Enema Soaps

I've been using J&J baby shampoo exclusively lately. Very mild and soothing and you can use a lot of it in a enema, and it's not irritating and does a very nice clean out.

I have used both Dove and Dr. Bs and I like them equally. Lately I have using just plain tap water. I don't like to rush things and soap often produces premature urgency and tenesmus. Dr Bs Peppermint is way too intense for me. There is nothing like a nice slow large enema.

I, for one, don't understand the reason for using soap. I understand that some say it cramps them, I'm not sure if that is pleasurable in itself, or a pleasure when it is over.

Soap is a cleansing agent. But the colon isn't dirty. It is lined with mucous and filled, to varying degrees, with our bodily waste, but it isn't dirty. That is its natural state. So why use soap to clean something that isn't dirty? I've enjoyed enemas for close to 50 years and I still don't get it.

I'm not criticizing others who opt to use soap, to each their own. But I do not yet understand the why of it.

So please friends, enlighten me. I'm still alive, so I'm still learning.

Another problem with soap is that it will kill the micro-organisms in the mucous lining of your colon, which is not a good thing to do.

hankb

My favorite is Dr. Bonners Peppermint Castile. I have used Ivory and I can't tell any difference between an Ivory soap enema and a plain water one. But with Dr. Bonners, it gives me really strong cramps and that is why I use it.

Will any castile (olive oil based) soap do??

Yes it will. In fact, any soap will do, provided it is true soap and not detergent (like most ‘hand soaps’ and ‘body washes’). There is no need to buy the expensive products advertised as ‘enema soaps’.

OK folks, please help me. I've heard about soap or soapsuds enemas all my life. But what I've missed is the why. What does soap add to the enema or the enema experience? I understand that there is a wide variety of soaps that people use, but I don't understand why they use soap in the first place.

The colon isn't dirty, so it doesn't require soap to "clean" it.

I love this board and really enjoy reading the posts. But I just don't get it about soap.

Thanks in advance for enlightening me.

OK folks, please help me. I've heard about soap or soapsuds enemas all my life. But what I've missed is the why. What does soap add to the enema or the enema experience? I understand that there is a wide variety of soaps that people use, but I don't understand why they use soap in the first place.

The colon isn't dirty, so it doesn't require soap to "clean" it.

I love this board and really enjoy reading the posts. But I just don't get it about soap.

Thanks in advance for enlightening me.

The soapsuds enema is a traditional recipe, which is sufficient reason for many people to continue using it. It was used because the soap irritates the colon, acting as a mild laxative. In the process it causes mild to more severe cramping, which some people enjoy. If it does nothing for you, obviously there’s no reason to use it.

On the advice of a nurse, I've been using Conti Castile. It's a bar soap that also contains olive oil. Maybe I'm just dreaming, but the olive oil seems to have a lubricating effect that helps make the release easier. Just a few swishes works when I need a cleanse. The soap blends quickly in warm water and cramping is minimal if you don't use too much.

I mostly prefer plain very warm water. But occasionally I will use a castile soap. One made by Conti. It's mild but effective and if you don't use too much, it's very gentile. The olive oil seems to make the release faster. It's very enjoyable, and I prefer it over a lot of the other soaps.

Castile soap is made FROM olive oil (plus possibly other vegetable oils added to make the soap harder and improve sudsing). That doesn’t mean there is still olive oil in the soap—there would be very little if any left after the oil is reacted with alkali in the soapmaking process.

Dr Bronners seems the most authentic but I still glory in the old ivory plus rubber fragrance.

I like ivory ,banners and goats milk and glycerin soaps

I prefer Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap with a dash of Epsom salts added. That's my perfect enema solution in 4 quarts of hot water!!!

FYI - Our local Costco is now selling Dr. Bronner's (peppermint only) in the BIG (40 oz.) bottle for under 10 bucks. I've paid over $17 at Target for a 32 oz. bottle.

I think the Bronners lavender smells the best

Ever try lava soap??

^^^^ Why would you want the grittiness and abrasiveness of Lava soap?

Your insides could get very irritated especially if you move the nozzle around.

^^^^ That's my immediate impression..Lava = Volcanic pumice ingredient...Here we have a product called "Solvol" much the same, usage being for rapid removal of grease / oils from the skin & NOT for internal application...As you mention abrasive.....ty for response.

Dr Bonners peppermint augmented with some peppermint oil from the spice cabinet ?Also add some Epsom salts as Barry said, softens the water and make more suds

Also add some Epsom salts as Barry said, softens the water and make more suds

This makes no sense at all. Epsom salts does not soften the water, it hardens it. You will get less not more suds because some of the soap combines with the Epsom salts to form an insoluble sludge. If it results in a milder enema, it’s because you are chemically removing some of the active ingredient. You might as well just reduce the amount of soap you use.

Really, this Epsom salts plus soap thing is one of the ineradicable myths on this forum, right up there with the confusion of flow rate and pressure.

Redbulb - In what CostCo department did you fine Dr. Bronner's (peppermint only) in the BIG (40 oz.) bottle?

I would never have even known to look for something like enema soap at CostCos!

That Australian - I would be VERY wary of using anything like a degreaser detergent!

Years ago, I did a Shy douche enema with a degreaser detergent and got dreadfully sick! Throwing up, painful cramps and very ill!

Degreasers are NOT for internal use. As you say, "NOT for internal application."

redbulb - In what CostCo department did you fine Dr. Bronner's (peppermint only) in the BIG (40 oz.) bottle?

I would never have even known to look for something like enema soap at CostCos!

I don't think DrBronner's markets the soap as "enema soap" and Costco certainly doesn't.

I buy Dr. Bronners from Amazon. 32 ounces for $15.00. And they deliver it to your door!

That Australian - I would be VERY wary of using anything like a degreaser detergent!

Solvol, the venerable Australian product That Australian mentioned, is not a synthetic detergent but an actual soap with pumice powder added as an abrasive. Certainly not a good choice for enemas!

Yikes! With pumice powder? Not for me thanks.

I use Dr. Bronner's Almond as well as Peppermint scented "magic" soaps. Also one of my favorites is J&J Baby Shampoo and J&J Head-to-Toe Wash. Both are gentle and give a nice cleanout.

professor

Epsom salts added to a soapy enema actually makes it easier to take, for me anyway, and flows in extremely easily!!!

How much br bronners do you use? I've tried the dr bronners peppermint soap. Yet not sure how much I should put in to the quart?