TL;DR: Most baby washes marketed as "natural" — including popular brands like Babo Botanicals and Tubby Todd — still rely on synthetic surfactants to create lather. Research shows that plant-derived surfactants like soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) are significantly gentler on babies' developing skin barriers. This post breaks down what the label doesn't tell you and how to actually compare what's inside the bottle.
If you're the kind of parent who flips the bottle over before buying — this one's for you.
You've probably noticed that nearly every baby wash on the market now claims to be "natural," "clean," or "gentle." And most of them have moved away from the obvious offenders: no SLS, no parabens, no artificial dye. That's real progress. But here's what label readers know: the absence of a bad ingredient isn't the same as the presence of a good one.
The ingredient doing the most heavy lifting in any baby wash — the one that actually cleans — is the surfactant. And the surfactant is almost never what brands lead with on the front label.
Why Does the Surfactant in Baby Wash Actually Matter?
Surfactants are what make a cleanser work. They lift oil, dirt, and debris off skin so water can rinse them away. The problem is that some surfactants do that job by disrupting the skin's lipid barrier in the process.
Baby skin isn't just miniature adult skin. According to a 2025 review published in PMC, the skin barrier in neonates and infants is still actively developing — it has a higher pH, thinner stratum corneum, and greater permeability than mature adult skin. That means what goes on a baby's skin absorbs differently and disrupts more easily.
As noted in a foundational review in the Journal of Dermatological Science, surfactant choice is one of the most significant factors in whether a cleanser is truly mild or just marketed that way. Two washes can both be "SLS-free" and still have vastly different effects on skin integrity — depending entirely on which surfactant they use instead.
What Surfactants Are Actually in Most "Clean" Baby Washes?
Most popular natural baby washes have moved away from SLS — but they've replaced it with other synthetic surfactants that are still heavily processed:
- Cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) — widely used in "natural" baby washes; derived from coconut oil but heavily chemically processed. A known allergen for some individuals.
- Sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI) — gentler than SLS but still synthetic; common in sulfate-free formulas.
- Disodium lauryl sulfosuccinate — a milder cousin of SLS, still coconut- or petroleum-derived and lab-processed.
To be clear: none of these are inherently dangerous. But "better than SLS" is a low bar. If you're looking for a wash that's genuinely gentle at the ingredient level — not just free of the worst offenders — the right question is: where does the surfactant actually come from?
How Does Soapwort Compare to Synthetic Surfactants?
Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) is a flowering plant that has been used as a natural cleanser for centuries. Its cleaning power comes from naturally occurring triterpenoid saponins — compounds that behave like surfactants without being manufactured like one.
In 2021, a peer-reviewed study published in Molecules compared soapwort extract directly against four common synthetic surfactants — SLS, SLES, CAPB, and ALS — using skin-mimetic model systems. The findings were significant:
- Soapwort extract showed no cytotoxic effects on normal human keratinocytes at concentrations up to 0.039% dry mass. All four synthetic surfactants were toxic above 0.02%.
- Soapwort had far lower lipid-solubilizing potential than any synthetic alternative — meaning it disrupts the skin's natural lipid barrier significantly less.
- It was rated "by far the least harmful" in terms of protein-solubilizing potential.
An earlier study in Colloids and Surfaces B examined how synthetic surfactants and soapwort extract affect skin-mimetic lipid monolayers and reached similar conclusions — soapwort consistently showed smaller disruption to the lipid structures that make up the skin barrier.
This is the science behind why we chose soapwort for our Baby Shampoo & Body Wash at Kindred Naturals. It's a formulation choice, not a marketing one.
How Do Popular Natural Baby Wash Brands Actually Stack Up?
Let's be honest and fair. Brands like Babo Botanicals and Tubby Todd have done meaningful work moving away from the harshest surfactants. Their formulas are genuinely better than conventional drugstore baby wash. But when you read the ingredient lists closely:
- Babo Botanicals Sensitive Baby Wash uses cocamidopropyl betaine as a primary surfactant — a synthetic, coconut-derived ingredient that's heavily processed and flagged as a moderate concern by the EWG due to its allergen profile and potential contaminant risk during manufacturing.
- Tubby Todd Hair + Body Wash also relies on a synthetic surfactant system. It's a well-liked product, and the "clean" positioning is largely about what's been removed from the formula — not what's been intentionally chosen in its place.
Neither brand is making a bad product. But if you're a label reader who wants to understand what's doing the cleaning — and whether that ingredient has been peer-reviewed for gentleness — the field narrows considerably.
What Else Should You Look for on the Label?
Once you've identified the surfactant, here's what else matters:
- Fragrance / "parfum" — a single word that can represent hundreds of undisclosed synthetic chemicals. Look for products that use no fragrance at all, or that fully disclose every scent ingredient.
- Preservatives — phenoxyethanol is common and generally considered safe at low concentrations. Avoid methylisothiazolinone (MI) and methylchloroisothiazolinone (MCI), which are known skin sensitizers.
- pH balance — baby skin has a higher pH than adult skin early in life and is more vulnerable to disruption. A pH-balanced formula supports rather than compromises the developing acid mantle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is cocamidopropyl betaine safe for babies?
Generally yes — at concentrations used in wash-off products, CAPB is considered low-risk for most babies. However, it is a known skin sensitizer for some individuals and there are concerns about potential nitrosamine contamination during manufacturing. It's not a red-flag ingredient, but it's not the most transparent choice when plant-based alternatives exist and have been peer-reviewed.
What is soapwort and does it actually work as a cleanser?
Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) is a flowering plant whose roots and leaves contain natural saponins — compounds that foam and cleanse. It has been used since the Middle Ages to wash both skin and delicate fabrics. Modern research confirms it cleans effectively while causing significantly less disruption to the skin's lipid barrier than synthetic surfactants.
What makes a baby wash genuinely clean vs. just marketed that way?
True transparency means disclosing every ingredient and making intentional choices about actives — not just avoiding the most notorious ones. A wash that's free of SLS but relies on heavily processed synthetic surfactants is cleaner than a conventional alternative, but it's not the same as one built on plant-derived ingredients with a peer-reviewed safety record.
Do I need a separate shampoo and body wash for my baby?
Not necessarily. A gentle 2-in-1 formula works well for most babies, especially infants who don't have much hair. The key is that both functions are served by the same mild surfactant system — not a blended formula optimized for one application at the expense of the other.
Are Babo Botanicals and Tubby Todd bad choices?
No — both are meaningfully better than conventional baby wash. If you're choosing between them and a mainstream drugstore brand, either is a solid step forward. This post is for parents who want to understand what's actually in the bottle at a deeper level — not to shame anyone's current choices.
At Kindred Naturals, we built our Baby Shampoo & Body Wash around soapwort because the research made a compelling case — and because we wanted to offer something that stands up to scrutiny when you flip the bottle over. If you're curious what that looks like in practice, we'd love for you to try it.
Written by Mike & Carly Pronsky, founders of Kindred Naturals.