View Full Version : Dr. Bronner is nuts
datachomper
03-11-2009, 12:38
Seriously. Have ya'll read his bottle? :eek:
flemdawg1
03-11-2009, 12:51
If you drank that soap, you'd be nuts too.
Dances with Mice
03-11-2009, 13:19
But what's your point? From his bio: (http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/drbronner.html)
After an arrest in Chicago, Bronner was committed to a mental institution in 1947. Six months later he escaped (on his third attempt) and made his way to Los Angeles, California, where he eked out a living making soap and worked on the rambling disquisitions that have appeared on the labels of his products ever since.
Funny, isn't it, how Chicago put him in the nut house but in LA he blended in and became a businessman. Location really is everything.
datachomper
03-11-2009, 13:48
But what's your point? From his bio: (http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/drbronner.html)
Funny, isn't it, how Chicago put him in the nut house but in LA he blended in and became a businessman. Location really is everything.
oh wow.
Gray Blazer
03-11-2009, 13:50
But what's your point? From his bio: (http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/drbronner.html)
Funny, isn't it, how Chicago put him in the nut house but in LA he blended in and became a businessman. Location really is everything.
What are you saying?:eek::banana:p:sun
datachomper
03-11-2009, 13:58
Here's the label i was reading:
http://www.drbronner.com/pdf/drbronner_32oz_Pep.pdf
California, The Granold State, Fruits and Nuts...
make that Granola heheheheh
D'Artagnan
03-11-2009, 14:09
You can get the book for $2.00.
I imagine that it's quite the read.
granola.
(sorry, channeling camo)
Transient Being
03-11-2009, 14:21
It's some pretty good soap, though.
Tipi Walter
03-11-2009, 14:27
Seriously. Have ya'll read his bottle? :eek:
If you compare his label to most other products, he's a breath of fresh air in an otherwise staid and boring field. Get a loaf and bread and read it. Or a box of cookies. Boring. Or god forbid, a box of Tide or a bottle of hand soap. Gaggingly boring. Give me Bronners anytime.
Lone Wolf
03-11-2009, 14:32
Seriously. Have ya'll read his bottle? :eek:
no need for that crap on the trail
The Weasel
03-11-2009, 14:59
Dr. Bronner is not "nuts." He's toast. Man, he's dead. As for where his purported lack of sanity took him, he ended up blending in just fine, not in LA, but in San Diego, with all the other capitalists. Doc Bronner died rich, dude.
Weasy
berninbush
03-11-2009, 15:04
After reading his bio, I would say he was just born about 50 years too early. What was considered "insanity" in his middle life is now the mainstream Church of Environmentalism. He would fit in quite nicely with a significant segment of society now. No wonder his products enjoyed a revival of popularity.
OldStormcrow
03-11-2009, 15:05
Dr. Bronner's outlandish ramblings have long kept me company on those dreary rainy nights when there is absolutely nothing else to read.....what a whack job.
Alligator
03-11-2009, 15:08
Long time ago I bought that stuff, but now I buy generic camp soap from Wal-Mart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e91zF8wWB1o
I met Dr. Bonner's son about 8 years ago when I was managing a chain of health food super markets. He was in one of our stores giving away 4 oz samples of the soap. Of course it was against our corporate rules because he had not established a 1,000,000 dollar insurance policy with us. So I superseded the store manager and allowed him to give the samples away for about an hour. He was nice enough to make sure each employee received a sample -- another rule breaker but who cares. My CEO had no problem for what I did.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0881909/
Living where I do, I am all too familiar with Dr. Bonner. :eek:
IIR, the bottles sold back in the 70s were even more densely printed with crazy stuff. It has always been an oops-I-forgot-my-book potty read.
The question for me has always been: Serious? Or a joke?
Exellent multi use backpacking product. Bath soap,laundry soap, tooth paste, and plenty of other uses as well. This would be one sorry assed country without the multitudes of eccentrics and entrepreneus who have flourished in America.
The peppermint stuff is pretty nice with a hot shower. I have heard people refer to it as "Dr Bronners Ball tingle soap"
We get in pallets of this stuff at work and it honestly makes the whole place smell good for awhile.
Desert Reprobate
03-11-2009, 18:41
I had to increase resolution to 200% to be able to read the lable and some of it was still too small for me to read. Sux getting older.
Dr. Bronner is not "nuts." He's toast. Man, he's dead. Yes. His death inspired some guy to hike the AT a couple years ago and write a book about it titled, "Fear and Loathing in Manchester Center."
The other thing about Dr. Bronner soap (besides the fact that it smells great) is that it's not antibacterial. I object to trying to turn the US into a gigantic hospital, with no germs anywhere. It's not working out too well, either.
Dr. Bonner has been one of my favorite nuts for 30 years. RIP
Rarely do I use any soap but his. I like it's anti-antibacterial approach to being clean.
