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Originally Posted by holothuroidea
 ...and the chemists go
 If you have J&J stuff left over from other babies or given to you as a gift, use it. You are much more likely to suffer from the effects of "bad chemicals" from the air you breath and the water you bathe yourself in than that soap. NO soap or detergent is "natural" by what seems to be the definition of natural around here. Especially detergent. All detergents are synthetic by definition, and so are soaps. Soaps usually contain less additives and stabilizers, though. If you are concerned about sensitive baby skin, use something fragrance free. This is the perspective of someone who can not only pronounce all the ingredients on the J&J bottle, but knows what they are. Just because you can pronounce the ingredients doesn't make it safer. I mean, you know what poison ivy is, right? I mean, please tell me why you feel better about Decyl Polyglucose than Sodium Lauryl Sulfate? |
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Originally Posted by pixiepunk
bolding mine. I beg to differ. We use Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild soap on the whole family. here's a list of ingredients from their website:
INGREDIENTS: Water, Saponfied Organic Coconut Oil*, Saponified Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Glycerin, Organic Cannabis Sativa (Hemp) Seed Oil, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol (Vit. E), * Certified Fair Trade by IMO ... as for the whole 'natural' thing... i don't really think it's a false claim, at least not in the case of Dr. Bronner's. i mean natural, by definition, would be something found in nature, right? why expose yourself when there are reasonable alternatives? that's what i don't get. and i'm not sure why you'd be surprised that a Natural Family Living community, as we are "around here," would be seeking natural alternatives to mainstream decidedly unnatural products?! |
| Here's a website to check the safety of baby products: Hi ladies! http://cosmeticsdatabase.com/special...php?nothanks=1 |
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Originally Posted by hmkrueger
I guess it really depends on your ideas about personal products, too...if animal testing is a concern for you, or animal products in the soaps. Ivory is 99.9(9?)% pure, very few ingredients, but it has tallow in it.
I got a bar of unscented glycerine soap at our natural mkt for $1.99, so perhaps that's an option for you. As far as kid/baby soaps we use the California baby on the littlest one, and Nature's Gate on the older 3. Nature's Gate is not "perfect" but it's got somewhat fewer objectionable ingredients and is $4.99 on sale for a pretty large bottle -- I just looked and it's 18 fl oz. I may try something else next, but for now that's working well for 9 yo, 6yo and 2 yo hair. |
and when you buy the gallon you can put just a little bit of soap in a smaller bottle - because i have kids who occasionally dump it out in the bathtub too 
you can also dilute it a bit, which stretches it even longer 
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Originally Posted by paquerette
There is a legend that soap was invented when a pot of cooking tallow fell into the ashes of the fire. There's another more disturbing one about Pompeii. It's not usually found in nature, but it's possible to be made without human intervention.
Do you work for J&J by any chance? I know there's a big plant in New Brunswick. |
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Originally Posted by holothuroidea
Please explain to me how getting cooking tallow in ashes is "happens in nature" or that anything in pompeii happened without human intervention.
No I don't work at J&J. I SAH. My husband works for Firmenich if you really must know. I have not even said anything remotely favorable about J&J products anyway. No more personal attacks on my integrity please. Its only because I know how chemical industry works, and how these products are created that I know with certainty that California Baby isn't any more natural than Equate baby wash or whatever else you can get for 50 cents at wal-mart. It's frustrating for me to try to tell you guys this, because we REALLY want to do what's best for the environment and we start with what we know---usually what we can find hyped up on TV or the internet... and we miss the big picture. Being green needs to start with the chemistry, and no detergents are created by green processes. I'll tell you why- its difficult. And expensive. My husband works all day to try to find solvent free pathways to fragrances, It's a long and arduous process. *heavy sigh* Saponification is one of the most green reactions around, btw. Hooray for soap! Boo for detergent. Even when you get essential oils, the processes they use to extract those oils create a lot of chemical waste that goes... where? Into the water. Just think about it the next time you get a "natural" product that contains rose oil or sandalwood or whatever. |
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Originally Posted by holothuroidea
I personally think that the best products are usually the cheapest. That is, they contain less additives.
If you want something safe and cheap, go with regular old soap. Soap is very stable and usually does not contain a lot of additives other than fragrance. Ivory bar soap is mostly just soap and some very mild fragrance. Very inexpensive and easy to find. The disadvantage of soap over detergent is that soap easily dissolves natural oils and rinses very clean and therefore can have a drying effect on the skin. Detergents are almost always more expensive and will always contain many more additives than soap. Detergents (surfactants) are better at selectively removing dirt and junk while leaving natural oils mostly undissolved, they also are famous for not rinsing away completely--leaving a residue on your skin. (This is usually considered beneficial. For example, a lot of detergent soaps will contain lotions or "skin protectants" that will stay on your skin to keep it moisturized.) All of the additives are similar between brands and are necessary to stabilize the detergent so it does not degrade, and so that it stays in solution. I do not necessarily think that the additives they use in detergents are harmful when used in appropriate amounts. However, it can't hurt to avoid them either! If you want something inexpensive and safe, go for soap (something considered "pure" soap, like home made (more expensive), I think Ivory is probably the best commercial brand). If you find that soap dries out their skin, go for an inexpensive detergent (liquid) soap-- preferably something fragrance free and with as little additives as possible. The important thing to remember is that just because a product is marketed as "natural" does not make it better. California Baby wash is still a detergent and still contains those necessary stabilizers and additives. Actually, it's a far inferior detergent. Save your money. Okay well that was my soap lecture, I hope it helps. |
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Originally Posted by snanna
I want to say I LOVE it when chemists post about this stuff. I find it really interesting. Thanks for sticking your neck out and sharing your knowledge, holothuroidea!
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