Gentle Handmade Baby Soap Recipe- Cold Process
This gentle baby soap recipe with olive oil, tallow, and shea butter is a skin-nourishing, low-irritation soap—perfect for delicate skin.
Watch the video that goes with this post below!
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This recipe is formulated to be:
- very gentle
- long-lasting
- low cleansing / high conditioning
- creamy, stable lather
- slow to trace (easy for beginners)
- appropriate for baby’s skin after cure
Important note: Many pediatricians recommend no fragrance for newborns. You can make this unscented, or use a very low lavender percentage for babies over a few months old.
Gentle Baby Cold Process Soap Recipe (Lavender)
Oils (1000 g batch)
**Learn to render your own tallow here: How to Render and Purify Tallow | For Cooking or Soapmaking
Lye Solution
This gives a 5% superfat for extra gentleness. I buy my lye from Nurture Soap
| Ingredient | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) | 131 g | 4.62 oz |
| Distilled water | 300 g | 10.58 oz |
Essential Oil (optional & very light)
| Ingredient | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| Lavender essential oil | 8–10 g | 0.28–0.35 oz |
This is intentionally low for baby safety. You can add up to an ounce for adult skin.
Instructions
- Melt the fats
- Gently melt tallow and shea butter.
- Add olive oil. Let oils cool to ~95–100°F.
- Mix lye water
- Add lye to water (never reverse).
- Stir and cool to ~115-125 degrees F.
- Blend
- Pour lye solution into oils.
- Stick blend to light trace.
- Add lavender
- Stir in essential oil by hand.
- Pour into mold
- Tap to release bubbles.
- Insulate lightly.
- Unmold
- After 24–48 hours.
- Cure
- Minimum 4-6 weeks
Why this soap is ideal for babies
- No coconut oil → avoids stripping skin
- High olive oil → famous for “Castile-like” gentleness
- Tallow → supports skin’s natural lipid barrier
- Shea → reduces irritation, adds creaminess
- Low superfat but nourishing profile → won’t feel greasy
- Long cure → extremely mild, hard bar
Expected Soap Qualities
| Quality | Result |
|---|---|
| Hardness | Long-lasting bar |
| Lather | Creamy, lotion-like |
| Cleansing | Very low (perfect for babies) |
| Conditioning | Very high |
| Mildness | Exceptional after cure |
Quick Soapmaker Notes
- Superfat: 5%
- Lye concentration: ~30%
- Cure time: 6–8 weeks for maximum gentleness
Newborn / Unscented Version
Simply omit the lavender for the most sensitive skin.
