Best Soap for Eczema: What to Look For and What to Skip

The short answer: the best soap for eczema is the gentlest one you can find, used as little as possible. Dermatologists recommend a mild cleanser with no fragrance and no dyes, a short wash in warm (not hot) water, and moisturizer while your skin is still damp. No soap treats eczema. The right one simply avoids making it worse.

General information, not medical advice. If you have eczema, your dermatologist's advice comes first.

What do dermatologists recommend for washing eczema-prone skin?

The American Academy of Dermatology and the National Eczema Association give the same short list:

• Use cleanser only where you need it, and make sure it is mild and fragrance-free.
• Keep it short. Five to ten minutes in the bath or shower. Longer, and the water starts drying your skin.
• Warm, not hot.
• Don't scrub your skin.
• Pat dry, then moisturize right away, while your skin is still a little damp. The National Eczema Association says within three minutes.
• Skip bubble bath.

Notice how little of that is about the soap itself. How you wash matters as much as what you wash with.

What should you skip on the label?

• Fragrance of any kind. "Fragrance-free" means no essential oils either. Lavender, peppermint and citrus smell natural, and they still count as fragrance.
• Dyes. Color does nothing for your skin.
• Harsh detergents, such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), the foaming agent in many body washes. It is the standard irritant skin researchers use when they want to test irritation. Why sulfates matter.
• Long ingredient lists you can't read. Every extra ingredient is one more thing your skin can react to.

Is castile soap good for eczema?

It can be a reasonable choice, with one honest caveat.

Castile soap is real soap, made from plant oils. Like other true soaps, it is alkaline: when researchers measured bathing soaps, most came in at pH 9 to 10. Healthy skin is slightly acidic, around pH 5. The same researchers note that high-pH soap raises your skin's pH, which they link to dryness and irritation. It is also why the UK's National Health Service tells people with eczema to wash with an emollient (a moisturizing soap substitute) instead of soap.

If your dermatologist has told you to use a non-soap cleanser, follow that. If you want to try castile soap:

1. Choose unscented. No essential oils.
2. Go gentler than usual. Our bottles are made to use straight as a body wash, but for reactive skin, start the way we suggest for faces: half soap, half water.
3. Use it only where you need it, and rinse well.
4. Moisturize right after, while your skin is still damp.
5. Test a small patch first, like the inside of your forearm, for a few days before you use it everywhere. If it stings or turns red, stop.

Why we make an unscented castile soap

Our Unscented Castile Soap is the base formula and nothing else. Seven ingredients: four oils (olive, sunflower, castor and coconut) do the cleaning, and organic aloe vera stays on your skin after rinsing. No essential oils, no synthetic fragrance, no SLS, no parabens.

We are describing the formula, not promising a result on your skin. We made it for people who want as little as possible in their wash. If that is you, it is the one to start with.

Common questions

Can soap cause an eczema flare-up?

It can. Fragrance and harsh cleansers are common irritants for eczema-prone skin, which is why dermatologists recommend mild, fragrance-free products. Triggers differ from person to person, so a dermatologist can help you find yours.

Does the right soap cure eczema?

No. A gentle soap helps you avoid irritating your skin further. Treating eczema is a job for your dermatologist.

Is lavender castile soap OK for eczema?

Our Lavender has lavender essential oil in it, so it is not fragrance-free. If your skin reacts to fragrance, choose Unscented.

Can I use castile soap on a baby with eczema?

Ask your pediatrician first. The American Academy of Dermatology's advice for babies with eczema is the same as for adults: cleanser only when needed, mild and fragrance-free, short warm baths. What we do and do not know about castile soap and babies.

Scented or unscented?

For eczema-prone skin, unscented. How the two compare.

Sources

• American Academy of Dermatology, Atopic dermatitis: skin care and self-care.
• National Eczema Association, Bathing and eczema and Moisturizing.
• NHS, Atopic eczema: treatment.
• Tarun J. et al., Evaluation of pH of bathing soaps and shampoos for skin and hair care, Indian Journal of Dermatology, 2014.
• Lambers H. et al., Natural skin surface pH is on average below 5, International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 2006.