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A super simple, gentle and foaming DIY natural baby shampoo and body wash for babies and even adults with dry skin using Castile Soap, glycerin or aloe vera and essential oils. I use this same formula as my body wash, too! It is non-toxic, sulfate and paraben free, and gentle on that brand new skin.
Why Make Your Own Natural Baby Shampoo?
It's Much Cheaper!
To purchase a natural baby shampoo in the stores, you can easily pay $10-$15, and even then it could be scented with artificial fragrances and not pure essential oils.
It's Much Healthier
Did you know there are toxins in most body washes and soaps on the market? Things like artificial fragrances, sulfates, and paragons.
Sodium Laureth and Lauryl Sulfate
Sulfates are harsh detergents that are great for home cleaning or washing your house and car, but are not appropriate for washing your hair or body. They are certainly too harsh and strong for a baby's delicate skin! When looking for a store-bought baby shampoo, I recommend steering clear of sulfates.
Artificial Fragrances
Artificial fragrances can trigger asthma attacks, worsen allergies, and cause inflammation in the sinuses that can lead to more frequent colds and respiratory infections. And they are in a massive amount of products in the stores and are hard to get away from! That’s why I prefer to scent my homemade products with essential oils.
Fake fragrances disperse particles of formaldehyde and phthalates (thy-lates) into the air. Phthalates are small particles of plastic that are used to bind the artificial fragrance molecules together. We then breathe in those tiny particles of plastic and they get into our nose and lungs – yuck! They are also irritating on the skin, which obviously isn't good for a sweet baby.
It’s Eco Friendly
Those same toxins listed above that are not healthy for humans also harm the environment. They harm our delicate ecosystems as they go down our drains and are polluting our drinking water and the planet. Also, when you buy the ingredients in bulk to make your own products and reuse your bottles and containers, you produce less trash and waste, which is better for our planet.
Learn About the Ingredients in This Recipe
Vegetable Glycerin
Vegetable Glycerin is a natural by-product of the soap making process. It is moisturizing but not greasy, which is why I've added it to this natural baby shampoo recipe. If your baby's skin is very dry or if they have eczema, you can increase the amount. You might even make two recipes – one for the hair with a small amount or without the glycerine, and one for the body with glycerine.
If your baby, toddler or child has curly hair, I highly recommend using the glycerin as it's in many curly hair products because it moistures and helps to detangle the hair.
Essential Oils
Essential oils are wonderful to use in homemade bath, body and beauty products. They not only make your products smell like they were created in a spa, they also have many therapeutic and health benefits!My favorite essential oils company is Young Living, and they offer some of the most beautiful and convenient starter kits on the market to make getting started with essential oils easy. Learn more about their starter kits here. I use them all of the time to keep me and my family healthy and well.
To learn more about how you can safely use essential oils for babies, check out my post here!
Castile Soap
Castile Soap is one of our natural home staples. I use it in all of ourhand soapsandbody washes. It lathers well and is also gentle and mild. It doesn’t contain any harsh detergents like Sodium Laureth or Lauryl Sulfate so it is wonderful to use on the body. It is an olive oil based soap that originated in the Castile region of Spain, which is where it gets its name.
I used to really struggle with dry, cracked hands, especially in the winter time when I used store bought hand soaps. Now that I use Castile Soap, I rarely even have to use lotion, even in the winter!
Foaming DIY Natural Baby Shampoo and Body Wash Recipe
A foaming DIY natural baby shampoo and body wash recipe that's moisturizing, super gentle and completely nontoxic.
- Author: Sara McFall
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 tbsp. Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap – Aloe Vera Baby Mild (unscented)
- Optional: 1 tbsp. – use either Vegetable Glycerin or Liquid Aloe Vera Gel
- Optional: 3-5 drops Essential Oils like Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Frankincense, Gentle Baby or Patchouli
- 8 oz. Foaming Soap Pump – white top, or fancier brown pump
- approx. 7 oz. water
- Printable label for your bottle
Instructions
Fill the soap bottle halfway with water. Add the Castile Soap and optional glycerine or Aloe Vera and essential oils. Gently top off with more water. Done!
Notes
The liquid Aloe Vera gel I've linked to here is a clear liquid, it is not a gel. If you use a gel, I'm not sure how that would change the consistency of the recipe and if it'll still go through the foaming pump.
I have personally found the unscented, Baby Mild, Castile Soap doesn't cause much eye irritation for my kids. But it does cause some, so this recipe isn't fully tear free.
Cost Breakdown
- Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap– $0.48/an ounce and you need 1 ounces – $0.48
- Aloe Vera Gel – $2/an ounce and you need .5 oz for a tablespoon – $1.00OR
TOTAL:$1.48 for 8 ounces! Way cheaper than a $10 bottle at the store and it's totally pure and non-toxic.
