Is Dr.Bronners Pure Castille Liquid Soap (Unscented) safe for bird dish washing?

[elliebirdyx]

Hi all! First time bird momma here,

I currently wash my baby's bowls with Dawn Dish Soap, but was looking for a healthier alternative for him. Does anyone use the Unscented Castille Soap from Dr Bronners? This is the exact one I'd be looking to purchase: https://www.drbronner.com/collections/all/products/peppermint-pure-castile-liquid-soap

Thank you in advance!

 

[Talaya]

Welcome to being a birdy momma !

I have bought the unscented Dr Bronners Castile soap to soak wash antique fabrics. I’ve never thought of it as a dish soap. So personally I wouldn’t use it.

Too many oils in it. Hence good for skin and not drying out old fabrics. This linked one has hydrogen peroxide, toxic, and it says the peppermint essential oil might be too much for a toddler to handle. Your baby birdy would probably react the same way. Many essential oils can be toxic too.
Their bowls are usually metal, easy to scrub under a tap with a scourer and then pour over boiling water to sanitize.. This is how I clean mine.

Soap is only needed in cleaning : to remove fats from a surface or help lift off dried on grime/food. I have to assume you wash your bowls daily and aren’t fed fat so on this proviso they “shouldn’t” really ever need soap. I do give my boy the odd drop of red palm nut oil, so those bowls always do get a greasy film and need a drop of soap on a sponge, rinsed under tap, then the boil rinse. (I suppose I could use lemon juice).. Hope this helps.

 

[wrench13]

Any soap used to clean bird dishes has to be well rinsed off, really well, therefore the detergent used is immaterial.

 

[hiriki]

I use dawn personally, but as mentioned previously a bird dish will be thoroughly rinsed before replacing in the cage so to me, I'm not so concerned. If it's safe for use on people dishes and not overwhelmingly scented, I believe it should be fine for birds, and have never had any issues. Dawn is affordable and I go through a lot of it because I scrub dishes daily so it works out well for me.

 

[elliebirdyx]

Welcome to being a birdy momma !

I have bought the unscented Dr Bronners Castile soap to soak wash antique fabrics. I’ve never thought of it as a dish soap. So personally I wouldn’t use it.

Too many oils in it. Hence good for skin and not drying out old fabrics. This linked one has hydrogen peroxide, toxic, and it says the peppermint essential oil might be too much for a toddler to handle. Your baby birdy would probably react the same way. Many essential oils can be toxic too.
Their bowls are usually metal, easy to scrub under a tap with a scourer and then pour over boiling water to sanitize.. This is how I clean mine.

Soap is only needed in cleaning : to remove fats from a surface or help lift off dried on grime/food. I have to assume you wash your bowls daily and aren’t fed fat so on this proviso they “shouldn’t” really ever need soap. I do give my boy the odd drop of red palm nut oil, so those bowls always do get a greasy film and need a drop of soap on a sponge, rinsed under tap, then the boil rinse. (I suppose I could use lemon juice).. Hope this helps.

This does help! Thanks so much!!

 

[elliebirdyx]

I use dawn personally, but as mentioned previously a bird dish will be thoroughly rinsed before replacing in the cage so to me, I'm not so concerned. If it's safe for use on people dishes and not overwhelmingly scented, I believe it should be fine for birds, and have never had any issues. Dawn is affordable and I go through a lot of it because I scrub dishes daily so it works out well for me.

I have been using Dawn as well, so maybe I'll continue with that. Thanks so much!

 

[clark_conure]

When there is an oil spill they use dawn to clean the seagulls so I'm thinking its alright.....

 

[elliebirdyx]

Late addition to this post.

I keep seeing Dawn bottles with a "New Fresh Clean Scent" sticker attached, and this bird momma is NERVOUS.

I am very apprehensive about continuing to use Dawn if they've changed a scent that I know for certain was safe, and now I have no clue. I use it to wash his bowls.

Any insights?

 

[JjEjFjF]

You may be interested in this

Your pet will love this Vetafarm Avicare Concentrate Bird Cleaner, 3.4-oz jar:
https://www.chewy.com/vetafarm-avic...486?utm_source=app-share&utm_campaign=1054486

You can buy it premixed also.

 

[saxguy64]

My two cents... We're looking at soap/detergent to wash bowls with. Personally I have used dawn for decades, largely because I like how it works for my human dishes, so it's on hand at my kitchen sink. My belief (for what it's worth, I'm no expert) is that it's of little consequence, assuming you thoroughly rinse your dishes/bowls with lots of hot water so there's no remnant of the soap left. Added scent could be an issue if the birds are right there while washing, but that literally goes down the drain with a good rinsing. Perhaps cleaners with oils that don't fully come off when rinsing would be an issue, but that's kind of the point of dish soap - it's designed to break down and remove grease/oils.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Do they still use it to wash oil off ducks? I like Dawn because I like the oil spill-duck connection. I doubt they would add something that would be harmful to ducks and other birds. Personally, I don't worry about stuff like this.

 

[JjEjFjF]

Dawn advertises the oil covered duck thing. Well thats a life or death situation. Theyre not using dawn because its gentle, theyre using it because it gets the oil off. I wash my hands quite often and i used to use “gentle” dawn dish liquid. Well let me to you, its not gentle at all. It does what it does, it removes oil. My hands got crazy dried out and cracked.
Thats not to say its not safe when fully rinsed off of bird bowls etc.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Dawn advertises the oil covered duck thing. Well thats a life or death situation. Theyre not using dawn because its gentle, theyre using it because it gets the oil off. I wash my hands quite often and i used to use “gentle” dawn dish liquid. Well let me to you, its not gentle at all. It does what it does, it removes oil. My hands got crazy dried out and cracked.
Thats not to say its not safe when fully rinsed off of bird bowls etc.

I know. It dries out my skin something awful.

 

[Macawdamia Nut]

I don’t use soap on my bowls. I just rinse with hot water and my trusty fingers. Sometimes I put them in the dishwasher. Because I am regularly cleaning out bowls, they don’t get grungy at all. The way I look at things is that I have kept my macaw healthy for 50 years so far so I must be doing something right!

 

[GaleriaGila]

I don’t use soap on my bowls. I just rinse with hot water and my trusty fingers. Sometimes I put them in the dishwasher. Because I am regularly cleaning out bowls, they don’t get grungy at all. The way I look at things is that I have kept my macaw healthy for 50 years so far so I must be doing something right!

Well, I'm sure that Jj's source is excellent, and Dawn is probably fine, buttttttttttttttttttt...
I'm an old-fashioned fashioned nut, too... I rinse, rub, paper-towel-wipe and air dry, and my old rooster will turn 41 this year.