We all know that choosing the wrong soap can turn a simple shower into a painful experience when it comes to eczema.
Your skin needs and deserves gentle care, not harsh chemicals that strip away moisture and trigger flare ups.
The best soaps for eczema are fragrance-free, contain moisturizing and natural ingredients with minimal to none filler and toxic chemicals.
These are the soaps that clean your skin without causing irritation or dryness that makes eczema worse.
Finding the right soap takes some experimentation, but it makes a huge difference in managing your symptoms.
So today, as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Eczema Warrior, we’ll look into key ingredients to look for, which brands I recommend, and how to test new products safely on your sensitive skin.
Key Takeaways
- Choose fragrance-free soaps with moisturizing ingredients like glycerin, oatmeal, or coconut oil to avoid irritation
- Don’t be afraid to experiment until you find something that works for you
- Always, always, always patch test new products on a small skin area for one week before using them on your entire body
Understanding Eczema and Soap Sensitivity
Eczema makes your skin extra sensitive to everyday products, especially soaps that can strip away natural oils and trigger painful flare-ups.
The ingredients can turn a simple shower into a source of irritation and inflammation.
What Is Eczema and Atopic Dermatitis
Eczema is an autoimmune skin condition that makes your skin dry, itchy, and red. Ultimately causing one to have rashes.
Atopic dermatitis is the most common type of eczema.
You can develop eczema at any age, though it’s most common in children.
The condition isn’t contagious, but it can cause ongoing discomfort.
Common eczema symptoms include:
- Dry, cracked skin
- Intense itching
- Red rashes
- Small raised bumps
- Raw, sensitive skin
- Swelling in affected areas
Your eczema-prone skin has also a much weaker skin barrier.
This outer layer struggles to protect against allergens, bacteria, and irritants that healthy skin can handle.
How Soaps Affect Eczema-Prone Skin
Regular soaps contain harsh chemicals that damage your already weak skin barrier.
These ingredients strip away natural oils your skin needs to stay healthy.
Soap ingredients that worsen eczema:
- Sulfates (create harsh cleansing action)
- Fragrances (common allergens)
- Dyes and colors
- Antibacterial agents
- Harsh detergents
When you use the wrong soap, it removes moisture from your dry skin.
This leads to more itching, redness, and skin irritation.
Your damaged skin barrier lets in more irritants after harsh soap use.
This creates a cycle where each wash makes your eczema worse.
Gentle soaps help by:
- Preserving natural skin oils
- Adding moisture while cleansing
- Avoiding known irritants
- Supporting your skin’s healing process
The right soap choice can reduce flare-ups and keep your skin calmer between washes.
Essential Qualities of the Best Soap for Eczema
The best soap for eczema has to be free from harsh chemicals and fragrances while having moisturizing ingredients that protect your skin’s natural barrier.
Fragrance-Free and Hypoallergenic Formulations
Fragrances are one of the most common triggers for eczema flare-ups.
Even products labeled as “natural” or “organic” can contain essential oils that irritate sensitive skin.
Look for these labels:
- Fragrance-free
- Unscented
- Hypoallergenic
Hypoallergenic soaps are specially made to minimize allergic reactions.
They avoid common irritants like sulfates, parabens, and artificial dyes.
Your sensitive skin needs products that won’t strip away natural oils or cause inflammation.
Soap-free cleansing bars are often better choices than traditional soaps because they maintain your skin’s protective barrier.
Importance of pH Balance
Your skin’s natural pH is slightly acidic, typically between 4.5 and 5.5. This acidic environment helps protect against harmful bacteria and maintains the skin barrier function.
Regular soaps are often alkaline with a pH of 9-10. This high pH can disrupt your skin’s natural balance and worsen eczema symptoms.
Benefits of pH-balanced soaps:
- Maintain skin’s protective acid mantle
- Reduce bacterial growth
- Prevent excessive drying
- Minimize irritation and inflammation
Dead Sea salt soaps are naturally pH-balanced and provide additional minerals that restore your skin’s natural equilibrium.
Key Ingredients That Soothe and Protect
The best soap for eczema contains specific ingredients that moisturize, heal, and protect your skin barrier.
Top soothing ingredients:
- Colloidal oatmeal – Reduces itching and inflammation
- Ceramides – Restore and maintain skin barrier function
- Hyaluronic acid – Provides deep hydration and moisture retention
- Glycerin – Attracts moisture to the skin
- Shea butter – Moisturizes and has anti-inflammatory properties
Natural oils like coconut oil and olive oil also provide gentle cleansing without irritation.
Recommended Soap Brands and Products
Finding the right soap for eczema requires choosing products that are gentle, fragrance-free and made with minimal ingredients.
But because you are here, I’ve done all the leg work for you!
Remember to always patch test on a clean unaffected area first. Then wait for a few hours to ensure there is no reaction.
Oh and every soap listed below, I’ve personally used and tested on my own skin and eczema!
Crate61
Crate 61’s Cold Process Bar Soap is a natural, plant-based soap made to gently cleanse the skin without harsh chemicals.
Made in Canada, each bar is made with nourishing oils like olive oil, coconut oil, and shea butter to help keep the skin soft, moisturized, and balanced.
The formula is scented using pure essential oils rather than synthetic fragrances, making it a great option for people with sensitivities or those who prefer clean, minimal-ingredient products.
Because it’s made using the traditional cold-process method, the soap retains its natural glycerin — a skin-hydrating compound often removed in commercial soaps.