Try it, good stuff.
theinfamousj
03-11-2009, 21:11
Exellent multi use backpacking product. Bath soap,laundry soap, tooth paste, and plenty of other uses as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-AWuOuWyA
datachomper
03-11-2009, 22:48
Now curious about my new bottle of Dr. Bronner's Crazy soap. I decided to find out what uses it was actually good for other than dishwashing.
Test #1 - Shaving Cream : The result is actually not bad! I think because of the glycerin content, it actually functioned decently well while I shaved my face. Wouldn't be my first choice if I had real shaving cream laying around, but could definitely be used out in the field.
Test #2 - Toothpaste : Hey very nice! I actually dug it, so now I can drop my travel sized bottle of Colgate. Hope my teeth don't turn brown from the lack of ultra-whitener-cavity-protection :rolleyes:
Test #3 - Shower Soap : Even nicer! Makes my balls tingle just as advertised.
I was shopping at Whole Foods Market around this time last year and I spotted something interesting. Dr. Bronners (The Big 32oz Bottle) of Castile Soap. And even more interesting, the price underneath it: $1.49.
Computer system must have glitched. I was quiet about it and grabbed about 10 bottles of the Tea Tree "flavor" a bottle of the peppermint and a bottle of the citrus and went to the self checkout. Sure enough, I walked away with 12 bottles of 384oz of Dr. Bronners for like $16.
After having done this, I actually went back and removed the price tag so Whole Foods wouldn't get swindled again.
I've been using Dr. Bronners ever since. I shower with the Tea Tree oil stuff every morning as my body soap and shampoo. I keep it in one of those Shampoo pumps that suction-cups to a wall. 3 Pumps into my mesh shower sponge for a whole body scrub, half a pump for my hair (I've got short hair) and interestingly enough, I do not need to use deodorant throughout the day... with the exception of when I go to the gym (where I use one of those solid-salt-blocks which work perfectly) or before a weekend-hike (where I'll use that aluminum-loaded gillette crap, which I happily avoid on a daily basis now.) Castile Soaps work very well as a deoderant when used daily.
Some notes:
Do not wash your junk with Peppermint if the temps are 70 degrees or below. You will freeze your nuds and shwang shwong. Mrs. Totem reports a similar condition involving her bajingo. We've both exclusively used the Tea Tree Dr. Bronner's (because I got 12 bottles for little over the price of 1.) for about a year now.
I'm calling Shenanigans on Data Chomper. I've done the Peppermint Toothpaste thing. It is slightly more tolerable than using the Citrus as a toothpaste and infinitely more tolerable than the Tea Tree Oil flavor... but simply... you get a cold mentholy feeling but you also have soap in your mouth. Remember Ralphie
http://www.misfittoys.net/movies/christmasstory/blind.jpg
"It Was... The Soap!"
Another Note: Dr. Bronner's bottles make a helluva lot more sense when your perception is enhanced with select inhaled plants.
datachomper
03-12-2009, 00:42
I'm calling Shenanigans on Data Chomper.
No cheeky shenanigans here. I thought it was an apt replacement for my regular Colgate.
I was kind of comparing this product with Campsuds and No Rinse products for camping and backpacking uses.
Any thoughts?
ColdFire
03-12-2009, 01:58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-AWuOuWyA
LOL that video is hilarious, I need to go get me some of this soap!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-AWuOuWyA Very Good! Sometimes out on the trail you just have to man up and be "a hippie"
I can't stand the thought of brushing my teeth with dr B's. I'll just carry tooth paste for that.
Panzer
i used the peppermint soap for years and then out of the blue i became severely allergic to it. swole up, hives, itching. bad stuff.
OldStormcrow
03-12-2009, 16:11
i used the peppermint soap for years and then out of the blue i became severely allergic to it. swole up, hives, itching. bad stuff.
Kanga, I suspect that your reaction was due to the fact that you are a redhead. I used to be a redhead before too many years of sex and drugs and rock n' roll, but now it's pretty much turned gray.....although I still have "redhead" complexion and can burn at the beach before 10:30 am. I have found that we redheads suffer reactions to many things like sunscreen (use the NoAd brand in the blue bottle), laundry detergent with no scent or colorings (also has no buffers for the harsh detergents), and additive free personal soaps (like Dr. Bronner's). Go for something a bit less "earth-friendly" (like your favorite shampoo), keep a small bottle of it in your gear, and remember to rinse away from the water sources.....that's about as eco-friendly as you need to be with soap.
jaywalke
03-12-2009, 17:47
Seriously. Have ya'll read his bottle? :eek:
That label got his products banned from EMS. Some uptight lady read the words, "Hitler murdered the Jews" on the label and wigged out. It didn't matter that Bronner wasn't exactly endorsing genocide, just those words made her complain and the lily-livered execs pulled it off the shelves.
