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.