How much soap?

For a fairly stong enema, I find 2 tablesoons of Castile soap per quart is about right. But for a very satisfactory and soothing enema, 1 tablespoon of soap (castile or J&J Baby shampoo) per quart combined with about 3/4 Tbsp of Epsom Salts per qt feels really nice, and is effective.

A nurse at my gyno's office recommends Conti castile, which contains olive oil which has a slight lubrication effect in an enema. Anyone tried it?

I use Ivory Soap from a bar, but I can't quantify how much. I rub the bar repeatedly in the water until the water feels slippery, and has a good head of suds.

When I use Dr. Bronners, I use a half-ounce per quart. That makes nice suds. One ounce (two tablespoons) per quart is definitely strong soap. I have never tried Conti castile, but Kirk's castile bar is a little stronger than Ivory or Dr. Bronners.

@ Vicki.V: I don’t see much logic to the recommendation. Any castile soap will be made from olive oil—that’s the definition of a castile soap. Whether it actually contains free olive oil is another matter—some soaps do contain a little surplus oil, though if there was too much it would leave your skin feeling greasy after you wash. As for the olive oil having a lubricating effect, I don’t see the point: any soap will do that, olive oil or no olive oil.

Was considering trying a small amount of baby shampoo, as I would think it would be very mild. Any ideas about it or suggestions?

J & J Baby Shampoo works well. I prefer about 1 TBLS/qt of warm water. Adding one TBLS of Epsom Salts per qt as well, makes a nice combination with the J & J Baby Shampoo.

Generally, as long as it will still flow, it's not too much soap.

I've been using 1 tablespoon of dr. bronners peppermint per quart of water for quite awhile now. It provides a good cleansing enema with a relatively easy and complete expulsion. More than that is a little too irritating for me. Found the big bottle recently at Whole Foods on sale at $9.99. All the other flavors were $14.99. A great bargain for us baby boomer enema folks.

Whole Foods is my source for Dr. Bronners, too! I agree, it's a good alternative to Ivory, which I still use from time to time.

All depends on the mood,I've tried just about all baby shampo is nice and mild . Rubbing or shaving ivory you can make quite strong. Mint , nutrogena,etc i like for relaxing

Of recent, J&J Head to Toe Baby shampoo is my favorite. One ounce per qt. cleans me out well. I recently used Prell hair Shampoo because I ran out of the baby shampoo. Really sudsy.

Early on I used Baby Shampoo. Just enough to cover the bottom of a measuring cup. Then 2 quarts of 100 degree water. I have ordered Castile soap from the equipment houses. Can be expensive. Quite by accident I found that Rei sporting equipment carries Bronners Castile in a whole variety of flavors. I still like Peppermint best of all. Handy travel size for $3 and a good sized bottle, which will last thru many enemas, for only $5.

I have tried all kinds of soaps. All the ones listed. Kirks, J&J Baby shampoo and body wash, gentle and nice, regular body wash for adults, Netrugena, which I felt was way too strong for me, Ivory bar soap, cut up and made into a liquid, I like Ivory dish soap, while it doesn't have any harsh stuff in it, Dr. Bohnners, Peperment, which is really nice.

All in all, I usually get 2 quarts of soapy water in me, then open the other bag and let the non-soapy water flow behind the soapy water. I refill both bags, usually there is some soap left in the first bag, I empty that one first, then the second bag. Usually I get 3 quarts in me each time. I keep doing the same thing, the soap goes away and then I wait till I empty out and I start over with either some baking soda and some salt.

I only use soap if I want to spend a few hours giving myself an enema. I enjoy the feel of the peperment soap the best.

Some like harsh soaps, I enjoy the mild ones.

When I use Dr. Bohonners, I usually squirt it in till the water turns milky. That way I get a second filling with some of the soap that is left the first time.

I have two 2 quart open top bags Y ed together.

I don't think I ever measured how much, I just pour it in.

I use Dr. Bonner's lavender soap, one tsp. per quart. More than that gives me more cramps than I want, makes the enema difficult to hold, and can lead to "accidents". I've used other soap, Ivory, Johnson's Baby shampoo, etc., but have always come back to Dr. Bonner's. Any of the Dr. Bonner varieties can be used except eucalyptus, which is poisonous if taken internally.

Hi doc, I sure hop that what you used was true liquid Ivory hand soap and not Ivory dish washing detergent. The dish washing product contains numerous chemicals which do not belong in the human body. I'm writing this because I used to get liquid Ivory soap in a grey pump bottle years ago and I thought it was off the market. I'll check out my local wally world soon.

The soap was very good for mixing in enemas. It takes no time at all to be mixed in and you can control the amount you use very easily.

I make my own Ivory solution by shaving a bar into a 1 pint container until there about 1/4" in the bottom. Then I add enough hot water to fill the container to about 2/3 and stir. As it cools it will start to thicken and I add more water (cold is okay) to fill it. The next day it's' pretty much jello consistency but I stir it and it loosens to a thick gel. I stir it every day until I'm ready to use it. Then I take about 1/2, put that in another larger container and add enough hot water to completely dissolve it. When it's play time, I add more water to bring it up to temp and volume. As they say it works for me. I use this amount with either a 1500L disposable bag or a quart red drugstore bag.

