by solveeczema | May 22, 2007 | About Products
Now that Unscented Dove has changed its surfactant formula, I can no longer recommend it for the washing test. The new formula may be fine, but I cannot make further recommendations until I know. I will update my web site as soon as I can. (I wish it were easier to update the site!!)
I looked at the ingredients lists of nearly every bar soap on Drugstore.com. Fortunately, Drugstore.com lists ingredients for most products and is easy to search. They have a sale right now with large discounts on most of the bar soaps. At any rate, I found many pure soap products, I will see which ones are non-drying, and post some opinions on those as soon as I can.
The products I looked at fell mainly into a few categories:
1) True soap(s), fatty acids, glycerin, water softening agents, non-surfactant additives (like colors, fragrances).
2) True soaps(s), glycerin (whether added or from the soap-making processing), non-surfactant additives (like colors, fragrances, oils).
3) Mild detergent-true soap combinations nearly identical to the old unscented Dove formula, with fatty acids, water softeners, non-surfactant additives like fragrances and color.
4) Detergents, non-surfactant additives.
COMMENTS:
I have a lot of hope for products in categories 1 and 3. The water softening agents in particular are a great help for rinsing. So not only is the soap safe for kids with detergent-reactive eczema, but these products tend to rinse well from skin and shower walls (reducing mold that tends to grow on residues). I have found some good products in category 2, and I am presently using one, but it leaves quite a film in the shower even though I have soft water.
Surfactant composition varied within the same brand. One “flavor” of a given brand might be all soap, another all detergent. I found I had to be very careful to get EXACTLY the right “flavor”, some of the products within the same brand looked nearly identical per packaging, but had vastly different ingredients. In some cases, only one of the “flavors” would be okay for those with detergent-reactive eczema.
by solveeczema | Apr 11, 2007 | About Eczema, About Products, Must Reads, Solveeczema.org
I am frequently asked about recipes to make Soap Flake Laundry Powder starting with bar soaps like Ivory Bar Soap.
Here’s a great link (ignore the word “detergent” in the recipe titles, it’s just another example of how we use the terms “soap” and “detergent” interchangeably without thinking): Link
Another place to find recipes is on Recipezaar.com — as I point out on the web site, these too are entitled “detergent” recipes. Evaluate them by the list of ingredients, not the title.
by solveeczema | Mar 14, 2007 | About Products
I have been getting reports that Unscented Dove has been discontinued.
Unscented Dove for Sensitive Skin may be a reasonable substitute, at least it used to be identical surfactant-wise. The only reason I did not recommend it was because it has several oils in it that the plain unscented does not have, including Sweet Almond Oil. There is some research indicating early exposure to nut oils, even rubbed on the skin, may increase the likelihood of developing nut allergies. I personally would like to see the studies repeated with a little more rigor, but they are something to be aware of.
In my own experience, of all the Dove products, people are the least likely to have problems with the other ingredients in Unscented Dove, so I’m disappointed that they discontinued it.
Unscented Dove is one of those products that isn’t entirely true soap, but the major component is soap and the hydration properties appear to be the same as true soap. It is also non-drying. I liked being able to recommend a product that was available worldwide.
So…
If you have used the solveeczema.org web site to eliminate your eczema, please tell me about your favorite non-drying bar soap! Ideally, I’d like to find something that is widely available. Rather than commenting here, please go to the web site http://www.solveeczema.org and click on the Feedback link on the home page.
I know people who do use the Dove Unscented for Sensitive Skin without problems. I am also looking into “basis sensitive skin bar” — please let me know if your child definitely has detergent-reactive eczema and you have used this product (what were the results?). Like Dove, it appears to be a mixture of mainly soap with other surfactants.
