Teach Soap

I have a recipe for a baby soap that I want to make--however, it doesn't call for an essential oil. I have heard that lavender essential oil is actually mild enough for babies but I don't want to use too much and I can't seem to find a recipe that gives me the information I am looking for on how much to use. I would think it would be less than in an average cold process soap for adults. Does anyone have a recommendation? I really appreciate the help as I want to give the soap to people that have infants. Thank you!

If it's a child under 2 years of age, I would leave it unscented. You could infuse some herbs into one of your soapmaking oils like the lavender or chamomile. I normally recommend castile all olive oil soap, but it tends to be slimey and most customers prefer some bubbles. To add bubbles to castile, I would do 95% olive with 5% castor and superfat at least 7%.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I know that several people recommend a plain, non scented soap for babies. I prefer my baby soaps to have a small amount of fragrance though. Lavender can be overpowering but using about .5 oz EO per pound should be ok. I must say though, the Lavender Chamomile Huggies Type FO from Brambleberry is awesome for baby soaps. Very nice and light and you can use it at the recommended light ratio and still get a nice scent. It is very calming for little ones.

_________________
Haven

Thank you both for the information! It's always a little scary to think about babies having any kind of reaction. My kids were very sensitive to all kinds of things when they were babies. Anyway, thanks for the help again!!! Vivian

My kids were allergic to whatever that "baby" scent is that they put in the gel in disposable diapers like huggies. *sigh* I had to use cloth diapers on them, washed in unscented detergent and baking soda, with a vinegar rinse to make sure the residue was out and the ph was right. Baby skin is sooooo sensitive.

I wouldn't even use a fragrance oil, personally, as it's more likely to sensitize than just lavender or chamomile EO. My kids couldn't even use baby shampoo, baby oil, baby lotion, baby powder, etc. I had to use unscented everything and read all the labels because even stuff that says "baby this" or "baby that" isn't necessarily safe for baby skin!

There's very few FO's that I don't react to, so I pretty much stick with natural scents. If it was ME personally, I'd either use chamomile or lavender infused oil, or just the tiniest bit of either of those EO. Which would not really be enough to scent the soap if you're doing CP, but I do HP, so I can get away with a lot less EO

That's just my thoughts, coming from the perspective of someone with super-sensitive skin with kids with super-sensitive skin....

_________________
"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." ~ Dorothy Parker

I agree with pp about no fragrance oil. I have 3 girls and they have horribly sensitive skin (it blisters when they get food on their faces) and fragrance oil is a big no no. The only essential oil they can tolerate on their skin is lavender, but I haven't tried chamomile (prohibitively expensive right now). I can use lavender on them straight for mosquito bites and things like that, but any kind of scented lotion or anything petroleum based (including almost all lipsticks/lip gloss/chapstick) is off limits.

The previous post about castile soap is a good idea, but my kids have been able to tolerate a wider range of bases. One that is really good for them is avocado. Having a higher concentration of avocado in the soap is really beneficial because it protects the lipid composition of the skin. Olive oil creates a barrier on the skin that also lets the skin continue to breathe, so the two of them together is excellent. Personally, I'd rather buy a soap with coconut oil for lather instead of castor oil, but I know more and more people are developing allergies to coconut, so that's something to take into account. At the very least, you could make two different formulations to fit a broader range of people. Just remember that the lipid composition isn't as strong in baby skin, so anything you put on it will absorb into their bodies quicker and in higher quantities. Castor oil helps the absorption, so don't use it with FO for babies.

I hope this has been helpful and not preachy sounding. I'm a Microbiology major and my geek side tends to come out with things like this .

sakura I have a question for you. I know olive oil by itself can be a wonderful moisturizer, but in soap it transforms into sodium olivate, which is a form of salt. Since soap is a wash off product, how can it create a barrier on the skin? Same thing for avocado oil. Soap cleans without stripping the skin of moisture, but it doesn't add anything back.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Actually, if the formula is superfatted, it does. There is always a little oil left behind, as long as the formula is not too harsh (such as too much coconut). Also, avocado oil has an relatively high amount of unsaponifiables that are not consumed by the lye and, therefore, remain in the final soap. The skin is a very good absorption system and will pull what it wants from anything placed upon it, even within a short period. Granted, not as much as in a lotion, but still, it is able to absorb something.

Also, if nothing was left behind, the claim of "moisturizing soap" would be a lie.

Good point. All soaps need to be superfatted. Avocado has a better change of staying as is due to the unsaponifiables. According to Kevin Dunn, who is a chemist and who wrote the Scientific Soapmaking book, there is no easy way to know which oils or fats end up as your superfats. He says that the molecules can still exchange places. So adding any of the so called superfats at trace is an old wife's tale, since there is no guarantee that any particular oil or butter will end up as your superfat. If soap is labeled as "moisturizing" it becomes a cosmetic and not just soap. Technically, soap does not moisturize. It cleans dirt, dust, grime and excess oils from the skin without stripping. If the soap moisturized, which I feel it doesn't, it wouldn't be an effective cleanser.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Oh, I definitely agree that you can't determine which oils will be left after saponification - it depends entirely on what the lye molecules bind to. When I say superfat, I mean additional nutrients added after trace (or, in my case, after the cook).

Thank you all for the conversation about oils and skin absorption! It's great to hear what other people's experiences are and their knowledge and opinions!

Vivian

_________________
Anna Rose @-}--
blog

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.