I have also made the same using a bar of homemade unscented Castile soap from Ebay that was nice. Someone suggested Johnson Baby Wash and I gave that a test ride last week as well with my newly acquired 3L barium bag. That is fairly mild and made for a nice delivery and cleanout, but I think I like my Ivory better.

Elaine

I, too, like to use Ivory soap in my enemas, but have used both Johnson's Baby Shampoo as well as the Wal-Mart and Dollar General brands of baby shampoo/wash. They are good and leave you feeling all clean inside. I tried Kirk's Castille soap and wow what a delivery. Very very moving... too much for me. Almost as bad a lemon juice enema. Lots of intense cramping that I personally do not like. But to each his or her own. I just enjoy my enemas.

1 Cap of Dr Bronners Peppermint Per Qt.

1Tbsp of Grated Ivory(or goats milk soap) in VERY hot Soap per Qt

With those 2 as basic rules ive had many a delightful enema over the years. The Dr Bronners really works well getting up high and shaking things loose and of course the Ivory really cleans things out.😃

I've recently gotten hooked on some of the soaps from www.indigowild.com made in KC,MO. They are goats milk based and nice and mild, yet do a great job. They have about 3 dozen different 'flavors', so there should be something there for everyone's taste.

Dan

Just the words Dr Bronners and Kirks makes me cramp out of my mind, I was raised on Ivory, Ivory it is.

I like about 3or 4 squirts of j&j baby shampoo in a 4 qt enema works great for the big soapy.

I go back and forth between Ivory and Dr. B's Peppermint. I usually mix it a bit on the strong side. I keep the Ivory in a plastic jug with water do that it makes a soapy sludge and I pour it into the bag then top off with very warm water.

i like about 3or 4 squirts of j&j baby shampoo in a 4 qt enema works great for the big soapy.

Is that unit Metric or English ? 😁

I mainly use imperial leather. I'll put the bar in a jug and fill with really hot water and stir it repeatedly for about half an hour. This gets a decent amount to dissolve. I'll then add this to the bag, followed by the appropriate temperature water to get it to the right temperature.

Before I take the first bag I'll repeat the process so the soap is steeping in the water whilst I take the first enema. This leaves it ready for round two. The bar usually softens up a bit too, meaning for a stronger solution the next time round.

I have also grated half a bar into hot water to dissolve it. I only did this once because I thought I was going to die with the intensity of the cramps.

I have also grated half a bar into hot water to dissolve it. I only did this once because I thought I was going to die with the intensity of the cramps.

No one said you have to grate a lot! 😁

Grating the soap makes it dissolve faster and you don't need to store dissolved soap or wait for a bar to dissolve in water.

I learned that lesson the hard way, Susie! I think we discussed it when I first did it and established it wasn't the smartest thing ever. A proper noob mistake. I'm a proper soap convert since then though. Before that I was all about the lemon juice.

Just finished with a 2.5 l enema with 30 ml (2 tbsp) Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap. Delivery was unremarkable, but produced moderate cramps on expulsion. Was a good clean out. Will follow with a 2.5 l tap water rinse along with some genital stimulation with a thrive electric massager. I don't use the soap very often, as I don't want it to unnecessarily kill off too much gut flora.

I did 2 Tablespoons of Dr. Bronners peppermint soap and it was too much. Made me nauseous. About 1 tablespoon is my limit in about 2 quarts.

For most people you can get it pretty strong and still be "safe" from chemical colitis PROVIDED that you use a good soap - Ivory or Castile are classic choices with a lot of history behind them, but anything that is soap (instead of detergent) and doesn't have any bad additives is probably an OK candidate. There are only two detergents I'd consider: baby shampoo or docusate sodium.

For an actual dose the best advice I can give is work it up for yourself. Recommended doses vary - 5-10 mL (1-2 tsp) per liter (quart) of liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronners) is common, but I've seen them at double that strength. I've also seen (and use) the "grate a 4 oz bar of soap into 1 quart of water, simmer 5 minutes" recipe for soap gel (I will often use more water for a looser gel and add more to the enema). Instructions for this range from 1 TBSP/quart to 2 TBSP/quart. Start on the low end and see what happens.

Personally I have to adjust for the day as well. Usually I am on the low end, with 1TBSP of goo (or a bit over a teaspoon of Bronner's) in 2 quarts. Some days when my gut isn't cooperating I have to go stronger.

Short answer: there's a big range. You'll need to work it up for yourself - start weak, but you can probably go pretty strong if you need or want to.

I will fill my one gallon silicon bag up to about the 3 quart level and put in at least a table spoon or maybe just a little bit more of Bronner's Castile soap- peppermint or lavender. The castile soap mixes extremely well and it is easy to use- fill the bag and add the soap. This amount of soap is all I can handle and I usually can't make it through the whole bag without having to stop and expel and then return to finish the bag.

Since I was 13 when I started using enemas all the way up until about a couple of years ago I always used warm tap water exclusively. Then I tried the Bronners. After trying it and liking it, I changed my procedure to always make my first enema a SSE followed by two tap water enemas. The other day I did not use the Bronners and on my first enema I used warm tap water. To my surprise I was able to take the full three quarts. After getting into a regular routine of leading off with a SSE, I had forgotten what a huge difference there is when using soap vs. not using soap.

So what I learned from this experience was that if I want to go for a large volume fill- don't use soap. If you want something more intense and like the feeling a quick clean out, then use the soap.