Gentle soap for toddlers?

[earlene]

I would NOT increase or even focus on replacing the cleansing value of soap intended for small children. That cleansing number is associated with stripping the skin of their natural oils, and that is undesirable in small children. You can get clean using soap with a zero cleansing number. Long before we had access to such a variety of specialty soaps, detergents & syndets, physicians used to recommend Castile soap for babies and people with tender skin because of its gentleness when washing. In spite of having a zero cleansing number, Castile soap still gets you clean.

And so will a soap made with other oils with low cleansing numbers, such as RBO, Safflower, Sunflower, Avocado, Soy (Oil or Wax), Cocoa Butter, Almond Oil, Canola, Castor, and the list goes on.

 

[David James]

I agree with everyone that says:

"Cleansing level can stay very low for children."

You absolutely do not need to strip away all of the oils on their bodies, and even soaps with a zero % cleansing level as shown by SoapCalc are still excellent skin cleansers. Castille Soap (100% olive oil) is one of those 0% ones, btw. Adding a tiny bit of Coconut Oil can get you a bump in cleansing if needed, but not really needed.

Right now, I am making tons of handwashing soaps with super-low cleansing and super-high conditioning values for people that need to wash their hands a grillion times per day. (note to future time travellers: [whispers] "Coronavirus / CoVid-19 / SARS-CoV-2")

"Don't try to manage the pH of CP soap."

It is a worthy goal, and some baby soaps (pH 5.5 or so) and all "No More Tears" types of shampoos have adjusted pH levels -- they match the pH of a human eyeball (around ph 7.1) But this just can't be done with CP. No matter how much acid you add, you need to add more lye or else all you are doing is extra superfat. Your pH test strips are useful to make sure that you didn't forget to add a whole oil, or missed a decimal place. If your strips are always the same, you are very likely doing it right.

This is also the reason that every CP shampoo bar is going to be considered too alkaline and require a diluted acid rinse (usually Apple Cider Vinegar diluted to about 2-3% acidity) afterwards. ( I said "considered" - please, no hate mail.) You can also do a diluted acid skin rinse. Human skin really needs to be slightly acidic to maintain protection from microbes.

 

[Garden Gives Me Joy]

This recipe is based on Obsidian's recipe idea above.

I have never actually used lard and tend to use the more readily available palm oil shortening (which I enter as 'Crisco new w palm' in soapcalc) as a substitute. Besides, I like that it is even more conditioning than lard.

I used PKO instead of CO because it is gentler but comparably cleansing. However, as others have said, even '0' cleansing scores gently clean also. So maybe the PKO can be reduced. Despite the apparently low hardness score, this bar will be hard and fast curing.

I like that the oleic and linoleic acids are balanced. Am I correct in assuming the linoleic acid will help to keep away 'baby acne'. Also, at the same time, the oleic acid, along with a high conditioning score is sufficiently conditioning to also keep 'baby eczema' at bay.

I figure that keeping the bubbles low like this is good for preventing soap in a child's eyes? (I know that if I were doing this to wash my own face, I'd add sugar to increase bubbles but won't bother in this case).

 

[Anstarx]

For bubbles, I have a recipe that has a 10 in bubbly, so lower than yours. The lather was slimey at first but after a 4 month cure it was getting actual decent bubbles. Not big fluffy ones but still bubbles.
Besides, I don't know how you wash a kid but I'd lather up and put the lather on skin instead of just smack the soap onto the skin. So the bubbles in eyes problem is more of how you wash them instead of problem with the soap.
I'd suggest just avoid skin around eyes when washing