Soap for an Infant

[naninkansas]

I'm going to be a grandma again at the end of Feb. , and my daughter has asked me to make baby soap for her. She knows that it won't be a tearless soap. I assumed that I would make a castile that would be either very lightly scented or unscented. I also considered using goat's milk.

Yesterday we were out and about and I took a look at the back of a bar of Johnson's baby soap and saw that the main ingredients listed were tallow, palm and coconut oils. They also listed fragrance. I was surprised at the oils they used (thought it would be mainly olive oil).

So if you were to make soap for a baby, what would you use?

She's probably not going to use it for at least a month after the baby is born but I still want it to have a good long time to cure.

Thanks in advance.

Nancy

[Mostly Lurkin]

I make mine in 100% EVOO - but that is a personal preference, I'm sure those with FAr more knowledge/experience than me will give you informed guidance.

[blazerina]

I've never used hydrosols, but would a rose one be able to scent a batch? They are supposed to be great for skin. Baby soap also makes me think of these things: Chamomille, Calendula and Lavender. I'd say scent it with Lav EO, but it's not exactly a 'baby' type smell. And you can incorporate these things by way of an infusion and leave it unscented except for the very faint natural one the herbs will give you. You might even be able to get a soft pale orange by using the Calendula to color your oil.

[naninkansas]

I like the idea of a very faint and soft flowery fragrance, not necessarily a baby lotion or powdery smell. I have lavender fo, not eo but could get some if that would be a better choice for a baby's skin. It either has to be mild or not there at all.

Chamomile sounds nice but I don't have any and I think the eo is pretty expensive.

I'll probably stick with the olive oil. I had my hubby pick some up the other day and ouch, I think I'll be making a small batch for now. Or possibly I could add a bit of PKO and a bit of sunflower oil as a small percentage to make it a slightly larger batch since I have those already.

[naninkansas]

Oooh, I missed the idea of a rose hydrosol. I don't even know what that is, but it sounds soooo nice!

[CareBear]

regular olive oil is fine. no need for extra virgin

[Meridith]

If making an infant soap, I wouldn't use any scent. I have a very mild soap I made that a few of my customers have used on their babies. I used my normal recipe and I did not add any fo or coloring; instead I added 3 milks, pureed carrots, oats and honey.

[eugenia]

Castile, 90% olive, 10% castor.

e

[naninkansas]

Thank you all for your help. I'm going to take all of this into consideration and will probably go with unscented and the olive and castor oil.

[NNK]

I'll second Olive and castor. there is something i wanted to add though. You can infuse your olive with let's say calendula and lavender. chamomile is great but a lot of people who are allergic to ragweed are allergic to chamomile. with the calendula, you get tons of benefits and no side effects.

you can infuse the oil in a crocpot on WARM (or low, just make sure the oil doesn't get to the boiling point), for couple of days.

If you add lavender (herb) to your infusion, the oil might get a little bit of scent initially, but nothing will stay in finished soap unfortunately. so if you decide to scent the soap, a touch of lavender EO is probably as far as you should go.

oh, and the last thing, oil infused with those herbs is absolutely great if baby gets a rash here and there, or dry skin. it is good to keep on hand around a changing station, instead of mineral oil and those scary lotions from J&J

[naninkansas]

I like the idea of infusing the oil and I will definately do that with the calendula and possibly lavender. Thank you so much!!

[NNK]

there is something i forgot to mention. you can also use calendula tea as your liquid (if you use water). If you are planning to use goat's milk, you can use canned milk as half of your liquid and calendula tea as the other half. once again, I don't know how much medicinal value of calendula will stay in finished soap, since we are talking lye here, but I'd like to believe that some of it stays and makes the soap better.

[Tea]

In a soap book that I have, it uses rice water, as the rice starch is soothing for baby skin. Just boil some rice in water, and use that as your water count. I usually keep it as cool as possible while adding the lye.