RedneckRye
03-12-2009, 19:22
That label got his products banned from EMS. Some uptight lady read the words, "Hitler murdered the Jews" on the label and wigged out. It didn't matter that Bronner wasn't exactly endorsing genocide, just those words made her complain and the lily-livered execs pulled it off the shelves.
We have had that same reaction at my shop a few times.
We still stock it on the shelf.
Hooray for being independent.
Kanga, I suspect that your reaction was due to the fact that you are a redhead. I used to be a redhead before too many years of sex and drugs and rock n' roll, but now it's pretty much turned gray.....although I still have "redhead" complexion and can burn at the beach before 10:30 am. I have found that we redheads suffer reactions to many things like sunscreen (use the NoAd brand in the blue bottle), laundry detergent with no scent or colorings (also has no buffers for the harsh detergents), and additive free personal soaps (like Dr. Bronner's). Go for something a bit less "earth-friendly" (like your favorite shampoo), keep a small bottle of it in your gear, and remember to rinse away from the water sources.....that's about as eco-friendly as you need to be with soap.
no kidding! i don't usually wear sunscreen bc from the first touch on my face it stings like hellfire.
OldStormcrow
03-12-2009, 22:06
Seriously, Kanga, go and try the "No-Ad" brand of sunscreen. It's in a blue bottle and I know that Publix supermarkets carry it. I have found that my friends that are even paler than myself can use it with no problems and it's a 45 spf.
Seriously, Kanga, go and try the "No-Ad" brand of sunscreen. It's in a blue bottle and I know that Publix supermarkets carry it. I have found that my friends that are even paler than myself can use it with no problems and it's a 45 spf.
i think my parents use it . i'll try it out. the older i get the more i want to protect my skin. good grief, i sound like mama. anyway, there's also this aussie sunscreen, i think 'blue lizard' or something like that, that i got at sam's and it's the only thing i've been able to use in the past, except for around the eyes and the tops of my cheeks. i don't think anything will ever work there.
no need for that crap on the trail
We know. You've told us that several times.
An interesting thread. I may change my view of Dr. Bronners. I had figured it was a concoction promoted by business types to gullible backpackers with a yearning to be pure.
Tipi Walter
03-27-2009, 09:35
I was kind of comparing this product with Campsuds and No Rinse products for camping and backpacking uses.
Any thoughts?
For years me and my backpacking buddies used Bronners for our outdoor bathing and swimhole comforts. As mentioned, the peppermint is great after a long hot day of backpacking. I've done the almond, euctalyptus, tea tree and lavender too out of boredom and overuse of the peppermint. Bronners is hard on the hair for shampoo if used frequently but it's a great backpacking soap. I have found Camp Suds to work better in cold water since it seems to rinse off easier than Bronners in cold mountain creeks. My current little nasal-squeeze-bottle-converted-to-soap-container holds a Camp Suds-Bronners mix. I like switching off and using Camp Suds for a year and then switching to Bronners again. Camp Suds makes pretty good hair shampoo, better than Bronners IMO.
That label got his products banned from EMS. Some uptight lady read the words, "Hitler murdered the Jews" on the label and wigged out. It didn't matter that Bronner wasn't exactly endorsing genocide, just those words made her complain and the lily-livered execs pulled it off the shelves.
Tells you something about EMS.
vamelungeon
03-27-2009, 14:13
Dr. Bonner has been one of my favorite nuts for 30 years. RIP
Rarely do I use any soap but his. I like it's anti-antibacterial approach to being clean.
Try it, good stuff.
Where do you buy it in this area? Abingdon or Tri-Cities? I'd try it if I could buy it locally.
thejackal
03-27-2009, 15:33
the documentary on bronner is both really funny and really sad. another random fact, mark spitz (the olympic swimmer) successfully sued bronner for including him without permission on the labels. bronner had an obsession with spitz.
i love the soap. i've used it every day for years. you really need to use a loofa if it's going to be your every day soap. i prefer the almond but once in a while like to switch back to the peppermint for the tingle factor. there are also orange, lavender, and unscented versions.
i tried using peppermint bronner's as mouthwash once and squirted some directly into my mouth. i can't possibly explain how bad it was. very funny though.
max patch
03-27-2009, 15:38
I have found Camp Suds to work better in cold water since it seems to rinse off easier than Bronners in cold mountain creeks.
hmmm.....:(
envirodiver
03-27-2009, 16:44
Dr. Bonner has been one of my favorite nuts for 30 years. RIP
Rarely do I use any soap but his. I like it's anti-antibacterial approach to being clean.
Try it, good stuff.
I use it every morning for my shower.
I have found Camp Suds to work better in cold water since it seems to rinse off easier than Bronners in cold mountain creeks.
Please don't take baths in creeks. You should only be using your camp soap 200 feet from water sources. http://www.lnt.org/