1. Dr. Bronner’s / 2. Babo Botanicals / 3. Carina Organic / 4. Paleo Skincare / 5. Honest
Written by Maia, President
UPDATED: January 2018
Guess what–you probably don’t even need a non-toxic, natural baby wash. There is no reason you can’t use a non-toxic shampoo on your baby’s body as well as his head, and most products are labeled for use as shampoo and as baby body wash.
That said, shampoos, even the ones I consider Good Stuff, generally has more ingredients than a simple bar of natural soap, so I prefer the latter for babies.
Some companies do make a separate natural baby wash that doesn’t double as shampoo. This Safe Product Guide gives you the run-down of the best and worst of these, plus recommends some great bar soaps (which, by the way, can be used on your little one’s hair, too!) and bubble baths, which I use every night for my boys just because they love it.
My Top Pick for Best Natural Baby Wash
I love Dr. Bronner’s 4-in-1 Organic Baby Sugar Soap because it lacks any sneaky ingredients and can be used on their body as well as hair.
When it comes to soap for your baby’s body, the biggies to stay away from are fragrance, anything ending in “paraben,” and all the obviously chemically-sounding names (like PEG-40).
Adult soaps and shower gels often include harsh petroleum-based detergents, but baby wash does tend to be gentler, if not necessarily safer. Ideally, you should choose a baby wash or bubble bath that specifies 100% natural ingredients; choosing organic baby wash is an even bigger plus.
One soap ingredient that has stirred a lot of controversy is sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS).
After lots of research, I’ve decided that while I’m okay using products that contain SLS to wash clothing or dishes, I don’t want it in anything that I rub directly onto my kids’ skin because it can be irritating.
Fortunately, most natural baby wash doesn’t contain SLS. Note that sodium laureth sulfate–often found in natural baby wash–is a different ingredient all together, and one that should always be avoided as it is often contaminated with carcinogenic 1-4, dioxane.
(Here’s more on the differences between these two ingredients.)
Now that you have some basic info on what you should stay away from, here is my roundup of Good, Bad, and Sneaky body washes, bar soaps, and bubble baths for babies and kids. I hope this makes picking a natural baby wash much easier, and feel free to post questions in the comments section below.
This unique product is a shampoo, body wash, hand product, and also gentle enough to use on your own face. This unscented sugar soap contains no questionable ingredients, and is great for those of you who want zero scent in anything you put on your baby. It is my favorite natural baby wash.
Babo’s line, all produced on an organic farm in upstate New York, boasts a clean ingredients list and yummy scent, without any synthetic fragrances.
My kids enjoy nightly bubble baths in Babo’s lavender formula, which doubles as a shampoo.
Please note that we are no longer carrying Babo’s Moisturizing Oatmilk/Calendula Bubble Bath & Wash in our online store because they added sodium benzoate to the formula (read more on this below in the box titled “Some Okay Stuff”).
$15.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now
Scented with the essence of the sweet pea flower, this is an extra gentle and tear-free bubble bath formulated with certified organic plant, vegetable, flower and tree extracts. This formula lathers less, rinses easily, and leaves no irritating residue, making it gentle enough for even a newborn’s delicate skin. Perfect for infants, babies, and children.
$10.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now
If you want a very pure, basic fragrance-free liquid soap/shampoo for your baby, this is a good bet, although I don’t love the way it smells (a sort of castile soap smell).
Lafe’s wash is 100% organic, with hydrating saponified oils of sunflower seed, coconut, olive, and palm. You can buy it on Amazon for around $13. Like I said, this is a safe natural baby wash, but not my favorite in terms of performance.
This is the best of the best if you’re in search of a natural baby wash for a newborn. I originally bought it to use as a facial cleanser for myself, and then began using it on my kids as well. (Parenting.com calls it one of only three cleansers they “…would ever recommend using on a child.”)
The simple ingredients list includes witch hazel, vegetable glycerin, and essential oils of geranium and lavender. Note that is won’t work as a bubble bath.
$42.00 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now
If you love bar soaps, try Farmaesthetics Rainwater Bath Bars, which are gentle enough for babies and kids, and made of organic ingredients. I often prefer a simple bar soap to natural baby wash when I bathe my kids.
The soap ingredients are basic: just purified rain water, olive, palm, and coconut oils, and various herbs, flowers, and essential oils. You’ll pay $12 per long-lasting bar, and you can buy these pretty soaps from the Good Stuff Store.
$12.99 — or subscribe and save up to 5%Buy Now
Made’s Of’s Baby Shampoo & Body Wash is a great gentle soap option for kids– it’s free of synthetic fragrances and problematic surfactants.
I am not a Paleo momma (in fact, I barely eat meat), but I love this soap!
It’s mild, unscented, and made with a variety of seasonal herbs, which are gathered in the wild or grown by the soapmaker herself.
