Kids Cold Process Soap

[Liorasol]

I am looking at making a kids soap that has gentle ingredients.
I am stuck as to what my recipe should be. I am almost thinking that it has too many things in it...

It looks like this:

Olive Oil – 50% – 391.46g
Coconut Oil – 20% – 156.58g
Shea Butter – 20% – 156.58g
Sunflower Oil – 10% – 78.29g
Lye – 106.08g
Water – 258.36g
Goat Milk Powder – 30g
Oatmeal – 5g
Coconut Milk Powder – 16.5g
Calendula Liquid Extract– 5g
*Amounts have been decided by using Soapmakingfriend

 

[AliOop]

Hi there! This looks like a nice recipe to me. The only changes I'd make would be:

1. Use one milk powder or the other - there isn't much benefit to combining the two, as they will act similarly in the soap. Coconut milk would be vegan, if that's important to any of your users.

2. Don't use oatmeal. Even if you grind it up, it will be quite scrubby on the skin - not great for kids' tender skin. If you don't grind it, the oat flakes will not only be very scrubby, but can also go moldy in the soap. For skin-soothing benefits, use colloidal oats, which will dissolve almost completely in your water. In the US, we used to be able to find it in the baby cereal aisle, but lately, I only see products with other, not-so-nice ingredients added. You can buy colloidal oats from many soap or lotion suppliers, like Windy Point in Canada.

 

[artemis]

I find colloidal oatmeal in the skincare aisle. As a hobbyist, this is a small expense and lasts forever, since I only use 1 Tbsp per 1 lb batch. However, if you are selling, there has to be a cheaper way. Here is a picture of the name brand, but I think I can sometimes find a store brand version.

 

[AliOop]

I find colloidal oatmeal in the skincare aisle. As a hobbyist, this is a small expense and lasts forever, since I only use 1 Tbsp per 1 lb batch. However, if you are selling, there has to be a cheaper way. Here is a picture of the name brand, but I think I can sometimes find a store brand version.

View attachment 80137

That one looks great, Artemis! I haven't been able to find a 100% oatmeal version in my area; they all have additives that I'd rather not use. But I'll look more closely in the adult skincare aisles, and not just in the baby section. Thank you!

 

[Liorasol]

Hi there! This looks like a nice recipe to me. The only changes I'd make would be:

1. Use one milk powder or the other - there isn't much benefit to combining the two, as they will act similarly in the soap. Coconut milk would be vegan, if that's important to any of your users.

2. Don't use oatmeal. Even if you grind it up, it will be quite scrubby on the skin - not great for kids' tender skin. If you don't grind it, the oat flakes will not only be very scrubby, but can also go moldy in the soap. For skin-soothing benefits, use colloidal oats, which will dissolve almost completely in your water. In the US, we used to be able to find it in the baby cereal aisle, but lately, I only see products with other, not-so-nice ingredients added. You can buy colloidal oats from many soap or lotion suppliers, like Windy Point in Canada.

It would be colloidal oats! Sorry I should have specified!
Another question, could I use the coconut milk powder to make coconut milk and then use that in place of all the water?? or should I keep some water in the recipe??

ps: looking at this from a beginners standpoint, what would be easier?

Thank you so much!!!!

 

[Liorasol]

I find colloidal oatmeal in the skincare aisle. As a hobbyist, this is a small expense and lasts forever, since I only use 1 Tbsp per 1 lb batch. However, if you are selling, there has to be a cheaper way. Here is a picture of the name brand, but I think I can sometimes find a store brand version.

View attachment 80137

Would this be better than buying from lets say Windypoint or Soap and More??

Thank you!!

 

[Zing]

Looks like a good recipe. I like shea in soap.

 

[Relle]

It would be colloidal oats! Sorry I should have specified!
Another question, could I use the coconut milk powder to make coconut milk and then use that in place of all the water?? or should I keep some water in the recipe??

ps: looking at this from a beginners standpoint, what would be easier?

Thank you so much!!!!

From a beginners standpoint, I would use water.

 

[AliOop]

It would be colloidal oats! Sorry I should have specified!
Another question, could I use the coconut milk powder to make coconut milk and then use that in place of all the water?? or should I keep some water in the recipe??

ps: looking at this from a beginners standpoint, what would be easier?

Thank you so much!!!!

You can reconstitute the milk powder with water and use that as a 100% water replacement. I've not had coconut milk scorch when adding NaOH, but others have, so you'd probably want the coconut milk to be at least cold from the fridge to keep the temps down. A drawback to this, especially for new soapers, is that it is harder to know that all of the NaOH has completely dissolved in the milk.