Also I use olive oil that has been sitting with calendula. Calendula is also recommended for baby skin.

Scent is not supposed to be used till babies are at least 6 months, as baby skin is too soft and sensitive and their liver is too immature to cope with the absorbsion of them.

This is the only soap that I make for babies.

Just my experiences.

Tracey

[naninkansas]

Okay, I have the calendula in the olive oil in the sunny window. How long does this process take for infusing? I would like to make this later next week but it doesn't have to be that soon if it needs to infuse longer.

I will not use any scent. I would rather soap that is as safe for a baby as can be than to even take a chance.

I appreciate all of this good advice. You guys are wonderful.

[NNK]

it depends on how sunny the window is . i prefer to infuse in the double boiler or crockpot, it takes a day or so for flowers to get the same results as with the window. i might be wrong, but i think window infusing takes couple of weeks or so

[naninkansas]

It's a pretty sunny window. I think since I want to make this next week I'll leave it sit, then put it in the crockpot overnight on the warm or low setting. Probably warm because my crockpot tends to be a little hot.

I'll probably be back to ask questions when I get ready to make this!

[blazerina]

Two to six weeks is the usual recommendation for infusing oils the old fashioned way. One week would probably be fine if you add extra herb so as to be sure to get a good amt of substance into the oil. Shake it often just like you would if you were adding fo to those beads... ESPECIALLY often if you are going to cut the infusion time short.

Don't forget that the Calendula will turn the oil a golden color and probably give a bit of it to your soap. And if there are any stray petals, sometimes they add a lovely effect... other times they turn brown and look like worms, lol. But don't worry if you see it look like this.

Once the infusion is done, or i'm ready to use it, which ever comes first, lol... I put a coffee filter in a small to medium seive and set it over a wide mouth jar or smaller bowl to let the oil infusion drain with out having the petals or other herbs be in it. And sometimes I like to put the petals in the soap or scrub too. I'm fickle that way, lol.

[heirloomoriginals]

I made a nice castille type soap with shea butter, RBO, some Crisco and some castor. Used Goats milk (mixed my lye with 4 oz of water and adde the remaining water as goats milk).

The RBO gave it nice hardness and it is a really nice bar. If I ever decide to make a baby soap, I may try and infuse the oils.

Steh

[MsDammit]

I made a batch a couple of weeks ago, 90% Olive oil & 10% Monoi, it's not soft at all and has a light scent (haven't tried it out yet though).

[8-GRAN-ONES]

this sounds so interesting...I have never tried infusing...

You know the niece that I had asked all my soaping buddies to keep in their prayers? The one that had the brain tumor..Her baby is due in March...I would like to make some of this for her..

but where do you get the lavendar and calendula? for infusing?

I would like to make some of this and have it setting, so it will be really cured..

I just love this board....there are so many wonderful ideas here....

[naninkansas]

I believe that I got my Calendula from Texas Natural Supply. I'm going to try the rice water as well with mine.

[blazerina]

8 Gran- since you are in Cali you might want to try Glory Bee. That's where I get both of mine at a decent price. Glory Bee isn't THAT great for FO, but they are local to me and do have a lot of everything else to get me by.

The first bag of Calendula I bought there was the whole flowers mostly. And the last time I bought some-( last week-and it was less than $2 an ounce which fills a good sized bag) it looks like mostly the petals so that was a good thing- not sure why that's good just seems like that's the part ya really want in the end. Their lavender is also nice and dark colored. I beleive that means it's fresh... here in Oregon we grow a lot of it so I would hope so! They also have 1/4 cut lemongrass and peppermint leaf cut up, ground orange peel, all of which I have bought and used. I think Brambleberry in WA has all the same stuff too.

Good luck!

[Jo Ann]

like that idea nat. i was thinking about using infused oils for soap making. but i think my next goal is to find a base recipe that I like and can make, so that i can do m&p when I don't have the time or inclination to mess around. i think kid soap in a nice idea, especially for xmas.