This results in a richer, creamier lather and a more moisturizing cleanse.
Crate 61 bars are also vegan, cruelty-free, and free of parabens, sulfates, and artificial colours.
Overall, it’s a simple, high-quality bar soap that offers a gentle, eco-friendly alternative to mass-produced soaps while providing a refreshing, naturally scented wash.
Everbella
The Eversoothe Soap Bar by Everbella is a gentle, cold-processed cleanser made for people with eczema, dermatitis, and sensitive skin.
Made in Canada, this bar uses a blend of nourishing plant oils — including coconut oil, shea butter, and avocado oil — to cleanse without stripping the skin’s natural moisture barrier.
Its formula is free from sulfates, parabens, artificial fragrances, and harsh detergents, making it ideal for individuals looking to avoid common irritants that worsen eczema flare-ups.
The bar features soothing botanicals such as witch hazel extract, tea tree oil, lavender, lemon, and peppermint essential oils, which help calm inflammation, reduce redness, and support a clearer, more balanced skin environment.
Because it’s crafted using the cold-process method, it retains natural glycerin for added hydration.
Overall, the Eversoothe Soap Bar offers a clean, minimal-ingredient option for anyone seeking a natural, skin-calming soap that supports healthy skin and complements an eczema-friendly routine.
Shoosha
The Shoosha Sensitive Skin Organic Baby Wash & Shampoo is a USDA-certified organic, ultra-gentle 2-in-1 cleanser for babies and children with delicate or eczema-prone skin.
Shoosha Truly Organic, is a minimalist formula that includes aloe juice, calendula extract, and coconut-derived glycerin to hydrate while softly lifting dirt and oils without disrupting the skin’s natural pH.
The surfactant is potassium cocoate, which is very mild, and the wash is free from synthetic preservatives, artificial fragrances, and harsh chemicals — ideal for newborns, sensitive skin, and even accidental ingestion.
Available in fragrance-free and French lavender versions, this cleanser also doubles as a gentle facial or hand wash for older kids, teens and adults.
Overall, it’s a clean, safe, and soothing option for families prioritizing organic, low-irritant body care.
Dr Bronner
Dr. Bronner’s Unscented Pure-Castile Liquid Soap is a gentle, multipurpose cleanser made from organic, fair-trade plant oils — including coconut, olive, hemp seed, and jojoba — with no synthetic preservatives, detergents, or foaming agents.
Its fragrance-free formula makes it especially well-suited for sensitive skin, babies, kids, teens and adults and those who prefer minimal-ingredient products.
How to Choose the Right Soap for Your Eczema
Finding the right soap requires some experimentation to test your skin’s specific reactions.
The most important step is testing new products safely before full use.
Conducting a Patch Test
A patch test helps you avoid worsening eczema symptoms or triggering skin irritation. Apply a small amount of soap to a small area on your inner wrist or behind your ear or a clean patch of skin.
Lather the soap on that clean area and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Then rinse it off.
Watch for signs of redness, itching, or swelling until the next day.
If your sensitive skin shows no reaction after 24 hours, the soap is likely safe for you to use.
Any burning, stinging, or increased itching means you should avoid that product.
Test only one new soap at a time.
This way you can clearly identify which product causes problems.
Choose an area of skin that doesn’t already have active eczema flare-ups for the most accurate results.
Inflamed skin may react differently than your normal skin.
Wait at least 48 hours between testing different soaps. This gives your skin time to recover from any mild reactions.
Additional Tips for Managing Eczema
Using the right soap is only part of managing eczema effectively.
How you moisturize after cleansing and your shower habits can make a big difference in controlling dry skin and preventing flare-ups.
And what you eat and how you regulate your nervous system is the last two important steps.
Moisturizing After Cleansing
Apply moisturizer within a few minutes of washing your skin. This locks in moisture while your skin is still damp after washing.
Best moisturizing practices:
- Pat skin dry with a soft towel instead of rubbing
- Leave skin slightly damp before applying moisturizer
- Use fragrance-free, thick creams or ointments
- Apply moisturizer twice daily, even when not showering
Avoid lotions with alcohol, fragrances, or dyes. These can flare up your eczema-prone skin and make dry skin worse.
Keep moisturizer in your bathroom so you remember to use it right after washing.
The steam from your shower also helps the moisturizer absorb better.
Shower Habits and Water Temperature
Take lukewarm showers instead of hot ones. Hot water strips natural oils from your skin and can trigger eczema flare-ups.
Ideal shower routine:
- Keep showers under 10 minutes
- Use lukewarm water (not hot)
- Gently pat skin dry
- Apply moisturizer immediately
- Use a shower or bath filter to reduce chlorine levels
Shower once daily or every other day.
Too much washing can dry out your skin and worsen eczema symptoms.
Use a soft washcloth or your hands to apply soap.
Avoid rough scrubbing with loofahs or exfoliating gloves, which can irritate sensitive skin.
Best Soap for Eczema, That’s Not Soap?
The answer to that is three things…your nutrition, your nervous system and your mental health.
If you have severe eczema, I highly recommend that you work on those three areas as you make lifestyle changes.
Only focusing on the external aspects of your skin is like only fixing the outside of house.
You must help and support your body from the inside out.
If you are ready to reset your skin, I invite you to book a Eczema Reset Chat with me to see how we can support your Eczema and get your life back!