Hygiene products for children interest me a lot. Children’s sensitive skin requires special attention. In particular, washing products should not be too strong in order to avoid sensitizing child’s sensitive skin. Many conventional children’s shampoos contain alkaline ingredients such as SLS. I have previously designed a gentle washing gel for children. Its pH is acidic, so it does not irritate the skin. Now it is time to focus on children’s shampoo, which can be used for both hair and body. This product is also easy to make yourself. Cleansing products are suitable as the first products for a beginner of cosmetics maker can make themselves. The ingredients are just mixed, no heating is required.
A small child may not need shampoo at all
The child’s skin is not oily at all. Very small babies often have a thick layer of sebum to protect their skin. On the other hand, 2 to 6 years old children’s sebaceous glands do not produce sebum at all. They are dormant and are not properly activated until puberty. Therefore, children’s skin and scalp should never be washed with substances that remove sebum effectively. Fortunately, most children’s shampoos now use milder washing ingredients.
The hair of a small child rarely needs anything other than washing with water. You can also wash your child’s hair with egg yolk, buttermilk, applesauce, aloe Vera juice or another natural ingredient. Especially if your child has really fine hair, shampoo should not be used constantly. Now and then shampooing is of course ok.
A child’s scalp gets dirty in a completely different way than an adult’s. Especially in the summer, children’s hair can collect any kind of dirt like sand, modelling clay and other stuff. Parents know this, probably too well. The scalp can then be deep cleaned with oil as well. The oil can be washed out of the hair using mild shampoo.
Children’s shampoos contain harmful chemicals
Shampoos aimed at children are thought to be very mild. When I start looking at the INCI of a children’s shampoo, I immediately notice that very often it is not a mild and gentle product. Please do not misunderstand, I am not saying that shampoos contain toxic substances. Of course not, there are hardly any poisonous ingredients in shampoos, but there are ingredients that are too strong for children’s hair and scalp.
The biggest problem with children’s shampoo is the washing ingredients it contains, which are way too strong. For some reason, this problem has occurred especially in domestic products. I have written about sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) before. It is an ingredient that really effectively removes fat. SLS is even suitable for cleaning engines thanks to its effective grease removal ability.
I really wonder what is the idea using such a strong detergent to clean children’s hair.
Preservatives
Another problem with conventional children’s shampoos is preservatives. Since shampoos are products that can be washed off, they can be used with fairer and more harmful preservatives than, for example, creams. What 5-Bromo-5-Nitro-1,3-Dioxane, Bronidox or Phenoxyethanol sound like when talking about shampoo mentioned for small children? On the other hand, I do understand that water-based products must contain some kind of preservative. Otherwise, they will get spoiled quickly.
In this context, I can remind you that neither shampoo nor other detergents should be diluted with water (or any other liquid) in the bottle. The preservative does not work anymore as planned and the product immediately begins to spoil, forming moulds and bacteria. If you want to dilute a shampoo that is too strong, always do it to the required dose just before the washing process.
What ingredients do a gentle shampoo contain?
I have chosen washing ingredients for the gentle children’s shampoo, which also work in an acidic environment. The pH of the shampoo is very important. It should definitely be below 7 and preferably 5-5.5. That’s why you should definitely get pH strips to adjust the acidity. This is very important in this product.
Only water-soluble ingredients have been used in this product. No oils, essential oils or any other fat-soluble ingredient can be added to this formula.
Surfactants, the detergents
There are a lot of mild surfactants. Easily available ones are, for example, decyl glucoside, coco glucoside and Lamesoft, which is a mixture of coco glucoside and Glyceryl oleate.
These surfactants are made from either coconut oil or palm oil. If you want a palm oil-free option, choose coco glucoside. You get the best result when you combine two different washing ingredients. With Coco glucoside, you can use Lamesoft, which also has a moisturizing effect on the skin.
The share of surfactants, meaning the washing ingredients, in the product is a very important factor. You can use detergent (coco glucoside and decyl glucoside) up to 30%. However, I do not recommend using such large amounts of any surfactant. Lamesoft is suitable for supplementing the effect and power of other surfactants. It is the so-called secondary washing ingredient. Only 1-5% of it is added.
Only 15-25% of the washing ingredient should be used in children’s products. I also think this amount is too high. I personally use only 7-10% detergent in shampoos. My own shampoos don’t lather the way shampoo is supposed to. However, remember that foam does not clean. The foam is only because of image of a cleaning product.
There are also other ingredients in shampoos than washing agents
In addition to washing agents, shampoos also contain a few other ingredients. The washing ingredient is diluted quickly, because for example Decyl glucoside and coco glucoside are very alkaline (pH about 11). They really cannot be used undiluted on the skin. Our goal is to create a product with a pH of around 5-5.5.
