, so it really does seem to be tied to the specific smell of oil soaps). I got the idea to put it in a steamer or pot because a relative of mine uses liquid castile soap in the shower and sometimes when I visit I can still smell it carried through the house (but the scent doesn't last long).

I love the idea about the satchels! When I eventually move back into my house, I want to establish a signature "home smell", something that reminds me of home and my family and childhood. And oil-soaps were used for everything when I was growing up. If I need to I may just have to clean more with them, but for those times I'm lazy and don't want to clean to enjoy the scent, I was hoping for some other methods.

I don't know how much liquid castile I'd have to use (I haven't tried the experiment yet bc I didn't know if I'd be silently gassing myself to death lol). But bulk oil soap in my area is fairly cheap, and I'd imagine I'd only use maybe a quarter cup at a time, diluted with a water, and adding other fragrances to the pot. I also will likely wash things like curtains and bedsheets and towels with castile soap (but I'm picky with my clothes and what I wash those with).

 

[Cat&Oak]

Are you maybe thinking of bay laurel essential oil that is used in allepo castile soap?