This soap–like the rest of the Paleo Skincare line, is beef-tallow-based, which means it yields a rich, moisturizing lather and lasts longer than vegetable-based soaps.
If you’re looking for the most environmentally friendly, natural baby wash on this list, Paleo Skincare’s tallow soap is for you.
Earth Mama offers another safe bar soap option. With some slightly more interesting ingredients than most natural bar soaps—such as oats, cabbage rose, and lemon balm–this pleasant smelling soap is available on Amazon for $5.
Looks like this product is discontinued, Earth Mama’s Baby Wash & Shampoo is Good Stuff!
I am normally not a fan of direct sales companies (Arbonne, Ava Anderson, etc.), but there are some exceptions.
Beautycounter is one of the companies that is genuinely committed to bringing safe products to market.
The only caveat here is that their stuff is definitely NOT all natural or organic–but they do choose all ingredients that EWG has rated as low concern–and conduct their own research to boot.
Beautycounter’s body wash for kids has a pleasant smell (and doesn’t contain any undisclosed chemical fragrances), and is free of sodium lauryl and laureth sulfates. It also doesn’t contain sodium benzoate. You’ll pay $18 for a 10-ounce bottle.
While not 100% natural or organic, the bubble bath by The Honest Company is a safe option from a fairly reliable company (there are just a few of their products that I wouldn’t recommend–the majority are non-toxic).
You’ll pay around $12 for the 12-ounce bottle, and the bubble wand they include is a fun touch. Honest Bubble Bath is now available on Amazon.
This very basic soap contains only a few organic ingredients, but one of them is potassium hydroxide, which some readers have been concerned about (it gets a 3 from Skin Deep). Otherwise known as lye, potassium hydroxide is a caustic agent used to turn the coconut oil in Bronner’s soap into, well, soap. Fortunately, none remains in the finished product, and therefore, I consider this Good Stuff.
This is a solid natural baby wash choice, and you can use it for general household cleaning as well.
There is nothing bad or sneaky in this product, but there are a large number of synthetic ingredients. This isn’t a natural baby wash, but I do believe it’s a safe baby wash.
Baby Mantra is another brand that makes a nice, safe bubble bath (although it does contain potassium sorbate for those of you wanting to avoid that).
Baby Mantra sent me a free bottle of this natural baby wash to try, but of course this review is my own.
This natural baby wash and shampoo gets extra points for no icky presevatives and for being organic. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t speak to how it performs.
Other than not being organic, I can’t say anything bad about Tom’s of Maine natural baby wash and shampoo.
It’s unscented and reasonably priced.
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The following products are not quite Good Stuff because they contain sodium benzoate, an ingredient that Skin Deep rates a 3 and about which I have some concerns.
Despite the small amount of sodium benzoate it contains, I would feel comfortable using this wash on my own kids, as it has a short ingredients list and Beautycounter is committed to testing all their products for purity.
It’s not a natural baby wash, since nothing from Beautycounter is 100% natural, but it is safe.
California Baby products are widely available and people ask about them all the time.
Despite a recent change in their formula (now containing sodium benzoate), I would be okay using this bubble bath.
As I mentioned above, we are no longer carrying this variety of Babo’s bubble bath in our store since they added sodium benzoate to their formula.
If you want a Babo bubble bath, choose their Lavender Bubble Bath, which does not contain this questionable preservative.
In a pinch, however, any of this Okay Stuff is fine.
Weleda is a tough one. It’s one of those companies whose ingredients are all natural, just as they claim; unfortunately, some of the oils (limonene, geraniol, etc.) that make up Weleda’s fragrance are rated poorly by Skin Deep/EWG. So I can’t call Weleda Good Stuff.
But, strictly speaking, this is a 100% natural baby wash, and it smells incredible.
Fisher-Price not only makes toxic plastic toys, but also toxic bubble baths and baby washes, complete with synthetic fragrances and PEG chemicals galore.
Johnson’s tops the gross list, since most of their baby washes and soaps include fragrance, parabens, and artificial coloring. Johnson’s has, however, recently launched a natural line that is free of phthalates, parabens, artificial fragrances, and dyes (although none of it is organic).
Mustela, a high-end but noxious baby product line, makes several formulations of baby wash and bubble bath, full of fragrances and PEG chemicals.
Aquaphor’s Gentle Wash & Shampoo throws chamomile in their formula and hopes you won’t notice the PEG chemicals.
Burt’s Bee’s Bubble Bath contains synthetic fragrance (which can be home to dozens of undisclosed chemicals).
Earth’s Best Soothing Bubble Bath contains a host of concerning natural ingredients, such a linalool and limonene (both linked with immunotoxicity), as well as benzyl alcohol.
Gaia Natural Baby Bath & Body Wash contains the scary formaldehyde-releasing sodium hydroxymethylglycinate. I don’t know how they get away with calling this a “natural baby wash.” Oh wait, yes I do: total lack of regulation over this terms.