Hydrolates
I myself have diluted the washing ingredients with chamomile hydrolate. Chamomile hydrolate is very acidic and corrects the pH already strangely. Chamomile hydrolate is also a very gentle product that is well suited for children. Hydrolates have their own sophisticated scent. If you wish, you can also choose another hydrolate such as rose hydrolate or peppermint hydrolate. You can also make your favourite mixture of different hydrolates.
By choosing a hydrolate as the liquid, you do not need to use an essential oil to perfume the shampoo. If you want to use an essential oil in this product, you need to get a solvent (like Symbio solv Clear Plus). In this article, I will not teach how to use the solvent, so if you have not used it before, you should get a little knowledge about Symbio solutions and essential oils. Essential oils are also not recommended at all for products for small children (under 3 years old).
Emollients
One of my favourites is d-Panthenol, which is a hair and skin softener. Panthenol is vitamin B5. It is synthetically produced in a factory, but is a completely safe product that can also be used in children’s washing products. Panthenol brings moisture to the hair and forms a thin, protective film on the hair. It strengthens hair that breaks easily and gives more shine. Panthenol can be used in the product at 0.1-2%
Another moisturizing and hair conditioning ingredient is betaine. Betaine is an amino acid that is made from sugar beets. It binds moisture to the hair and gives it a silky feel and makes combing easier.
The third moisturizing ingredient is Natrium PCA, the sodium pyrrolidone carboxylic acid. Despite its name, it is a completely safe substance that makes miracles for the skin and hair. Sodium PCA binds moisture to the hair and helps the moisture stay in the hair as well.
The fourth moisturizing agent in hair products is glycerol. Glycerol is already familiar to many. You can read more about glycerol here.
You don’t have to use every possible moisturizing ingredient in your shampoo. Choose one suitable, easily available and use that one.
A thickener or gel former
Shampoo does not have to be gel-like. However, we are used to it. Gel shampoo is also easier to dose correctly. That’s why I support the use of gel. There are a lot of gel formers. One of the best and easiest to get is xanthan gum. We have often made products using xanthan gum. Xanthan gum should be mixed with glycerol to prevent caking.
Preservatives
All products that contain water need a good preservative. There are a lot of preservatives suitable for natural cosmetics, but their availability to the average consumer is quite poor. For this product, you should choose a water-soluble preservative such as Geogard 211 or Rokonsal BSB-N.
The preservatives I mentioned only work in a certain pH environment. Therefore, you should measure the pH of the product and, if necessary, lower it with citric acid. Rokonsal BSB-N is more accurate in terms of pH than Geogard 221. Rokonsal works best in products with a pH below 5.
Product colour
If you want to colour the product, pink for example, you can use hibiscus. Hibiscus is sold as tea. For tea, you need to heat the hydrolate or part of the hydrolate to about 80 degrees Celsius and pour the hot hydrolate over the tea bag. Let it stew for 10 minutes and cool to room temperature.
Gentle children’s shampoo recipe 150 grams
- Chamomile hydrolate 87.9% 131.85gr
- Decyl Glucoside 5% 7.50gr
- Lamesoft 2% 3.00gr
- Glycerin 3% 4.50gr
- Xanthan gum 0.6% 0.90gr
- Panthenol 0.5% 0.75gr
- Geogard 221 1% 1.50gr
Do like this:
- First mix glycerine and xanthan gum. Set the mixture aside to wait.
- Mix the surfactants, Decyl glucoside and Lamesoft in a container. Try to avoid foaming.
- Measure the hydrolate into another container.
- Mix the glycerine-xanthan gum mixture into the hydrolate. Stir the mixture until it swells and the mixture becomes gel-like.
- Now add the surfactants to the mixture very carefully. Pour the surfactants as a thin strip into the mixture and mix gently without whisking.
- Then add the preservative and gently but thoroughly mix it into the shampoo. Avoid whipping to avoid creating unnecessary foam.
- Now measure the pH of the product. My product had a pH of 7. I lowered the pH to 5.5 with a citric acid solution (1 part citric acid, 9 parts water). I used about 20 drops of citric acid solution. After adding the citric acid, check the pH again. The recommended pH value is 5-5.5. However, a pH value below 6 is still within acceptable limits.
- Pack the product in a plastic bottle and attach a label. Glass bottles are not recommended in the bathroom, especially when there are children.
How to use mild baby shampoo?
This shampoo does not lather very well. However, foaming has nothing to do with washing performance. You need about a teaspoon of shampoo to wash your child’s hair. If you want, you can mix the shampoo with a splash of water.
Wet your hair thoroughly first. Massage the shampoo into the scalp and hair. Work the shampoo through your hair, but pay the most attention to the scalp.
Rinse the hair and scalp thoroughly under running water and dry with a towel. If the child’s hair is very dry and tangles easily, I recommend using a conditioner in addition.