You can also make a slurry with the powder and a just bit of the water, and blend that into the oils (then use the rest of the water as your liquid).

You can also blend the dry powder into the oils and use only water as the liquid. Like Relle said, I find this way the easiest, and I think that most beginners would, as well. But whatever way you prefer, that's what you should do.

As for which colloidal oat product to buy, I'd choose the one that's least expensive and hopefully also the easiest to source. As long as the sole ingredient is colloidal oats, it going to be the same product whether you buy it from the store shelves as a bath soak, or from Windy Point as a lotion ingredient.

 

[Liorasol]

Thank you all for such great feedback! I am excited to get started!

 

[artemis]

The slurry method mentioned by @AliOop is how I add buttermilk to some of my soaps.

 

[artemis]

Would this be better than buying from lets say Windypoint or Soap and More??

Thank you!!

Personally, is just buy it at the store as I showed it above.

1. A small box of three packs will cover many batches of soap.
2. I don't have to pay for shipping.

 

[Relle]

You can reconstitute the milk powder with water and use that as a 100% water replacement. I've not had coconut milk scorch when adding NaOH, but others have, so you'd probably want the coconut milk to be at least cold from the fridge to keep the temps down. A drawback to this, especially for new soapers, is that it is harder to know that all of the NaOH has completely dissolved in the milk.

You can also make a slurry with the powder and a just bit of the water, and blend that into the oils (then use the rest of the water as your liquid).

You can also blend the dry powder into the oils and use only water as the liquid. Like Relle said, I find this way the easiest, and I think that most beginners would, as well. But whatever way you prefer, that's what you should do.

As for which colloidal oat product to buy, I'd choose the one that's least expensive and hopefully also the easiest to source. As long as the sole ingredient is colloidal oats, it going to be the same product whether you buy it from the store shelves as a bath soak, or from Windy Point as a lotion ingredient.

Just looked for the Aveeno soothing bath treatment in the supermarket ( not available here) , $38 Amazon, is that what it should be ?

 

[AliOop]

Just looked for the Aveeno soothing bath treatment in the supermarket ( not available here) , $38 Amazon, is that what it should be ?

That sounds outrageous!

 

[A-Polly]

Just looked for the Aveeno soothing bath treatment in the supermarket ( not available here) , $38 Amazon, is that what it should be ?

As @AliOop said, that price seems super high! However, I have seen this colloidal oatmeal on the website Heirloom Body Care at what seems a much more reasonable price (I was watching an Australian soapmaker who linked to products he used on that site so of course I clicked and poked around!). Since it's Australian-made, it could be available at other stores as well, maybe sold like Aveeno as a bath treatment.

 

[Relle]

As @AliOop said, that price seems super high! However, I have seen this colloidal oatmeal on the website Heirloom Body Care at what seems a much more reasonable price (I was watching an Australian soapmaker who linked to products he used on that site so of course I clicked and poked around!). Since it's Australian-made, it could be available at other stores as well, maybe sold like Aveeno as a bath treatment.

Found after I posted, I deal with this company, it is $20.80 for 250 grams.

 

[AliOop]

Found after I posted, I deal with this company, it is $20.80 for 250 grams.

Still seems high to me, but at least it is only half as much as the one you found on Amazon.

 

[FFLinOhio]

WSP has it for 11.95 for 1lb of colloidal oatmeal

 

[A-Polly]

Found after I posted, I deal with this company, it is $20.80 for 250 grams.

My thought was that if it is Australian-made, there ought to be other sources — perhaps a pharmacy, alongside other "sensitive skin" bath treatments? Might not be cheaper, though! And I forgot about the difference in currency, so the Heirloom colloidal oatmeal at $20.80 AUS would be about $12-$13 USD. I don't know how that compares to the Aveeno as I've never bought that particular product (just the plain stuff sold by soap suppliers as @FFLinOhio mentioned). Good luck with your search!

 

[Relle]

Still seems high to me, but at least it is only half as much as the one you found on Amazon.

That's what I thought.

WSP has it for 11.95 for 1lb of colloidal oatmeal

I don't live in the US, plus postage would be too expensive.

My thought was that if it is Australian-made, there ought to be other sources — perhaps a pharmacy, alongside other "sensitive skin" bath treatments? Might not be cheaper, though! And I forgot about the difference in currency, so the Heirloom colloidal oatmeal at $20.80 AUS would be about $12-$13 USD. I don't know how that compares to the Aveeno as I've never bought that particular product (just the plain stuff sold by soap suppliers as @FFLinOhio mentioned). Good luck with your search!

That's why I thought it would be cheaper in the supermarket. Thank you for looking.I'll track it down.