Gentle Naturals Eczema Baby Wash is not particularly gentle nor natural, with phenoxyethanol and several PEG chemicals among its ingredients.
Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Bath contains synthetic fragrance and immunotoxic cocamidopropyl betaine, plus a range of PEG chemicals.
BabyGanics Bubble Bath is better than the other products listed in this Sneaky Stuff section–but I don’t like that it contains phenoxyethanol and sodium benzoate.
Dr. Brown’s Foaming Baby Wash claims to be a natural baby wash but definitely is not, and includes “fragrance” as an ingredient.
Yes to Baby Carrots Naturally Cleansing Bubble Bath contains retinyl acetate, which Skin Deep gives a 9 (out of 10) on their hazard scale.
Little Twig Organics Bubble Bath contains suspected immunotoxin cocamidopropyl betaine and sodium benzoate.
While in general I consider Shea Moisture products to be at least Okay Stuff, I don’t like their baby washes because they contain cocamidopropyl betaine, which is given a hazard score of 4 from EWG because of it’s immunotoxic properties.
It’s not that there is anything so terrible in the Tubby Todd products, but they are full of it with their 100% natural claims. There are plenty of synthetics in there.
So many of you have asked about Just Hatched brand, but it’s decidedly sneaky, with fragrance, cocamidopropyl betaine, and PEG chemicals.
Noodle & Boo is a Sneaky brand has phenoxyethanol, synthetic fragrance, and other questionable ingredients.
Read our Safe Bar Soap Guide for other great natural soap and organic soap options for kids and grownups alike.
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how about adult body wash? what are the best organic/essential oils brands you recommend?Thanks
I've been using the Acure line thanks to your site. They have a great range of adult and kid products that get nearly perfect customer reviews. So if your looking for a safe company for adult needs as well then I highly recommend Acure Organics, Btw I often use thrive because of the amazing discounts they offer plus they carry many of these products.
If you want to make your own I highly recommend Dr Bronners castle soaps and Sal suds. Their website has all the 18+ ways to use their soaps for all your diy needs. I'm making my own laundry detergent and hand soaps now, way cheaper and healthier?? Who knew.....
How about organic body wash for adult? which brands are good stuff? Thanks
Hi! We haven't done a comprehensive Safe Body Wash Guide yet, but you'll find some Good Stuff approved brands here: https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/store/category/for-me/body/hand-body-soaps/
What about shampoo bars? Are they safe for babies?
Yup! As long as it's a safe, nontoxic brand:).
What about Shea Moisture products? Are the safe?
I am a big Shea Moisture fan. I use the head-to-toe soap on my 2 girls all the time. Seems to me to be better than California Baby which I find to be quite expensive to have a lot of ingredients listed on the bottle. Curious to know your thoughts on the Shea Moisture brand??
Hi!
We haven't yet reviewed Shea Moisture yet (although I see it everywhere), but will add them to our list of products to review in the coming weeks/months/ If you would like a faster response, you can always use our Pick My Brain service: https://gimmethegoodstuff.org/pick-my-brain
Otherwise, if you're on our mailing list, you'll know as soon as we review this!
Was California Baby mentioned in this Safe Baby Wash, Bubble Bath & Soap Guide? I didn't see it. I found an old post from 2013 that calls into question its authenticity as a "natural" company. Has it become an untrustworthy company? Is it Bad Stuff or Sneaky Stuff?
I remember seeing California Baby too and am curious what happened to the recommendation.
Also, I have a ton of Noodle & Boo stuff- any thoughts on that brand?
I have this one Raw Shea Chamomile & Argan Oil Baby. It looks like it doesn't have the SLS, the palmitate or the benzaote in it. Is this one as safe/good as the Head to Toe? Target doesn't carry the Head to Toe one so we've been using the above.
And why is sodium benzoate bad? The She Manuka Honey and Milk for Baby his it.
I've always used everyday Shea for my kids shampoo/wash/bubbles/condish. I would love to see a review on that as well.
Thank you for your site. It is so great!
Thanks, Amy! Shea seems like the Good Stuff:)
What about using Dr. Bronner's organic castille soap for babies?
yes! that would be Good Stuff:)
Ekkkk! I have been using mustela (cleaner, bath milk, lotion) on my precious eczema stricken 6 month old for months! EWG ranked it a low hazard and pediatrician recommended it. I have tried to be so careful with everything I put on my baby and this just makes me mad now! Why do companies feel the need to put all this crap in their products?! Anyway, thanks for the updates! I find myself always checking your site for references on 'good stuff'! Keep up the good work as it really makes a difference to us!
Thanks for the kind words, Wendy, and I'm glad the site has been helpful. Don't panic re Mustela--they have removed some of the worst ingredients, but I still think there is better stuff out there!
How do you feel about Vermont soap for babies? They have a liquid and bar soap. Thanks!